Electronics - Breadboard multimeter adapter

For some time now I've been looking for a convenient way to probe around my breadboard with my multimeter. It can be a little tricky, because the probes are too thick to get into the little holes on the breadboard.


I had a bit of an idea today.

I came up with this...

It's a stereo headphone jack with a long length of header pin (sturdy wire used as a plug) soldered to the legs.

I added some insulation in the form of heatshrink, and...

TaDah!

The 120 Things in 20 years multimeter breadboard adapter.

Electronics - Zero K breadboard resistor

I always try to not just "take" when it comes to learning a new thing, but this electronics caper has really been worked out already by a whole stack of really clever people.

I cant seem to come up with anything to offer the world, so I came up with this as a forlorn attempt to quench my karmic debt.

It's the zero K breadboard resistor.

It's a wire with a knot in it.

It works just like a wire, but is easier to handle.

It's all I've got at this stage.





My karmic overdraft doesn't seem to have changed.






120 Things in 20 years says, "When thinking electronics, a zero K breadboard resistor can be simultaneously just right, and not quite enough.".

Electronics - Social norms and fried chips

I'm of the opinion that kitchens should have two computers sitting side by side on a small kitchen table, a soldering station, and stack of components strewn everywhere, an electronics project in the works, and perhaps a few, as yet unidentified, insects in jars.

Interestingly I'm discovering it's not necessarily everyone's idea of the perfect kitchen.

But I bought some of these to add to the kitchen today.

They look neat.

I figure if I add neatness, the overall average neatness score has to increase. Thus, I have slightly improved the situation.

That should buy me some time before having to create some kind of work space that isn't also a dining table.


As much as I feel my neatness score is on the improve, and if I keep adding neat stuff to the collection, I'll end up having a kitchen that must generally be considered to be over all "more neat than not", it's probably a good idea to start this kind of stuff somewhere else.

Those neat things I bought do this.

Which I think is an improvement on this.













I've been struggling a bit to work out some electronics stuff that should have been easy, and I even fried a chip.

It's a commonly held belief that electronic components are full of magic black smoke, and once it's let out, can never be returned.

This, to my surprise, turned out to be true.

I like to blame my escaping black smoke on the birds nest of wires I made my test circuits from. Some stuff simply doesn't like having its wires crossed.

At least with my new connectors, there will be one less thing to blame burnt out components on.

Electronics - Soldering and breadboards

It turns out I'm probably struggling with this new soldering skill thing because I'm practising on dirty circuit boards. It seems hot metal doesn't enjoy the company of grease, and corrosion.

Who knew.

Actually it seems lots of people knew.

Just not me.

What I needed was a blank bit of nice new circuit board, and some random bits to solder to it.

So I went into an electronics store, and said I needed a project board, and around two dozen assorted inexpensive components.

They said "sure, which two dozen part do you need?"

I explained that it didn't matter.

They looked at me as if I were a nut case, and sold me this lot for $5.



The big square thing on the left is the project board. It's just a blank circuit board with lots of circles of copper on it. It allows you to solder things to it easily.

Or at least I hope it does.

It looks like this up close.

My components are resistors. They each have quite a long wire attached to each end. I'm hoping I can solder my components on right at the end of the wires. so I can cut them off, and practice soldering them on again. I might even get the hang of soldering before I have to cut the components too low to be able to use again. If I manage, they wont even go to waste. Not that I know what to do with them, but at least my work area will look a bit like I know some stuff.


I also bought a bread board.

A bread board is another thing with holes in it, but this one has little metal clips in the holes that allow you to plug the components in without soldering them. This allows you to experiment and work on a prototype before actually committing to soldering it up permanently.

From what I understand it wouldn't be a very robust way to make a project, so a bread board isn't instead of soldering, but is a reusable first step in laying out your project and testing it.