bread board accessories for learning electronics

Status
Not open for further replies.

dksucharda

New Member
Happy new year! This is my first post and I just purchased a soldering iron and a DIY fm radio kit to practice soldering and learn some basics. I assume this will end pretty quick and then want to move on to the next level so I am purchasing a book;



It looks like most of the projects in here are done with a breadboard and that is fine. But where do I get all the parts; wires, resistors, capacitors, etc... to build the projects. I see where amazon has a whole bunch of kits that are for Arduino or Rasberry Pi, but I am not looking to do any computer programing electronics. I am looking to work on vintage stereo equipment, fix radios, make guitar pedals, and maybe amplifiers. What is the best way for me to go about this? What should I be looking for and where. I would think there is a Bread board Kit that has not only the Bread board but a lot of basic components for building the circuits. Thank you.
 
Try searching "assorted component kit" on ebay & amazon, then pick one that seems appropriate?

There are dozens of different kits & variations available, eg. a couple of examples:


ps. Whatever you get, if the resistors are (or have been) in bandolier strips, cut 6mm off each lead before using them in a breadboard. The bandolier tape can leave adhesive traces on the wires which can mess up the breadboard contacts. Either that or clean the wire ends with solvent before their first use.
 
Here is a review of some good component kits. You can take a look and make your decision:
Here is also a list of some beginner-level electronics projects that you may find helpful:
 
Thank you all! Amazing what happens to your search when you type in electronic components instead of breadboard accessories. I definitely have options I can work with now. Thank you. My orders are arriving the on the 9th and I can begin my electronics journey. Cant wait to start. I'm sure I will be bac soon with more questions,
 
Audio, radio and digital circuits work poorly or do not work when built on a solderless breadboard because the many rows of contacts and wires all over the place pickup interference and couple signals by the many stray capacitances.

I worked designing and building one-off circuits for audio, video and digital functions. I designed the circuit then a parts layout for it on a stripboard. I cut the strips so that each strip is a few wires in the circuit and everything is soldered so that the strips and a few short jumper wires are most of a pcb and the parts are the rest of the pcb. All my prototypes worked perfectly and most were sold as the final item.
 
Audio, radio and digital circuits work poorly or do not work when built on a solderless breadboard
Hmmm... maybe.

To paraphrase Harry Callaghan "A man has to know his breadboards' limitations".

As usual AG you are somewhat overstating the case against solderless breadboards.
It is true that they can give some strange results at RF, I have even written about it here on ETO many years ago.

Solderless breadboards can give good results, but I would avoid them when experimenting with analogue circuits working at more that a few 100 kHz.
I would use something else, and it would not be "stripboard" which has many of the shortcomings of solderless breadboard.

JimB
 

Actually stripboard (Veroboard) can be fine at 'reasonable' RF, simply remove the strips that aren't in use - easily done by applying heavy solder to the strip (or part of the strip), overheating the adhesive, and peeling the copper off. And many times in these Forums AG has posted his improved VHF 'bug' complete with working stripboard layout.

But to be fair, even the act of simple cutting the strips greatly reduces capacitance, unlike a breadboard where you can't reduce it.
 
A breadboard works fine for a blinking LED or making a buzzing squarewave in a speaker.
But not for RF or an audio amplifier.
 
The strips of contacts and long wires all over the place on a breadboard are antennas that pickup low frequency mains hum and other interference.
 
The strips of contacts and long wires all over the place on a breadboard are antennas that pickup low frequency mains hum and other interference.
And such effects are so small as to be of no significant issue - no different to old style valve wiring, or the tracks on a PCB - as long as it's done sensibly.
 
Most breadboard wiring shown on these forums is a mess of long wires all over the place, not done sensibly.
Here is a fairly neat breadboard wiring:
 

Attachments

  • breadboard.png
    469.4 KB · Views: 372
I am completely new to electronics; starting from Zereo! In my early searching in trying see the most common ways to easily experiment and learn circuits and basics of electronics, the bread board seemed to be an inexpensive and very common way to achieve this. I am sure it has limitations. I am mainly wanting a simple way to take an electronic schematic and be able to transfer it to an actual circuit that does the function is was supposed to do and hopefully learn why different things are happening in the process. Hopefully the book and my breadkit and components will serve this purpose (at least in part). But i am new at this and definitely open to other ideas. Thanks. By the way great you tube video for any other beginners who are interested.


He starts VERY basic but it's great. he builds with every successive video.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…