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PRO-S
LAB STATION
USER MANUAL
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ....................................................... Page 2
Figure 1. PRO-S Assembly ............................... Page 3
How to Work with Solderless
Breadboards ...................................................... Page 4
Identifying Resistor Values and
Tolerances ........................................................ Page 6
Identifying Capacitor Values,
Tolerances and Polari ty .................................... Page 7
Identifying Diodes and LED's and
their Polarity ...................................................... Page 8
Identifying Transis tor s and t heir
Lead Arrangement ............................................ Page 9
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Identifying FETs and their
Lead Arrangement ............................................ Page 11
Identifying Integrated Circuits and
their Lead Arrangemen t .................................... Page 12
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INTRODUCTION
EXPERIMENTERS NOTES is intended to be a general guide
for the experimenter who works with solderless breadboarding
systems, and the discrete components that are commonly used
with these systems. Although the components used are
standard items, their use with solderless breadboards
sometimes requires them to be modified slightly, and we will
discuss how this can be done.
This guide will also show you how to determine the electrical
value of various components. This value is occasionally written
on the component in plain english, but is frequently shown by
the use of a color code (a series of bands of color on the
component), or an abbreviated series of standards, and are not
difficult to understand. The same holds true for polarity
indicators, which appear on all diodes as well as on some types
of capacitors.
Another important concept is that of the lead arrangement of
semiconductor devices, namely transistors and integrated
circuits. To insure that all connections are made correctly, one
must view the part from the correct position, and count the pins
in the correct direction. This will be described in detail, with
examples shown.
It is highly recommended that the experimenter read these
NOTES completely before beginning any circuit breadboarding,
and then refer to them as needed in the future. You will find that
much of the information will become almost second nature, and
you will eventually commit most of it to memory wi thout ev en
trying. Nonetheless, it is suggested that you retain these
NOTES for future reference.
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HOW TO WORK WITH SOLDERLESS BREADBOARDS
A solderless breadboard is an extremely useful device which
allows you to interconnect electronic components in an almost
endless variety of ways to produce working circuits. More
importantly, it makes it easy to modify or completely revise
these circuits quickly, and without use of any tools. And since it
eliminates the possibility of overheating and damaging them,
and it allows them to be used over and over.
Mechanically, the solderless breadboard is a set of formed
metal sockets inserted into a plastic housing which holds them
firmly in place. The pattern seen from the top is designed to
provide a useful combination of isolated tie points as well as
continuous bus structure. The isolated tie points serve as
discrete points in the circuit you are constructing, while the
busses serve, generally, to distribute power and provide
common ground points.
Solderless breadboards have a very long life expectancy if
treated properly. The most important thing to be aware of is the
size of the wire used; we recommend using #22 AWG solid wire
only. Wire which is too small may lead to poor or intermittent
connections. Wire which is too large may deform the internal
metal sockets to the point where they will not grip the proper
wire size any more, rendering the breadboard useless. A
second caution is to avoid soldering a wire which is inserted into
a solderless breadboard, as it may cause the plastic
surrounding the pin to melt, or may remove the temper from the
metal rendering it electrically unreliable.
TRANSISTOR INDENTIFICATION
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IC's are inserted by lining up the leads with the contact
holes on each side of the center of the "socket", then
pressing gently at the center of the IC until it drops into
position. Withdrawing the IC can be tricky. You should
use an IC removal tool if one is available to you, but a
small screwdriver will also work. Slide the end of the
screwdriver blade under one end of the IC and lift gently.
Repeat on the other side. Continue this process until the
IC is free of the socket.
IC's in TO-5 or similar cases can be accommodated by
performing their leads to resemble a DIP package. This is
best done with a pair of needle nose pliers. Similarly,
transistors leads can be formed to fit the breadboard
configuration.
Special components such as pushbuttons, switches,
potentiometers, etc. can be used by soldering a short
length of #22 AWG solid wire to each of their terminals
and then inserting these in the breadboard. This
approach is also recommended where you must connect
stranded wire to a breadboard, such as when using
battery clips.
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If you should want to make a permanent version of a
circuit you have built up on a breadboard, a printed circuit
board is available which has exactly the same layout as
the solderless breadboard. This enables you to easily
transfer all components, in their original positions, to a
permanent PC board.
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