Electronics Principles & Applications Eighth Edition Breadboarding A Presentation by Charles A. Schuler author of

Buses Groups of 5 Four separate buses and 48 separate groups of 5 are shown here. Strip #22 solid wire 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch on each end. Many components have compatible leads.

The front side of a breadboard Buses Group of 5

The back side of a breadboard Metal strips

Continuity No continuity Continuity No continuity How the groups and buses work

1 k  560  470  Series circuit + +

1 k  560  470  + Parallel circuit (with a common mistake) +

.47/63 V CC In Out In Out Breadboarding a transistor amplifier

.47/63 V CC In Out In Out Is this also correct? Previous slide

Double check the pin numbers when working with ICs

V CC A digital circuit Pull-up Current limit V CC Observe polarity! A A C C

General guidelines: Do not force wires larger than #20 gage. Add soldered extensions using #22 solid wire. Use an IC removal tool or use a screwdriver to carefully pry up ICs for removal. Use buses for power and ground distribution. Add bypass capacitors to power buses. Check and recheck before applying power. Cut off ends and re-strip jumpers when they are worn. Do not breadboard high power, high current or high voltage circuits. RF circuits usually won’t work properly, if at all. Keep high gain circuits inline and avoid long jumpers. Adapters are available for SMT devices.

You can’t breadboard SMT devices? Right? Wrong? You can, for some devices, but you will have to mount them on an adaptor or solder them to an adaptor such as the one shown below. Breadboarding has largely been replaced by circuit simulators. Not for education, though. For learning the basics, the ability to make one’s own connections and then experience the results is still a very valuable endeavor.