Need a little help building my first circuit without a breadboard.

Thread Starter

Sasuke Uchiha

Joined Jan 15, 2022
21
Hi Guys.

I am building my very first circuit, without using a breadboard. I have found something called a terminal strip.
Is this the correct way to use one?

terminal block circuit.jpg
(Moderator: Resized your image so one can see it without the need to scroll)
 
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Irving

Joined Jan 30, 2016
3,843
Sort of...

The strips are only connected vertically in your picture. To complete the 5v for example you need to join the two right hand sections together.

Similarly you need to connect all 4 of the left hand 'grounds' together.

More conventionally connect the right hand 4 strips together on the top and to the 5v -terminal. Connect the device - terminal to the bottom of the strip.

Similarly to connect the right hand two strips together at the top and to 5v +terminal. Connect device + terminals to the right hand bottom two.

A picture would make it clearer but I can't draw one on my phone.
 

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,167
Certainly terminal strips can be very useful in building circuits. I have used many terminal strips over the years.
There is a very wide variety of terminal strip types and styles, including quite a few solder-connection types used for building electronic stuff. And the prices are spread over an even wider range, from less than a cent per terminal to over $2 per terminal.
To gain an education as to the different kinds of terminal strips available I suggest visiting the on-line catalogs of some of the larger electronics suppliers, such as Farnell, Newark, Digikey, and Avnet. Other participats may be able to suggest additional catalogs. Some catalogs are better than others, and certainly prices will vary. The very most expensive terminals I have seen are from the Allen Bradley company.

I wish you success on the project, and you need to be aware that, just as Irving states, terminals in the terminal strip you show only connect through, the adjacent terminals are isolated from each other. It is possible to put more than one wire in each terminal on the type that you show here, although some folks do not approve of it. But it can work very well.
 

DickCappels

Joined Aug 21, 2008
10,153
If you have not already done so, look up Dead bug style on the internet. It is faster than using "breadboards" and terminal strips, and is useful with nanosecond risetime signals if done carefully.
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,845
Welcome to AAC!
I am building my very first circuit, without using a breadboard.
The terminal strip you showed is an odd choice for a circuit of any complexity.

How many components does your circuit have and what are their types? Is this going to be a one off? If you have any components in DIP, the method you propose won't be effective.

You should consider strip board, pad per hole, vector board, or making your own board using something like toner transfer.
  1. Strip board has rows of pads that are connected by a copper trace and you make breaks in the traces as required.
  2. Pad per hole has pads that you can use to secure components and use wires for interconnect, though some put solder across adjacent pads in some cases.
  3. By vector board, I mean the type that's usually phenolic with a grid of holes. You use wires for point to point routing.
  4. Or you can make your own board using copper clad laminate and etching away what you don't need.
Strip board:
1642262057612.png
Pad per hole:
1642262080473.png
Vector (a brand) board:
1642262165984.png
 
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Thread Starter

Sasuke Uchiha

Joined Jan 15, 2022
21
Thanks for the support guys. Its very encouraging to know people like you are out there helping people like me.
I am still a bit confused though. I thought the terminal stip connects horizontally. I have found a similar setup to the one I need.

In the picture you can see an xt60 connector that would go to the power source. (battery) Then the battery powers two ESCs.
Is it not correct that everything from the left of the red wire on top, to the first black wire on the bottom is "5V" And everything from the top black wire to the first red wire on the right is ground?

1642259637880.png
 

Thread Starter

Sasuke Uchiha

Joined Jan 15, 2022
21
Welcome to AAC!
The terminal strip you showed is an odd choice for a circuit of any complexity.

How many components does your circuit have and what are their types? Is this going to be a one off? If you have any components in DIP, the method you propose won't be effective.

You should consider strip board, pad per hole, vector board, or making your own board using something like toner transfer.
  1. Strip board has rows of pads that are connected by a copper trace and you make breaks in the traces as required.
  2. Pad per hole has pads that you can use to secure components and use wires for interconnect, though some put solder across adjacent pads in some cases.
  3. By vector board, I mean the type that's usually phenolic with a grid of holes. You use wires for point to point routing.
  4. Or you can make your own board using copper clad laminate and etching away what you don't need.
Strip board:
View attachment 257728
Pad per hole:
View attachment 257729
Vector (a brand) board:
View attachment 257730
This is the circuit I am trying to build

1642262756242.png
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,845
This is the circuit I am trying to build
If this is going to be a one off, use any method that's convenient. With that many components with what I assume will be tenth inch lead spacing, one of the boards I mentioned will be more convenient than the terminal strip you seem inclined to use.

If you plan to make more than one, making your own board would make wiring more convenient.

This is for a tracking power supply circuit I designed:
trackingSupplyTransfer.jpg
Still haven't etched any of the boards, so I can't show a more completed state.
 

AnalogKid

Joined Aug 1, 2013
10,986
Please give us the regulator part number(s) or data sheet(s). They usually require capacitors on both the inputs and outputs, so things are going to get a bit crowded. Other than that, OK so far.

ak
 

ElectricSpidey

Joined Dec 2, 2017
2,758
Just for information...

The terminal in post 1 is called "Euro Style"
The terminal in post 7 is called a Barrier Strip, and has jumpers installed to make 3 connections common on either side.
 

Thread Starter

Sasuke Uchiha

Joined Jan 15, 2022
21
If this is going to be a one off, use any method that's convenient. With that many components with what I assume will be tenth inch lead spacing, one of the boards I mentioned will be more convenient than the terminal strip you seem inclined to use.

If you plan to make more than one, making your own board would make wiring more convenient.

This is for a tracking power supply circuit I designed:
View attachment 257733
Still haven't etched any of the boards, so I can't show a more completed state.
This is my very first circuit without relying on breadboards, so I want to do it as simple as possible, just to boost my confidence and be more comfortable. When I first know I can make a circuit without a breadboard, I will seek better methods. But I need to start somewhere. At my current level, I am not comfortable using more advanced methods.
 

Thread Starter

Sasuke Uchiha

Joined Jan 15, 2022
21
Please give us the regulator part number(s) or data sheet(s). They usually require capacitors on both the inputs and outputs, so things are going to get a bit crowded. Other than that, OK so far.

ak
  1. The ESC: https://bluerobotics.com/store/thrusters/speed-controllers/besc30-r3/
  2. GoPro: https://gopro.com/en/us/update/hero7-black
  3. Power module for the battery: (It has a 5V voltage regulator) https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000483551259.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.22894f63aw2mZc&algo_pvid=1659d01e-ab7b-44e7-ba29-a1ae36616a56&algo_exp_id=1659d01e-ab7b-44e7-ba29-a1ae36616a56-0&pdp_ext_f={"sku_id":"10000002004744013"}&pdp_pi=-1;21.1;-1;-1@salePrice;NOK;search-mainSearch
  4. Telemetry device: https://www.3dxr.co.uk/autopilots-c...-transmission-c16/hex-herelink-air-unit-p3579
  5. 12V voltage regulator for the telemetry device: https://www.pololu.com/product/2577

All these parts will be connected to a Pixhawk (Arduino like device)
A single 18V Lipo battery will power everything
 

ElectricSpidey

Joined Dec 2, 2017
2,758
Yes, the barrier strip is the preferred terminal for power distribution, whereas the euro style is mostly used for single wire to single wire connections.
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,708
When I built my tube amp about a year ago I used the technique shown in post #1 for connecting resistors and capacitors to the tube sockets. This allowed me to easily change components when I needed to modify the design. I could insert more than one wire into the terminals.

The HV power and filament power distribution was done using the technique shown in post #7.

So yes, I have used both styles of connections in the same project.
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,845
This is my very first circuit without relying on breadboards, so I want to do it as simple as possible, just to boost my confidence and be more comfortable.
I'd suggest starting with a phenolic board with holes on a tenth inch grid.

You still haven't provided enough information for more specific suggestions.
 

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,167
Thanks for the support guys. Its very encouraging to know people like you are out there helping people like me.
I am still a bit confused though. I thought the terminal stip connects horizontally. I have found a similar setup to the one I need.

In the picture you can see an xt60 connector that would go to the power source. (battery) Then the battery powers two ESCs.
Is it not correct that everything from the left of the red wire on top, to the first black wire on the bottom is "5V" And everything from the top black wire to the first red wire on the right is ground?

View attachment 257724
This one is a totally different type of terminal strip AND it includes the "jumper strips" to join adjacent terminals. AND it looks good. The first post had a terminal strip usually used for mains voltage wiring, which had shield to prevent touching any conductors. It also had terminals that were made to accept bare wire. The strip shown here works best with terminals, although I have used many of them with just bare wire.
 

Audioguru again

Joined Oct 21, 2019
6,673
I used stripboard for thousands of prototype circuits. The strips form half of the wiring of a pcb and a few short jumper wires and the parts form the remaining half. The strips are cut to length with a drill bit and everything is soldered for no intermittent connections that happen on a breadboard.
 

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