Educational resources for translating a schematic and putting it on a breadboard?

Can anyone recommend a good resource that will teach you how to translate a schematic and put it on a breadboard? I wanted to figure out how to put this schematic on a breadboard. I know it’s not the simplest, but I figure it would be a good way to learn since it’s not too easy or too complicated.

3 Likes

I’d look for a copy of “Getting Started in Electronics” by Forrest M. Mims III. It should give you a good idea of how to start learning. I wouldn’t jump into this right away-maybe do a 555 LED flasher or something, but you’ll get the basics.

4 Likes

Yeah, this one has one IC which is easy but a whole bunch of transistors and passive components, which can quickly get really messy. I’d suggest starting with something like Mims’ “Stepped Tone Generator” aka “Atari Punk Console” (APC), as mentioned in Sam’s project ideas video from earlier today:

5 Likes

Not going to post it since I don’t know how legal that would be, but since it’s out of stock pretty much everywhere, and it’s super useful, you can actually download a PDF version easily off of a simple google search.

2 Likes

It even has its own brief but comprehensive Wikipedia article.

3 Likes

Oh so that’s how it got on my iPad! I do have a nearly 40 year old copy on my book shelf, stained with commercial PCB etchant and my grade school handwriting in a metallic ink that was novel at the time and a crumbling cover.

5 Likes

I wish I had thought to swipe a copy from my old school electronics lab, they probably all went in the bin a few years later when the school stopped offering the course… I remember the Radio Shack edition with the ring punched holes

4 Likes

Thanks guys :slight_smile: I’ve got the .pdf and will take some time to read through it. I actually bought a couple 555 chips a couple of months ago just to have.

4 Likes

The original design uses a 556 which is two 555s in a 14-pin package, and while it’s not hard to find schematics for 555s, building an APC with two separate 555s from the original 556 schematic can be a useful little exercise in finding & reading datasheets.

4 Likes

This sale is topical!:
https://www.sciplus.com/2420-hole-breadboard-65512-p?trk_msg=DJ42LTLT2T3K7AHB3V2J0Q2LV4&trk_contact=Q9UL0KD7EOIUJJHLEMKJO5I6PO&trk_sid=DP05C78HNS9ATOJR9A80RENP7G&utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciplus.com%2F2420-hole-breadboard-65512-p&utm_campaign=Sale+items
I think I paid about $30 for mine.

4 Likes