
Fixed Layout Prototyping – Hexagonal Electronics Breadboard - zdw
http://davidrowntree.co.uk/fixed-layout-prototyping/
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setquk
Trying to express a circuit design onto any fixed layout has non trivial side
effects that you don’t want. Parasitics and poor grounding are a nightmare. I
don’t know why people use prototype boards at all.

I am using this construction technique which is good down to DC and good up to
1GHz or so. I’ve built very non trivial things with it:

[https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2403/db840e6874e29f55ad9a45...](https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2403/db840e6874e29f55ad9a4599481738773b57.pdf)

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Renaud
Manhattan is great for discrete components but doesn't work that well for
digital with small smd ICs.

So it's best suited to analog but for digital, prototype boards -such as the
one from Mike's Electric Stuff linked in the article- are pretty good for
prototypes or one-off products. There were popular methods in the past, like
wire-wrapping, but unfortunately, they are no longer favoured. That used to be
a good way to build fairly complex digital boards.

Nowadays, going direct to PCB is also a viable solution since they are very
cheap and reasonably fast to get.

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setquk
Totally agree with direct to PCB if the problem domain does not fit manhattan
or dead bug. I usually do that if anything is non trivial anyway as it's less
of a PITA generally

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xondono
Maybe it’s me, but I’ve never found prototyping boards to be worth the time it
takes to set them up.

I’d rather go for a PCB and set it up so I can test the circuit. If it works
all ok, job is done, otherwise I have a good testbed for experimenting.

Everyone I’ve talked about this tells me it’s timing, but As far as I can see,
it’s a difference I more than make up by rearranging tasks or taking on
parallel projects.

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rwmj
This has changed over time. Back in the 80s getting a PCB made either involved
etching a board yourself and bags of strong chemicals and UV lights (a massive
pain), or was expensive and tedious to outsource (and you still had to produce
camera-ready transparencies yourself). We always used Vero boards or wire wrap
instead. Nowadays you can email off a design and get boards back a week or two
later and at a very reasonable cost.

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xondono
I know, but the “email off a design” solution has been around for more than 10
years. I don’t even do prototyping of boards I do for my own projects, I just
plan them so I have other things to do for a month while I wait for the cheap
pcbs

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samstave
What happened to that YC company that was building a "drawing language" sort
of thing for designs? I cant recall the right terminology, but they made a
software service for designing boards really fast and in a more automated
layout fashion?

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anfractuosity
I think you mean this - [https://www.jitx.com/](https://www.jitx.com/)

(
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17654865](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17654865)
)

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samstave
Thats the one.

Thanks -- so can you explain the exact difference between what these guys are
doing and OP/what people ITT are describing.

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jpm_sd
This is (2006). Thirteen years later, getting a proper PCB prototype made has
never been cheaper. Turnaround direct from a factory in China can be less than
a week if you're in a rush!

You can still save a lot of money by hand soldering the components, of course.

