These permanent breadboards are going to be a huge time-saver for me, and make my electronics projects a whole lot less frustrating compared to using perfboard or designing PCBs.
Stick with me if you think this is a touch more enthusiasm than you are used to from me, because something so cheap and simple has been just the right thing at the right time.
What are permanent breadboards?
What are they? As the name suggests, they are permanent, so PCBs that you solder components and wires to, but arranged like breadboards that we commonly use to make quickly changeable circuits using jumper wires.
While they are meant to be soldered like perforated boards (“perfboards”) the power rail rows and the pin columns are connected, and this frees you from needing to mess with lots of fiddly wires, or worse attempt blobs of solder.
Why are they so neat?
You might be thinking “so what?” but I have had some trouble with perfboard or regular breadboards over the years, especially when it comes to signal quality and troubleshooting.
Long time readers might remember the trouble I had with bad signals on my breadboard Z80 experiments, and the cat’s fascination with what I was making.
Not only can you be mislead into thinking the circuit is wrong but also circuits on breadboards are meant to come apart, which means you can’t rely on anything staying put for long.
The word “permanent” might be concerning, but parts can be desoldered of course but also by using a chip socket, the Z80 doesn’t need to be in the project permanently and still gains the advantages and convenience of using these boards.
What are the downsides?
Not everyone is happy with soldering. You can’t put wires in and out like with a regular breadboard, so calling it that might be a little inaccurate, though I don’t think that is a problem per se.
The more obvious issue is having a stock of them might at first seem pricey. Buying a name brand will certainly set you back. Of course this is because they have overheads and you are supporting their broader efforts.
BUT, it turns out you can get them made quickly and cheaply at everyone’s favourite PCB fabricators! You might have guessed already, the ever-generous PCBWay made these for me so I could write this article, though I was ready to order a batch anyway.
An amazing community member has uploaded the designs in two sizes, so all you have to do is order them. You can also save some money by cutting them down to just the necessary size and keep the remainder for future projects.
Bottom Line
I really do think these are a game-changer now we can get them at a practically throw-away price (especially if you don’t need them quickly).
Please do support the creator by buying via his PCBWay link as they will share 10% of the cost with him.
Thank you to PCBWay for manufacturing these PCBs for me. I have to say the boards they made came quickly, are excellent quality, and look absolutely lovely in the white solder mask (other colours were tempting – maybe next time!). I even had to get my multimeter out to confirm the pads were connected because the traces were so well hidden! This is my third set of boards from PCBWay and I look forward to getting another design fabricated, highly recommended.
xTool F2 Review: New, Powerful Portable Laser