first time circuit board

[danll21]

i'm a master electrician, but sadly i know little about electronics. i found a do-it-yourself project in a popular science magazine that is a little box that will let you use your tv remote to turn on and off a lamp. i'm going to try to put it together. i honestly don't have any use for it when i'm done, it just bugs me that i don't know how.
i looked over the schematic and it makes sense. my problem right off is how to assemble the components. should i just solder little jumper wires between the different diods and relays and things? that seems like a short circuit waiting to happen. can i get a circuit board "blank" or something like that? one of the components is a little chip with 8 pins. a circuit board made for it would have a perfect little place to snap it in and then solder it, but starting from scratch like this, i don't know what the best thing to do is.
can someone point me in the right direction? any trade lingo will obviously go right over my head. thanks for the help

 

[philba]

Use something like this to build your circuit
**broken link removed**
insert your components and either use the component leads or extra wire and solder them together.

Or you could use a solderless breadboard like this for something less than permanent
**broken link removed**
The horizontal runs in the middle are connected and the four outside vertical runs are you power/gnd rails. It makes it pretty easy to put together a circuit. Good for learning and proof of concept.

 

[danll21]

thanks for getting back to me so fast. what are the odds that the pins coming out of my various components will line up with those holes? is the spacing on something like that pretty universal? where would i get one like that top picture?

 

[Blueteeth]

thanks for getting back to me so fast. what are the odds that the pins coming out of my various components will line up with those holes? is the spacing on something like that pretty universal? where would i get one like that top picture?

The odds can be quite high, depends on the components' packages

They are 0.1" (2.54mm) spacing which is a standard, a fairly old one too. Resistors, caps, diodes, generally have axial leads, which can be bent to whatever pitch you wish (the minimum being the length of the component), transistors fit across 3 holes, and DIP IC packages are designed for this spacing.

As for information/purchasing both types of board shown in the previous reply? The solderless breadboard is the white thing, very handy indeed, maybe not for RF or overly sensitive electronics, or high current, but everything else.

The prototype soldering board can come in certain patterns, or simply have 'one pad per hole', and go by various names/breandnames.
Stripboard, Veroboard, matrix board (some don't have copper!), tripad, prototyping board.

Google those and you'll find info, tips, tutorials, and distributors. Ebay can be an excellent source for small orders, as well as prototyping hardware, but almost all electronic shops have a prototyping section, since its such a massive area of the industry.

Good luck!

Blueteeth