Breadboarding

[Axmanjr]

I just got a breadboard and was wondering if anybody had any helpful insights about it.  I want to know everything that there is to know about breadboarding.  Here's what mine looks like -  PB-10.  What do I do with the black and red post (knobs)?  Can you guys please educate me?! :lol:

[The Tone God]

The posts should be wire to your power rails which are usually the row of connections running on the top and bottom. Red posistive, black negative or ground. You can then connect your power supply to the posts.

Do a search on breadboarding. Some beginner sites for breadboarding have been mentioned.

Andrew

[Axmanjr]

:? I still don't get it!  Can you recommend me to a good online tutorial.  I did do some web surfing, but didn't have any luck finding the answers that I was looking for.

[smoguzbenjamin]

If you look at your breadboard, you'll see long collumns, and two rows of 5, with a separation between them. The separation is for IC's, the rows of 5 are connected. Now you should be able to at least make a start!

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

It doesn't get clearer than this:
http://www.iguanalabs.com/breadboard.htm

Personally, I hate breadboards, but many many peopel have success with them. Go for it! just be careful not to wreck it by putting 'fat' wires in the sockets.

[Axmanjr]

Ok, so I did the NPN Boost on the breadboard and got nothing.  When the pedal was turned off, I got the basic clean sound.  But when I turned it on, it was dead quiet!  I made sure that the caps where facing the proper direction.  I seriously need some help!  Thanks!

[petemoore]

Work on it or [the joy of the breadboard [I dont have one] start it or a different one over...
 The debugging page [and the DMM manual] has good stuff about getting a non working circuit diagnosed and fixed.
 Try to find every possible way to apply your tools then remeber which ones had the best results and use them first next time.

[ExpAnonColin]

I'd recommend trying to keep things low to the board and shorter.  Cut custom length wires if you need to-I use non-stranded copper 22 gauge.  Works quite well.  Try to jumper low to the board when you can rather than have wires flying all over the place.  I'm still working on it

-Colin

[Axmanjr]

What I'll do is restart the whole beard over, because I think I know what the problem is.  I believe that I had placed too many components in certain rows... but who knows.  I'm gonna try this and see what happens.

By the way, how many components are you allowed to hook up in a certain row?  I know that rows have 5+ slots that are connected, but does that mean that you can connect a bunch (5+) of components together?

[Axmanjr]

Ok, it's still not working! :evil:   And it's frustrating me!

Has anyone one built the NPN boost on a breadboard?  If so, can you please show pics of the board.  I need to visually see where I'm screwing up on!  If you have breadboard pics of other effects, please post them (with material parts info.) so I can take some relief and try something that can work.

[moosapotamus]

Ok, so I did the NPN Boost on the breadboard and got nothing.  When the pedal was turned off, I got the basic clean sound.  But when I turned it on, it was dead quiet!  I made sure that the caps where facing the proper direction.  I seriously need some help!  Thanks!

What exactly do you mean by, "when the pedal was turned off."? Did you disconnect the power? Or, did you try to wire a true-bypass on the breadboard?

Surf my web site - there's a pic of the uglyface on my breadboard, as well as perfboarded versions of the tri-negistor and the autocrash! "plugged" into my breadboard for debugging purposes.

The link that Paul posted is probably the best info on how a breadboard works. It shows how the "slots" are connected. You can't really place too many components in a single row, as there are only 5 slots in each row - only one component lead per slot.

I found a Java app on the web some time ago and posted a link here, some time ago. Do a search on "java breadboard," or something like that. Not sure if you might need to go back into the archives, or not.

Do you have a multi-meter? If not, go to Radio Shack, or a hardware store, or wherever, and drop ~$5 on a cheap multimeter that reads resistance (you can get a better one later   ). Stick the probes into the breadboard's slots. Anything that reads less than 10 ohms (or less) is a positive electrical connection. So, you can verify for yourself where the actual component connections are made when you plug components into your breadboard. For a little more $$, you might get one that has a continuty checker - when you touch the leads together (making a positive electrical connection), it beeps.

Stick with it. Once you get the hang of it, breadboards are great for quickly trying things out.

Best...

~ Charlie

[Axmanjr]

Hey guess what!   I found out what my malfunction was.  I was unfer the assumption that the bus terminals (top and bottom rows) on my breadboard were connected all the way from left to right... Well, they weren't.  They cut off half way and start over again!  So instead of having 4 long bus terminals, I have 8 short ones.  So what I did was rebuild the NPN boost on the breadboard- using only one side of the bus terminal- and BAMM.  It worked.  Man was I a moron...

Sorry for the grief that I may have been causing some of you guys! :oops:

[petemoore]

Try the correct tool!
 The DMM is a wonderous and fascinating thing.
 Not only that, it does tell about things like connections and non connections.
 If the tips don't fit in the board connect some leads to them and test here and there till you get familiar with it.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

The DMM is a wonderous and fascinating thing.
 ...  If the tips don't fit in the board connect some leads to them and test here and there till you get familiar with it.

I 've made sets of leads for different circumstances, one ends in  phono plug (suprisingly useful!) and another pair have the tips from safety pins soldered to them, makes it easier to get in crowded boards, plus you can scratch into a varnished PCB trace, or indeed get into a breadboard.