Point to Point Wiring - Another Marvellous Prototyping Technique

[HLA-27b]

Japanese are weird people. They take something mundane and turn it into an art form. They invented an art form of folding pieces of paper for crying out loud! Here is the latest example.

As IC chips get smaller and smaller and their complexity increases rapidly, we come to a point where most of today's chips look more like marine invertebrates. Chips with 100+ pins or even 200+ pins are common. How do you prototype with these things? Westerners invented SMT adapters and similar convolutions which you have to find and buy, but don't start me on westerners and their values, I could waste pages.

Here is the Japanese way, as presented by ChaN (don't know real name) on his site http://elm-chan.org/
As might be expected from the Japanese, he is up close and personal with his circuits. An art critic might say that he is actively excluding any intermediaries between him and his art, thus becoming a part of the art, no software, no pcb houses, nothing in between. Of course art critics have no clue about electronics so it is up to us to admire the true art of electronics...

Just look at these

http://elm-chan.org/docs/wire/wiring5.jpeg
http://elm-chan.org/docs/wire/wcd.jpeg
These don't work. Try this:
http://elm-chan.org/docs/wire/wiring_e.html

ChaN has many interesting projects on his site where he uses this technique but this one is especially a point-to-point wiring tutorial:
http://elm-chan.org/docs/wire/wiring_e.html

edit:the images don't load reliably from the site hence the attachments

[Kiriakos-GR]

I have plenty of reasons so to admire the Japanese creativity, but the specific one is not one of those. 

[Balaur]

I certainly applaud ChaN's dedication to its passion. I've did a lot of this in my youth but with normally-sized, through-hole components ...

However, soldering the wires to each pin should have been excruciatingly painful. Since I stopped fearing SMD devices, there is a great deal of satisfaction to see how easy and durable the small wee 200+ pins beast can be soldered to a nicely-made board.

Cheers,
Dan

[Gall]

I used a similar technique with DIPs (probably USSR K155 series, same as legacy 74 TTL) about fifteen years ago. I glued chips upside down to a piece of cardboard and soldered enameled wire to their pins.

[SgtRock]

Dear HAL-42b:
--Indeed that is fascinating work, so intricate. I would dread having to troubleshoot one of those. But I suppose if one could solder like that, the troubleshooting would be no worse. Like I said fascinating.

--With regard to your first statement.

"Japanese are weird people."

--In order to avoid any accusations of ethnocentrism, better to say:

"The Japanese are a fascinating people"

Best Regards
Clear Ether

[HLA-27b]

--With regard to your first statement.
"Japanese are weird people."
--In order to avoid any accusations of ethnocentrism, better to say:
"The Japanese are a fascinating people"

Yes the Japanese are fascinating, but they are weird too.

It should be clear from the context that this is not a negative connotation, in fact it is the exact opposite. It is possible that some people would still draw a conclusion that I am being ethnocentric here, but they would be wrong, and I am certainly not changing the way I express myself in order to satisfy their petty whims.

[Kozmyk]

Good luck finding a short circuit in that lot.
One little area of chipped enamel.

[HLA-27b]

Good luck finding a short circuit in that lot.
One little area of chipped enamel.

Exactly my thoughts when I first saw it. But the guy has built so many things using this technique that it should be ok.

[SgtRock]

Dear Hal-42b:
--There is an old joke, I will recount briefly. Two girls return from summer vacation. One of the girls recounts her experiences at great length, the other girl repeatedly says "fascinating" When asked what she did that summer the second girl replies: "I went to charm school where they taught me to say fascinating every time I mean bulls**t"

--I was hoping you would pick up on my odd repeated use of the word fascinating, and deduce that a joke was being made. If I were being petty, I would have said you were being petty. In any case let me thank you again for your first post which was extremely interesting, and for your second post, which was fascinating.
Clear Ether

[HLA-27b]

...If I were being petty...

I never suggested that it was you - but rather the people who you referred to.
Anyway thanks for the joke.

[SgtRock]

Dear Hal-42b:
--I thank you for your gentle response. Peace be upon you.
Clear Ether

[JuKu]

Some of that solder-through wire might be handy.

[tycz]

Some of that solder-through wire might be handy.

It is indeed. Farnell stock it under the name Road Runner wire.

[FenderBender]

I'm assuming those wires are infact shielded...and not bare copper?

[IanB]

I'm assuming those wires are infact shielded...and not bare copper?

Not shielded, insulated.

They are "enameled" wire or magnet wire, with polyurethane insulation that melts when you apply a soldering iron. It means you can solder them without having to strip the insulation first.

[FenderBender]

That's what I meant. Frequently mix the two up.