bread board query

[BrendanP]

I've got a smd device mounted on a 100 thou through hole break out board. The break out has 16 pins at 100 thou intervals on both axis so plugging it into a bread board is problematic

Does any one know of a bread board that is set up for this sort of app?

 

[Dippy]

"16 pins at 100 thou intervals on both axis"
- sorry, I don't understand.
Post a sketch.

Though, I must admit when you get complicated pinouts you sometimes have to make an adaptor.

 

[Chavaquiah]

Never found one breadboard like that (I needed it for a few LED displays plus some IDC headers).

Your best bet is to make a breakout for the breakout, pulling the rows 300 thou apart.

I assume you have something like this:

oooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooo


And need to get something like this:

oooooooooooooooo


oooooooooooooooo

 

[hippy]

I'm guessing -

 oooo
o    o
o    o
o    o
 oooo

I've seen similar for QFP devices etc. If there's no pins on the board, flying wires to a DIP socket can work. If there are pins, remove them, then flying wire

 

[westaust55]

Sounds like an NQFP-64 package.

What exactly is the chip?


It just might also be available in somethinjg like a 40 pin SOIC package.
Adapters for SOIC as a bit more readily available.

I have donew several SOIC20 packages where the NQFP equivalent is a 32 pin package with some spare (NC) pins.

 

[Minifig666]

The way he/she/it says 100 thou makes me think 100,000 for some reason! It is a bit vauge! We need more info!!!!

 

[tjetson]

The way he/she/it says 100 thou makes me think 100,000 for some reason! It is a bit vauge! We need more info!!!!

Yes it can be quite confusing as both "thou" and "mill" both mean one one-thousandth of an inch. (therefore 100 thou is 100 thousands or 0.1)

 

[BrendanP]

Pins on the break out board are in a double row like this.
oooooooo
oooooooo

Standard DIP spacing both axis.(one hundred thousands of an inch i.e. a tenth of an inch, tough luck its in imperial but then the Americans put the man on the moon not the europeans.)

I don't think a breadboard exists thats set up for this spacing.

I've ordered lots of IC hooks/leads so that should get me out of trouble, if anyone knows of a bread board though let me know.

 

[Dippy]

Ah, the volcanic ash is clearing

Looks like Chava won the sweepstakes.

So, it looks a bit like this?
http://uk.farnell.com/harwin/m20-9970846/header-extended-2row-8way/dp/1022228

I had exactly the same problem with 5+5 pinouts.
I made a little adaptor to turn it into a 0.3" pitch to straddle the centre section of my breadboards. Just like Chav's drawing.
As to whether you can get breadboard with a split centre i really don't know.
Let me know if something is available as I'd be interested too.

 

[tjetson]

tough luck its in imperial but then the Americans put the man on the moon not the europeans.)

I believe NASA use the metric system, don't they?

 

[slimplynth]

That's what I thought too (Nasa = imperial), think they'd like to change to metric but the cost of changing all their drawings would be immense and the likelyhood that a simple error of conversion to different units could cause a fatal disaster.

 

[Dippy]

Some departments do, but hey, quite a few people have crashed things on Mars

 

[tjetson]

I might be wrong, but I believe that they use metric to prevent conversion errors when ordering parts from Europe.

 

[BrendanP]

Thanks guys. I've ordered these from spark fun which should get me out of trouble.

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=9386

NASA/USAF might use metric now but in the days when they started using pcb's it was all imperial hence pcb spacings still often in imperial measurements.

(Ive just done a bit of goggling before I shot my mouth/keyboard off it appears a Austrian Jewish man named Paul Eisler living in the UK in the 30's was a pioneer of the pcb, anyway the UK is imperial too so the point remains the same.)

Von Braun must of found it a challenge but then he probably was just plain thankful he didn't end up on the end of a rope at Nuremburg or on a extended holiday in Siberia along with the remnants of the 6th army.

 

[Dippy]

UK is a right mix of Imperial and Metric.
I can ask for suasages in lbs or Kgs. But the road signs are MPH.
Mine's 12 inches long but I don't use it as a rule.
Europe or US... we're not quite sure, so we'll sit on the fence.

 

[westaust55]

could always try here foir a custom adapter:
http://www.adapters.com/prod_serv/customdesign.htm

 

[westaust55]

or better still an available

QFP to DIP adapter:

http://home.cogeco.ca/~sxtek/


and for future reference on adapters for just about all but 64 pin QFP chips:
http://www.epboard.com/eproducts/protoadapter2.htm#QFNtoDIPAdapter