Anyone tried the Futurlec-breadboard?

[syndromet]

I ordered my first breadbord earlier this week from futurlec. I know a lot of you guys have had problems with them, but everything seems to work fine for me. Only problem I've had with them was when i ordered 10 1n34A's and got 100 diodes that seem like Si.

Anyway, anybody on here have a futurlec breadboard? What are they like?
It's the one on top.

[alteredsounds]

lol i ordered 10 diodes and ended up with 100 of something else.  Apart from that, I've never had a problem.

[syndromet]

lol i ordered 10 diodes and ended up with 100 of something else.  Apart from that, I've never had a problem.

Yeah. they might even be 34A's for all I know, but they look nothing like the ones I got form Aron. I just ordered them to fill my order up to $32(thats the tax-limit in Norway) , so I didn't really need them. Thats why I think it's OK to end up with some other diode, as I got 100 instead of 10. I'll sure find a use for them anyway.

[Peter Snowberg]

Check the diodes with a meter and you can at least figure of if they're Ge or Si.

If you don't have a meter with a diode check function, connect one of the diodes in series with a 100K resistor and a 9V battery. The voltage you measure across the diode is the forward voltage.

[tiges_ tendres]

yeah, I have some of those diodes, and whilst they dont look like germanium, they have similar properties.  I A/B'd arons germanium next to the futurlec in an opamp muff fuzz, and I get very similar audio properties.  I couldnt really tell any difference, but I'm sure others might.

that reminds me, get a multi-meter, and test them!

[liquids]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I wanted to share some info I was searching for, and took me over whole of a week to figure out!

My first-ever parts order included a standard breadboard with the red and blue stripes on both sides, etc.    I've used it a ton, it's been invaluable to me and the source of lots of fun.   

I recently decided I wanted multiple breadboards 1) in order to have multiple projects out out at once; 2) so as not to have to constantly dissemble / reassemble an one idea at a time off one breadboard; 3) be able to put a circuit I wanted to continue tweaking later aside, and be able to try a different circuit in the meantime, on a separate board.

So I ordered a second breadboard from Futurlec with my last order and it came in sometime last week -- by the photos, looks a lot like the ones Steve has at Small Bear, thought it may be different.... 

I couldn't get anything to work on it...I'd get clean-ish signal, maybe, but no effect...then switch the circuit over to my original breadboard and it would work right away.  Hmm...

I searched for days and found little help, and was set on tossing this one and ordering expensive breadboards that I knew would work, until I read someone who commented that it might be a good idea to use a DMM for continuity check if you have breadboard issues.

I had previously assumed the layout of the breadboard would be exactly the same, but I check the rails and sure enough, while the original board's power rails run all the way along each side of the board, the power rails on this breadboard has breaks in the middle.   I jumpered each of the four rails for continuity and presto! Everything worked as usual.  Celebration! 

So I'm ordering even more breadboards now, both from small bear (it will get here faster!) and Futurlec, as breadboards seem very affordable considering how invaluable they are to demoing a circuit, as I've collected dozens of circuits I want to try out in just two months time, and one at a time is just not fast enough!   

Also, I wanted to share a simple idea that I stumbled upon as a newbie, along the lines of R.G's audio probe but for breadboard ease of use....when something I've breadboarded doesn't pass a signal, I find it useful to plug a .1uf cap somewhere on an unused part of the board, and grab the biggest jumper wire I can find.  I keep the 'in' signal connected to the beginning of the circuit on the board; I put the 'out' wire running signal to my amp in line with one of the leads of the said .1uf cap.  Then I simple plug the long, solid jumper wire in line with the cap's other lead, arch it, and connect the other end of the jumper wire to an earlier part of the circuit, starting with the first 'stage' and progressive, to find out where the signal is 'dying.'

Of course you must take the standard precautions doing this with keeping your volume low, etc if it is a circuit that products lots of gain.  And if so, I just run a reasonably low value resistor (say, 1k, other times 100R or 10k) to ground off one of the tie points connected to the "out' side of the .1uf cap...very useful for zeroing in on where the issue is!

hope this proves helpful to newbies and breadboard-shy veterans alike.