MePads and MeSquares

Someone asked me where I get these useful pads to stick to copper laminate for bread boarding. Well go to http://www.qrpme.com where you can find both varieties for $10 a sheet. They make any breadboard look so much neater and easier to build. You break out individual pads to use them.

There are a lot of pads on a single sheet (see above). A couple of each type (pads to join discrete parts and pads for ICs) should keep the average builder going for 12 months. They are much simpler than a PCB for small build runs and nearly as neat. You just stick individual pads onto the copper laminate where you need a pad.

See Dave Richards AA7EE's web pages of excellent examples of how to use these pads effectively. His layouts look superb.

http://www.pbase.com/daverichards/image/150083520/original.jpg

MySquares and MyPads arrive

My order from www.qrpme.com arrived today by airmail from the USA. The PCB stick-down island pads look just the job and my plan is to build a second sample of my 472/500kHz transverter using these on a piece of copper laminate. There is no doubt that these pads will be a big improvement on my own rough-cut homebrew pads. I especially like the islands for SO8,  DIL8 and DIL14 ICs as fixing these with Manhattan construction has always been a real pain.

MePADS and MeSQUARES

MeSQUARES

MePADs

As a fan of sticking small bits of cut-up PCB material to a solid piece of copper laminate ground plane in most of my projects I get through a LOT of bits of copper laminate. Getting lazy in my old age, I've just ordered some MePADS and MeSQUARES from www.qrpme.com in the USA. These are arrays of pads or IC footprints for dead bug or Manhattan style construction that can be snapped out and glued to the main ground plane making a neat layout possible without a real PCB.