Alioth's Journal: [nixies] Etch, wrap or strip?

Well, I'm almost done with the display board (direct drive, consisting of 7 IN-16 nixie tubes, 7 K155ID1 BCD to nixie drivers, 7 4050 CMOS buffers, 14 2N3440 transistors, 14 1K resistors, 7 33K resistors, two 20-way IDC headers, a 2-pin connector and a *lot* of wire). It's done on veroboard (strip board). However, I'm seriously wondering if that's the right way to build the logic board.

Putting so many components on strip board has been a bit of a chore. I almost got 'track cutting RSI' from breaking the tracks in the appropriate places, it was all too easy to get a whisker of copper bridging adjacent tracks when doing so, and it's taken a fsck of a lot of work to solder in the hundreds of little interconnecting wires. Although it does look cool with rivers of blue wire squished between rows of ICs.

So, for the logic board, I'm wondering:

- stay with strip board?
- etch a PCB?
- wire wrap?

Etching a PCB has its drawbacks, also. It'll mean lots of drilling and it involves nasty chemicals (ferric chlorate) to etch the board, which I don't know how I'm going to safely dispose of. (Perhaps the tip down the road will take it, they take car batteries which are full of sulphuric acid and lead).

Wire wrapping - I haven't the faintest idea where I can find wire wrapping kit. I assume ordinary perfboard works OK, but where I get the wire wrapping bits from I don't know - I've not seen it at Maplin or anywhere else.

If you've etched a PCB yourself, I'd like to hear about it. Or wire wrapped, I'd like to hear about the compatative pain-in-the-assness of both methods.

Etching

[arb]

I etch my own PCBs using Ammonium Persulfate, which is relatively easy to to work with and gives great results. For disposal of any chemicals used, check your local waste management companies - you should be able to find one that deals with toxic chemicals.

Etching is quick and easy, though drilling the holes can be a bugger. It is best to use a drill stand, as trying to hold a drill (either full size, or a small hand-held, Dremel-type drill) can not only get tiring after a while, but it is hard to keep the

Wire Wrapping

[anominous]

Hi, I found this link for a UK based supplier of wire-wrap kit. http://www.huntertools.co.uk/index.php?main_page=i ndex&cPath=340&zenid=d6fdbf846bf7dc00b98076ad56834 b54 [huntertools.co.uk] I've never purchased from them, have nothing to do with them, but they do seem to be one of very few people selling it! HTH, Rob