RE-COLLECT
Printed Wiring Boards
When assembling an electronic circuit, a board is needed on
which the components can be mounted and wired together. This
board is called a Printed Wiring Board (PWB).
In Japan, the printed wiring board used to be called a "Printed
Circuit Board." Nowadays in Japan the name "Printed Circuit
Board" is not used because the initials of "Printed Circuit Board"
are "PCB." PCB also stands for "Polychlorinated Biphenyls
(PCBs)," which is a poison. So in Japan, we refer to the boards
as "Printed Wiring Boards." In other countries, they are still
refered to as "Printed Circuit Boards," or PCBs.
Making a PWB takes a lot of work, and can be very difficult. For
this reason, for many hand-made circuits, I often use a universal
PWB.
The universal PWB consists of an insulation board drilled with
.8mm holes at 0.1 inch (2.54 mm) intervals. The board is
completely covered with these holes from edge to edge. The
insulation board is comprised of fiberglass (glass epoxy), paper
epoxy, or
bakelite plastic.
Centered around
each hole on the
bottom of the
PWB is an
(approximately)
2mm copper leaf
(known as the
"land" or "pad").
To use the board,
the parts are mounted on the face of the board, and the
component leads are passed through the nearest holes, to project
through the bottom of the board, where the wires can be soldered
together.
The interval between the holes is 0.1 inches (2.54 mm), so DIP
or SIP ICs can
be easily
mounted.
The photograph
shows a PWB
made of glass
epoxy. The color
is green.
Paper epoxy
boards have a
beige color. In
case of bakelite,
the color is thin brown.
As for the size of the board, there are several kinds by the
number of the holes.
From the left side in the photograph
55 x 40 holes (size 160 x 115 mm)
30 x 25 holes (size 95 x 72 mm)
25 x 15 holes (size 72 x 47 mm)
There are various sizes in addition to what I have shown, so you
can select a board according to your needs.
The boards can also be cut to size.
On the top right in the photograph, the back side is shown. The
copper leaf on this board has been pre-soldered ("tinned") to
make soldering easier, so it has a silver color. If the board has
not been pre-soldered, then it is seen to have a copper color.