Comments on: Breadboarder’s Perfect Protoboard

By: Jack

Jack — Thu, 28 May 2009 06:57:31 +0000

My job is to repair radar systems in the Marine Corps. These systems are connected with a variety of cables, but there’s one particular model of cable (we use about 50 of them) that goes bad all the time. Unfortunately, this particular type of cable has about 50 data signals running through it. Additionally, nobody ever thought to design a system for testing these cables, and due to the fact that they are daisy-chained as many as 7 cables long, every pin of every cable in a bad chain has to be tested to determine the culprit. That’s a good 350 or so pins, currently tested via multimeter. Absolutely tedious.

My solution: use Multiplexers/Demultiplexers in a circuit to quickly test cables. Simply connect the two ends of a cable to the test case, press a button, and a test signal will be sent down every line. Any signal not received will be displayed on a simple 16×2 LCD.

If you send me one of these awesome boards, I can realize this test device, and hopefully convince the Marine Corps to build more for each of our Radar locations. Of course, they won’t pay me for for making this, so it’s almost like charity.

By: Steve Chamberlin

Steve Chamberlin — Fri, 15 May 2009 05:36:55 +0000

I’d like to use one of those boards to assemble a minimal Uzebox: an open-source hardware game platform using an ATmega644.

I prefer that style of board to the style where every hole is separate. Soldering a wire on the rear side for every single pin-to-pin connection is a real hassle, although it does give you the most layout flexibility.

By: Dennis Finegan

Dennis Finegan — Thu, 14 May 2009 09:17:34 +0000

My Arduino arrives tomorrow. I was hoping to breadboard items then solder them up once they work properly. This sounds like just the thing. I am especially interested in RF circuits, just having received my ham radio license. LCD screen frequency readout seems like a good idea.

By: SiliconFarmer

SiliconFarmer — Sat, 09 May 2009 01:30:02 +0000

That’s a nice board with 1-to-1 correspondence to protoboards. I suspect the parasitics would even be similar, for those like @berni with sensitive analog circuits.

What we need is a single-sided, cheap $1 version, like the board @ladyada pointed to, but with the protoboard connectivity this board has.

Anyway, I’d use one to build a hardened version of my AVR-based Smart Meter reader. It monitors the LED blink from my new Smart Meter and sends the data via Zigbee to my PC for graphing. DIY Google PowerMeter.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:26:23 +0000

I can throw my breathalyzer circuit on one of these, and finally have a permanent project.

By: marku

marku — Thu, 07 May 2009 18:44:38 +0000

I’d built an ir receiver with this for my internet radio which i’m developing

By: Charles S.

Charles S. — Tue, 05 May 2009 20:49:25 +0000

I would love to add that to my newly scrounged HD44780 compatible 16X2 LCD screen, and an arduino for a MPG gauge, and more for my Fiero. I am about to submit an article about the scrounging of an old 4 line phone from a small business. If I get this from the comment contest, and the arduino for submitting an article, then most of the parts will be free. Yeah!

By: Grey

Grey — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:57:54 +0000

WOW… That’s just what I’ve been looking for, thank you!!! Also, might make me make proper sized wires on the breadboard, as then they can get transferred directly to this board (as opposed to finding any old wire that’s too long, loses one of its legs from over use, or them ending up on the floor, not to mentions making it difficult to figure out what goes where when it looks like a drunk-birds-nest !)

By: Kris

Kris — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:06:48 +0000

I would make an adapter board to make a EEPROM pin compatible with a EPROM. In one of my classes, we are using a EPROM to store the code for a microprocessor. Every time we need to re-program the EPROM, we have to wait 15 minutes for it to erase under UV light. I want to replace the EPROM with its electrically erasable counterpart, but I can’t find any EEPROMs that are pin compatible with the EPROM that we are using. I want to make an adapter board that plugs directly into the ZIF socket and routes the signals to the EEPROM making it pin compatible with the EPROM. I would do it using a couple of 0.1″ headers, an IC socket, and wire wrap everything together.

This looks like a great product, much better than those protoboards that I get at Radio Shack.

By: Ivanserch

Ivanserch — Sun, 03 May 2009 11:43:55 +0000

I´ll use to do a Wii nunchuck controller with I2C. You can control robots, laptop, …