The dimensions on the top specify the
rows and columns of the stripboard.
We are viewing the stripboard from
the non-copper side. There is one cut
you need to make on the copper side,
so that electricity doesn’t flow where
we don’t want it. Be sure to make that
cut (with a boxcutter, drill, what have
you) on the underside of the board,
and keep in mind that it is positioned
on the board such that the top layer
is invisible. If you flip the board over
horizontally, the cut will be on the
bottom row, fourth from the left. An
easy way to get this right the first time
is to get a small drill bit and drill right
through the top of the board in the
marked spot.
The diagram also specifies a jumper,
which is represented by the vertical
black line on the stripboard. The black
line simply represents a small piece of
wire that will be used to connect rows
C and D.
I made the circuit diagram such that
the capacitors, resistor and diode are
the same color as the ones I’m using.
The capacitor in the program is orange
by default—the point is that color, size
and shape don’t matter, as long as one
condition is met: The voltage rating
is higher than the voltage running
through the circuit (nine volts in this
case). I typically get 63-volt caps that fit
stripboard very well.
Resistors have several numbers
associated with them, but the only ones
we care about are resistance (of course)
and wattage. It’s not that we’re going
to be doing some serious electrical
work here, where watts are a factor;
“wattage” in this case translates to
“size.” For our applications, quarterwatt resistors are best from a size
perspective. Any wattage will work, but
may not fit on the board as easily.
Potentiometers (herein referred to as
“pots”) are the foundation of knobs,
and all you really need to know is
that they vary resistance. They have
three lugs, and we’re going by the
convention that, when looking at the
flat part with the lugs facing up, they’re
numbered 1, 2 and 3, left-to-right.
When you see wires coming off the
board labeled things like “volume 3,” it
means that the row connects to lug 3 of
the volume pot.
The sockets are a different story. In
the future, you can socket literally any
component you want. And because
only the rows are connected, you can
go ahead and use a 3x1 socket, like I
did, instead of two 1x1 pieces. Cutting
and soldering two small sockets is a
real pain and I don’t recommend it.
SO, LET’S DO SOME
BUILDING!
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