Talk:Breadboard

Incorrect "Breadboard scheme.svg" file
I am proposing that "Breadboard.svg" file should be changed/corrected. I mean the 4th picture from top with the following description:
 * The hole pattern for a typical etched prototyping PCB (printed circuit board) is similar to the node pattern of the solderless breadboards shown above.

Since there should be two center lines instead of one line which is illustrated. We should not forget that row spacing in dual in line packages is 0.3 inch and not 0.2 inch. I actually etched few real prototyping PCBs for personal use and understood it later!!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.176.189.129 (talk) 21:19, 2 July 2011 (UTC)
 * there is enough variety in these that unless we claim that the layout is identified to be a specific manufacturer/model, it isn't sensible to call it incorrect. -- Waveguy (talk) 18:30, 6 May 2012 (UTC)

Breadboard vs. Veroboard
From the 'history of the name breadboard' bit I realise I could be wrong, but I've never encountered anyone calling Veroboard breadboard or breadboard veroboard.

To me, breadboard is solderless and about as thick as a slice of bread, while veroboard is PCB-with-tracks-to-cut-and-grid-of-holes stuff. It seems it could be confusing to use some historical meaning of breadboard when the modern meaning is so unambiguous.

But it's only unambiguous in my experience. So that's why I havn't changed it myself. Have YOU ever known anyone calling veroboard breadboard or vice-versa?

Mike1024 (talk/contribs) 23:44, 22 September 2005 (UTC)

I've never heard anyone veroboard breadboard or vice-versa. Go ahead and change the article (but leave a link to Veroboard somewhere). --70.189.75.148 12:01, 15 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I just changed it a bit belatedly

"quick test sockets" vs. "solderless breadboards"
Is there any difference between "quick test sockets" vs. "solderless breadboards" ? (These breadboards have the outer lengthwise strip, but the "quick test sockets" don't. Is that the only difference, or is there some more significant difference I'm missing? )


 * yep those are breadboards. it seems that maker sells the buss strip blocks seperately (most breadboards clip together with others of the same range in some way).

other rapid prototyping tools for electronics
Alternatives to the breadboard: Are any of these notable enough for the main article? Is there some other article these would be more appropriate in? --DavidCary 04:09, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

Is the connection through the rows, or coumns? -mkhan1910
 * Lego Electronic Lab Kit
 * Progressive Wiring Techniques
 * PCB router, PCB router PCB router
 * wire wrap
 * dead bug
 * "rat's nest"
 * Effects Building Techniques lists several other techniques

I see no reason why this section is not in the article. So I added this. Neonil 13:04, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

Kid's images
These are the cutest wikimedia images ever.


 * No they aren't. What's with those images anyway? Why would a person that age be using breadboards???

breadboard - original use still known to many
I've been a radio amateur for about 40 years, which embraces the last years of the valve era. It was certainly not at all uncommon to knock up a 1 to 3-valver on a wooden base, and everyone would would have known the derivation of the term from construction on a real breadboard. Having just left my fifties, I hope to be around a little while yet! Bob aka Linuxlad 10:26, 10 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I'll second what Linuxlad says. Breadboarding and breadboards in the sense of "electronic circuit prototypes" predates the device in the article by at least a couple decades. Nibios 12:16, 27 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Then add it to the article. If you can even find some article on the good ald days of valve electronics with a photo of such a setup, even the "[citation needed]" should be happy. Simon A. 09:39, 28 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Alas, our wives, or probably our mothers, long ago reclaimed the 'board for its original use :-) Linuxlad 21:40, 24 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Yeah, I think the product in the photos is more accurately called a solderless breadboard. IMHO the origin of breadboard is more along the lines of the soldered tube construction technique mentioned above. It would probably be called dead bug or ugly bug construction today. Madhu (talk) 02:08, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

I haven't been a radio amateur ever, but I know a bread board when I see it and often use it for cutting bread. This is the silliest article I've ever seen! Deipnosophista (talk) 13:32, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

History of the illustrated breadboard?
Does anybody know how old the design is for the kind of breadboard illustrated in Image:Breadboard counter.jpg or Image:Breadboard.JPG? These look like the exact same items I was using in college EE lab back in the late 70's. It's amazing they haven't changed one iota in 30 years. -- RoySmith (talk) 21:08, 24 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Take a look at this patent issued in 1975 assigned to Continental Specialties. I still have one of these from the late '70s. I think there were several knock offs over the years, but Continental was the first one I ever used (also of the highest quality). I'm guessing it's the original. I believe the company is now called Global Specialties. They appear to be marketing similar products today. Madhu (talk) 02:05, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

general cleanup
Whoever wrote this article really knows their stuff. However the format was a bit messy so you'll notice that I did a bit of a cleanup. Mostly I just made new sections and reworked a bit of the text so it wasn't too confusing, but the general content has remained the same. I think it is much easier to read now, so that everyone, even people of a non-technical background can enjoy it. I certainly did. I actually learnt something about breadboards not knowing much about them and was able to help contribute to Wikipedia with one of my first major edits. Da rulz07 09:40, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

Citation for Polaroid camera
In the Evolution section is a paragraph about the secrecy behind the development of the integrated circuits in the Polaroid SX-70. The only reference I could turn up is on the IEEE web site which requires membership (or payment) to view these documents. I'm not willing to pay, but I'm not going to add a reference for this document; I was hoping that someone who is an IEEE member may eventually read this, and check the document out. Yng varr  20:08, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

"broadband RF circuits"
I'd rather have someone confirm with me first, as I don't work with RF personally. But seriously, using breadboards for RF? Those things have horrible stray capacitance! Are you sure anyone in their right minds actually use it for prototyping RF??? 64.131.252.13 (talk) 21:52, 24 February 2008 (UTC)


 * I think the article is a bit dyslexic for this reason. The images are of what was often called a "solderless breadboard". You are correct, RF circuits don't work well on solderless breadboards, the article indirectly suggests that. What the article is trying to say is that RF prototypes are still made today, but using other techniques, e.g. ugly bug, dead bug, Manhattan style etc. I think this article should be retitled to something like "Solderless breadboard" or something like that. Breadboard, IMHO, should be a different article along the lines of "breadboard - original use still known to many" above. Madhu (talk) 21:20, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

Danish Boards?
Many years ago (probably 30 years ago) my granddad bought me an electronics kit and I am sure that version of the breadboard was actually called a Danish Board! Does that mean anything to anyone? Scaifea (talk) 10:12, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Citation for Polaroid SX-70
I think that this is the proper citation for the claim about breadboarding the SX-70 chip, but I don't have a subscription, so I can't read it to check. It's the The battle for the SX-70 [camera integrated circuitry] article in IEEE spectrum. -Nathan J. Yoder (talk) 08:10, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

DIY protoboard
It is possible to use old salvaged IDE cables/connectors to make your own solderless breadboards:
 * http://www.instructables.com/id/Large_Bread_Board_from_IDE_Cables_breadboard_on_t/
 * Large Bread Board from IDE Cables, breadboard on the cheap

-96.237.10.106 (talk) 15:38, 1 June 2009 (UTC)

Tortilla and Soda Bottle prototyping
In 1998, Kevin Ross invented tortilla-based breadboarding:
 * http://www.seattlerobotics.org/Encoder/apr98/breadbrd.html
 * Tortilla-Board™: A New Breadboard Technique
 * A standard breadboard has holes on 100 mil centers. A tortilla has holes wherever you push the pins of the part through. If you have ever tried using a part with a non-rectangular pin layout, such as the LM18200T H-Bridge, you understand what I mean. Standard breadboards are useless on those parts.
 * A standard breadboard is ridged and flat. The tortilla is soft and plyable. This allows you to create a breadboard, ah, er, Tortilla-Board™ design that conforms to another shape.
 * A standard breadboard can be difficult to cut. A Tortilla-Board™ can be torn, cut, or downright chewed into whatever shape you desire.
 * It is economical. Standard breadboard material costs approximately $3.00 for a 4"x6" section. A whole package of a dozen tortillas costs about $1.19.
 * Its evironmentally friendly. Standard breadboard is made with a bunch of nasty chemical compounds. Tortillas are usually made from flour, oil, and water. (Interesting side note: Flour+Water+Oil == tortilla. Flour+Water+Oil+Eggs == cake. When making cake, where did the tortilla go?). In a pinch, tortillas can be made from corn as well.
 * It is available 24-hours per day. Most areas have at least 1 all night grocery. All night electronic supply houses are very difficult to find!

These DIY prototyping systems provide only a physical strata, not the actual circuit connections -- that is done by free-wiring. The essence of breadboarding is convenience and flexibility. Any scrap modern plastics may also be usable as a circuit board:
 * http://www.instructables.com/id/Put-down-that-tortilla-Prototype-your-next-circui/
 * Put down that tortilla! Prototype your next circuit on a soda bottle!

It is unclear what the electronic properties of tortillas and soda bottles are, and just how they might affect various circuits. For many low voltage and low power circuits they might be usable, at least for temporary experiments. -96.237.10.106 (talk) 16:11, 1 June 2009 (UTC)


 * I think tortillas might tend to attract moisture so their phyical and electrical stability is certainly in question. If you have a rat problem you might also find you prototypes disappearing. Suggestion, don't prototype if hungry, you might again run out of material! Are your tortillas particularly thick, rigid for this use. Or am I thinking of tacos? lol
 * Plastic bottles wouldn't be good from a static electricity POV. What about cardboard?
 * --220.101.28.25 (talk) 06:50, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

Terrible Pictures
Seriously, the pictures of circuits here are really messy (what my lecturers would call "birds nest"), I will see if I can dig out any pictures of my breadboarded circuits, but the lighting will probably not be brilliant.--UltraMagnusspeak 23:17, 8 December 2009 (UTC)