Jacobs Test Rig

[peAk]

So I have decided that it's time to build a test rig and Jacobs tutorial looks pretty good and straight forward.

I do have a couple of questions though....

How are you guys connecting the wire to the pcb that you connect the alligator clips to? I would rather not have to solder pieces of wire just for that. I also don't want to just stick the wire in and have it loose. Just curious if someone has a good method for this.

Also, if there is a good method for connecting the wire to the pcb, seems like the same method could be applied to the pots as well. That way you can test the rig before you solder the pots.

I read through all the pages but I didn't see any of this mentioned.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[mattlee0037]

Sorry, no answer to your question but where can I find this tutorial?

[thesameage]

ditto would like to see it too.

[peAk]

http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=1140.msg7339#msg7339

[mattlee0037]

Ahh! I personally used wire into barrier strips. Not sure how to use the alligator clips exactly.

[Jabulani Jonny]

What I'm trying to find are leads that can fit in the component hole of a prefab PCB. Something maybe spring loaded that would maintain connection. Right now I'm using a screw terminal strip.


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[peAk]

What I'm trying to find are leads that can fit in the component hole of a prefab PCB. Something maybe spring loaded that would maintain connection. Right now I'm using a screw terminal strip.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is exactly what I am talking about. Something like that would be great.

[thesameage]

Where are you guys getting your probes?

[peAk]

Where are you guys getting your probes?

I haven't started building my test rig yet but some came with my DMM. I think I have seen them on Amazon. That being said, I want to use something smaller than a probe. I have seen people use the lead of a capacitor.

I just want to figure out a way to quickly attach and unattach leads to a fab pcb. This would really get me moving on building one. Where it stands now, building a rig would only get me half way of where I would want to be. ....which would still be better than nothing. Not having to solder any pots, ins outs, etc would be the goal though.

[davent]

You can get spring loaded terminal blocks but you'd need a daughter board to integrate with Jacobs rig.

For probes rescued an old one from a long dead DMM, cut off the banana plug and hard wired.

For connecting pcb's to the test rig just solder in flying leads to the in and out pads, they have to go there eventually anyways.

Spring blocks with .100" spacing.

[Jabulani Jonny]

Here's the one I built last year.  http://byocelectronics.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=43715

You can see the terminal strip mounted on the side.  It's got everything but the headphone out, which now I'm thinking of rebuilding just to include.  I really like to try and have clean wiring in the box so if I go ahead and solder long enough wires to the board to use my testing rig, I end up wasting a bunch of cut wire. 

Not a biggie, but thought it would be cool to have some leads that had some kind of spring loaded pin that were you could insert into the prefab through hole.  Anyway, mine works and I use it all the time.  Highly recommended build. 

[peAk]

Cool builds guys

Where can you get these terminals blocks? Screw, spring, etc.

I agree that you are going to need wire soldered to the in & out, pots events eventually but the problem is you have to either have wire that's always too long or have to patch more wire on. I am usually always behind on my box design so I would never have a good idea of the length. Not a huge deal but wasted wire nonetheless.

[davent]

The spring terminal blocks are from Digikey #277-1796-ND, others available with more or fewer terminals.

http://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/1990025/277-1796-ND/950924


For wire lengths; i assemble projects, board pots and switches on a wiring jig that is drilled to match the enclosure layout so no guess work over the wire. I use 1/16" i have around but anything thin, flat and reasonably rigid could be used, cereal box cardboard whatever. From the wiring jig to the test rig is then just a couple sprung jumpers.





Something else that might work for connectors would be a Molex type connector on the Rig enclosure that would connect to a row of off-mounted terminal blocks.

[peAk]

that's really interesting and thanks for the information. I guess I need to start thinking about enclosures and boxing at the same time I am working on the circuit. As of right now, I finish the builds and make sure they are working and then I decide how I want everything laid out in an enclosure. I always end up with too much or not enough wire. I almost never use the drill templates because I like to put things were I want them. This was why I was trying to find a solution to easily attaching and un-attaching all hardware for testing prior to soldering anything. To be able to "clip" on everything quickly and test, ....man....would be a dream.

The type of connection (don't know proper name for the connection) in the photo would be perfect if they made them small enough to fit the holes in a fab pcb.

[davent]

Those are banana plugs.

If the holes/pads for in/out are close to the edge of the board you could use mini-hook grabbers to latch onto the board.  Lots of options for the termination of the other end.



When doing a pedal I start with the knob choice/layout first then proceed from there, board mounted pots are pretty much an irrelevant non-starter.

dave