Prototyping Board – Small – Style 1

Based on a Breadboard Layout

This board is based on a standard breadboard with a few of our own improvements.

• Power busses are pre routed on the board
• Power busses go from edge to edge and do not have any gaps
• Power busses are available in the gap were DIL components usually sit. This provides more flexibility for component placement and allows for more options for connecting power to components.

Mix Through-Hole and Surface mount components

Small SMD components like LEDs, Resistors or Capacitors can be soldered straight onto the exposed tracks.

Dual Color Screen Printing

Positive and Ground power rails are shown with Red and Black outlines.

Connection Strips on Top and Bottom Edges

Most Protostack protoboards have sets of 3 connected pads on the top and bottom edges. These are used to interface each board with the adjoining board above/below or to interface the board with an external system. These strips can also be used as regular breadboard style connection strips.

Standard Protostack Form Factor and Mounting Holes

Protostack large boards have a standard size with 6 mounting holes on the top and bottom edges. This allow the board to be stacked with other small, medium or large boards using hexagonal spacers.

You can read all about board stacking here.

Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold (ENIG) Surface Treatment

ENIG is a 2 layer surface treatment combining Nickel and Gold. This treatment protects copper tracks from oxidation and provides a very flat surface for surface mounted components. This treatment is lead free and RoHS (Reduction of Hazardous Substances) compliant.

Typically surface treatments are applied to solder pads only. We’ve applied ENIG treatment to entire tracks to make them more visible and to provide more options for soldering surface mounted components.

Thru-Plated Holes

All holes are plated with copper then treated with ENIG surface treatment. This increases the surface area for the solder and capillary action improves solderability. The end result is a stronger more reliable connection.

Quality FR4 Board Material

We use quality FR4 fibreglass board material unlike the paper based phenolic material that is found in many prototyping boards. Fibreglass reinforced substrates have a much higher strength that paper reinforced boards and are more resistant to cracking or breaking.

Solder Mask/Resist

The FR4 material is usually a light grey/green colour. A white lacquer-like layer is applied using a silk screen but this isn’t just about making the board look good.

The solder resist prevents bridging between 2 adjoining pads.