This is my 1st breadboard attempt ever and it sounds pretty good to me. I used a TL071 for the IC, works fine and I really feel like I learned a little bit about
how this stuff is done (probably just enough to be completely wrong at most of it).
I would like to try to commit this to a PCB and box it up(maybe use the diode compression project instead of an IC). I just attempted my 1st PCB layout using the DIY Layout Creator but I'm not at all confident it's right. I'm sure I wasted some board space but that's about all I'm sure of.
What's the easiest way to do a layout---starting with the ground trace and working in or in this case starting with the IC and working out? Or is it better to start with the power section? I don't have a clue. Maybe all these question belong in a different thread but this is the beginners section so I thought I would try here.(http://<a%20href="http://s248.photobucket.com/albums/gg176/jmdonahue/?action-view¤t=FIRSTLAYOUT.png"%20target="_blank"><img%20src="http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg176/jmdonahue/FIRSTLAYOUT.png"%20border="0"%20alt="Photobucket"></a>)
Had trouble inserting image(http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg176/jmdonahue/FIRSTLAYOUT.png)
hi J.D., welcome to the forum! :icon_cool:
there are probably as many ways to approach this as there are people. so take my suggestions as just a few among lots of other good ones. perhaps others will chime in with their favourites.
to start, i like to spread out the parts more or less like the schematic. i think i picked this up from aron's beginner project.
then i concentrate on putting in the traces for the signal path first. i don't worry much about ground or power supply stuff until after the signal path is done. try rotating the IC around to see what works best. i also pay attention to pots at this stage, because i want the layout to fit where the pots are going to go, usually along the top edge.
then i keep start the +9V and the GND traces side-by-side at the bottom. i run the ground trace more or less all the way around the outside and the +9v inside of that. in this circuit, VA takes the place of +9V. i treat the virtual ground (VB in this case) traces like the +9V traces. if i seem to need jumpers, then i would restrict them to these three (GND, VA, VB) because they are supposed to be relatively "quiet" traces---their voltage is approximately fixed.
you could also try looking at what others have done after you have wrestled with the problem a little. i have a layout for this circuit here (http://gaussmarkov.net/wordpress/circuits/overdrive-250/). tonepad.com has a layout. i'm pretty sure that generalguitargadgets.com does. i'll bet markm's gallery has a layout because he laid out almost everything before he retired from stompbox circuits.
hope this helps, paul :icon_biggrin:
ah, we are piling up posts on top of each other. :icon_wink:
it looks like you have already made great progress!
Hey Paul, thanks for the advice. I checked out all 3 of the layouts you mentioned and I'm not surprised they all look much cleaner and less cluttered than mine.
I'm going to study em and clean mine up a little. Maybe try to incorporate that diode compression into it. Just wanted to learn how to do it because I figure it will help me more than just taking a PCB off the net and soldering components wherever it say to solder components.
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Smiley
Quote from: J.D. on February 24, 2008, 07:53:55 PM
Hey Paul, thanks for the advice. I checked out all 3 of the layouts you mentioned and I'm not surprised they all look much cleaner and less cluttered than mine.
I'm going to study em and clean mine up a little. Maybe try to incorporate that diode compression into it. Just wanted to learn how to do it because I figure it will help me more than just taking a PCB off the net and soldering components wherever it say to solder components.
Smiley
i think you are right. i certainly learn much more that way.
i hope you didn't get the impression that i was suggesting those other layouts as substitutes for yours. i hope you do your layouts first before you make comparisons. and that you will stick with your own. there's a lot of satisfaction (and learning) in rolling your own. :icon_cool:
Quotei hope you didn't get the impression that i was suggesting those other layouts as substitutes for yours.
Not at all,always preferred rolling my own" back in the day".
Now to learn how to post a smiley face.