Breadboard power supply

[edeca]

I decided to design a quick through-hole version of a board similar to Sparkfun's 3.3v/5v breadboard power supply. I actually had a bunch of components already so designed around them, the results can be seen below.

The original design:

**broken link removed**

The completed board (a bit messy in places, but it's a prototype!):

**broken link removed**

Voltage is changed with the small red jumper block. Note that I didn't export all the right layers for the silkscreen, so the prototype board is missing the text showing where +ve/GND are on the headers. But.. it works!

 

[Hayato]

Nice one, englishman.

 

[Vizier87]

very simple and useful. I suppose the extra GND holes are for good measure?..... and I'm a hardcore perboarder, so pardon on this supposedly silly question for a person with a post count like mine, but can you post me a link on producing wicked-lookin' PCBs like that? I have juuuuuust started on the simplest and disgusting-looking ones (the 10-dollar apiece, printed circuit by using an iron press, yadda yadda one), and yours look like it's ready to be mass-produced.

 

[Dean Huster]

Needing more than just the power supply, I designed a whole covey of digital and analog modules for use with breadboards so that I didn't have to construct the same common circuits all the time. I ended up with several versions of power supplies (but I really like the implementation you have for yours on the end of the board like that better than what I have), a pulse generator, crystal-controlled divided outputs (one based on a 10MHz oscillator decade-divided down to 1Hz and the other based on the standard 32.xxx KHz clock oscillator binarily divided down to 1Hz), several different types of LED readouts (one just the LED, most with hexadecimal decoder/drivers built in), pulsers (debounced switches), DIP switches, sine wave oscillator, filters, etc. When you talk about just plugging an 8-digit display into a breadboard without having to wire 7-segment LEDs and decoder/driver chips to get it all, it saves a massive amount of time and a lot of breadboard real estate that can better be used for the circuitry you're really experimenting with.

Dean

 

[antknee]

That is spot on. There is an art or perhaps science to making complicated things look simple. Impressive.

 

[3v0]

That is spot on. There is an art or perhaps science to making complicated things look simple. Impressive.

Layout is a lot like puzzle solving. If you are the right sort of person improving the layout is enjoyable.

 

[dknguyen]

very simple and useful. I suppose the extra GND holes are for good measure?..... and I'm a hardcore perboarder, so pardon on this supposedly silly question for a person with a post count like mine, but can you post me a link on producing wicked-lookin' PCBs like that? I have juuuuuust started on the simplest and disgusting-looking ones (the 10-dollar apiece, printed circuit by using an iron press, yadda yadda one), and yours look like it's ready to be mass-produced.

I think he had his fabbed because it's silk screen. THough if he did that on his own too, that's mighty impressive.

 

[antknee]

Layout is a lot like puzzle solving. If you are the right sort of person improving the layout is enjoyable.

I do enjoy board design. I'll be very pleased when I've had mine made up and it actually works.

 

[edeca]

Vizier87, the extra holes are for +ve/GND connections. The idea was to use a 2 pin version of the connector below to provide power to other breakout boards if necessary.

**broken link removed**

Dean, I am slowly building up a collection of boards but I am pretty bad at posting about them. Many of them need to be revisited to fix the errors I made first time round. I did indeed get this one manufactured, by BatchPCB.

Thanks very much for all the positive comments, for me the best bit is getting rid of the fixed 5v regulator I've had on stripboard for the last 7 years. It is twice the size of this little PCB!