Radioshack style PCB's

[CzarSketch]

Hi all,

I'll be the first to admit that this is a weird question without a real home on the forum, but since I encountered it while building a pedal, here goes:

I was at radioshack today and they were out of the dual-layer copper PCB's that I use. I asked the employee for an alternative, and he directed me to This. I was skeptical, but he said "no, just connect the copper surrounds with a bit of solder, it'll work like magic! So delighted by the small size of the boards (I love me some small pedals), I took it home and started etching away.

I got all the components soldered in and started piecing together the little copper surrounds with solder and realized just how stupid of an idea it was... what the heck am i doing???

So: have any of you encountered this style of PCB? HOW DO YOU USE THEM??? please don't tell me they're point-to-point with a special copper twist...unless of course thats the case... bleh.

[Kap'n]

I can't really tell, but it looks like breadboard with plated-through holes.

Instead of having traces, you're supposed to run jumper wires.

Most folks at Radio Shack couldn't get a job at Guitar Center. Ignore anything they have to say.

Oh, and their parts, if they have any left, suck.

[chuckocaster]

like this?

what i did was drill out the holes that i used and threaded silver wire through to connect the different parts of the circuit. i then soldered it all together. took a little time, but i have no way to etch boards so i had to make do with what i had.

[CzarSketch]

thanks guys. thats sort of what i was afraid of... i have massive amounts of desoldering to do due to my stupidity...

i only ever go to radioshack because i dont have to wait for them to ship something to me... i was building a muff fuzz today, thats really just a 1-hour project so i thought i could swing it. i learned my lesson!

thanks again

[chuckocaster]

don't worry about it, the pedal pictured is off the jack orman site. it's sort of a muff, one gain stage, i forget what he called it. it only took 2 hours to build, all ratshack parts except the case, switch and jacks.

[JAM]

like this?

That's the way I've always built unless it was a PCB purchased as a kit. True PTP actually.

[trevorus]

I've done both. Etching PCB's is MUCH better. Even the RadioShack etching kit is pretty serviceable. The traces aren't as clean as with the Peel'n'Blue stuff, or a laser printer type of transfer, but the sharpie method works well if you have the patience for it.

[cdw2000]

Those boards are perfectly OK to use, but the PFY (pimply faced youth) at Radio Shack did not know what he was talking about. You don't just glob solder across the pads to make connections, you need to use jumper wires or the component leads to make the connections.

I find the easiest and most fool-proof way is to buy a solderless breadboard like this that's reusable:



This has push in terminals with built in interconnects that accept component leads and jumper wires so you can test out a circuit before permanently building it.

Then build up and debug your circuit. Once everything is good, transfer the design to this PWB, which is setup just like the breadboard:



Solder it all up, then cut off the portion you don't use.

[CzarSketch]

thanks everyone for the help, I went back and point-to-point'ed the crap out of it. Sounds just like what I assume an EH Muff Fuzz sounds like! (i don't actually own one... heh). I'll admit though, I enjoy the draw-and-etch method more... less soldering involved and hence a smaller chance of brain damage after i'm done. but probably too late for that one now, eh?

[chuckocaster]

yeah, probably. glad things worked out for ya. when i went in and bought the parts to build the aforepictured pic the guy asked me what i was going to do. i told him and he gave me a weird look, "really? you can do that with this stuff?"

[CzarSketch]

hah yeah i bought some caps for my old ibanez to see if i could resuscitate it and was given a "is that legal?" look...

...radioshack ain't what it used to be...

..but how would i know, i'm only 21!

[JJ Gross]

I hate perfboard. It's ok if you only have to make something with very few components, but I wouldn't try making an Octavia on it.
Give me some copper clad and a little etching compound and I'm a pedal building Mofo. ;D

There's a guy on the DIYStompbox.com forum selling 8x12 sheets of copper clad on white fiberglass (vintage vibe no less!) for only a couple bucks each and he'll even cut it down for you. I'm getting some myself.

Cheers