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#busses

2 posts1 participant0 posts today
Continued thread
Public
C.

About that BusBoard Prototype Systems SB4 board -- they're expensive. They're more than $6 each (Canadian) plus shipping from DigiKey. They're $10 each plus shipping from Mouser.

That's a lot for a hobbyist when you're experimenting, especially if you're making mistakes.

I looked around again recently, and couldn't find anything I liked at a reasonable price point.

So what does one do in this situation? Well, if you go Overkill 9000, you design your own prototyping perfboard and have a bunch manufactured for you! When you design your own, you can give it any features you like. So this one has:

18 x 36 (648 holes total)

It's two 18 x 18 sections, though I didn't have them scored for snapping.

A total of 6 horizontal busses in groups of 2, at the top and bottom plus one in the middle.

3 sets of 2 vertical busses within that space between horizontal bus sets, similarly edge - center - edge.

Then each row has a 6-hole pad on each side of the center 2 busses, which are spaced for IC or other standard 0.4" component layout.

Made of proper FR4 fiberglass. Good copper, good soldermask.

Silkscreened row and column IDs on both the front and back, at both the start and end of each row/column (and they match up with the back...).

And silkscreened boxes on the front showing the pad/buss pattern - no more flipping!

They arrived today and ... they're beautiful.

2/x

Product photograph of the Busboard Prototype Systems SB4 snappable breadboard. This shows the top of the board, which includes silkscreened lines to indicate what the connected pad pattern on the underside is, to assist in placing components.
Close-up photograph of the order ID label on a package of manufactured printed circuit boards, dated 22 March 2025.
A photograph of 2 perforated prototyping printed circuit boards, one showing the front and the other the back. The boards are the typical green of fiberglass boards, with shiny exposed pads on the underside, and labels for rows and columns silkscreened in white on both sides. There are also silkscreened outlines on the front of the board to indicate the pattern of joined pads on the back.
#PCB#CustomPCB#silkscreen
Public *
C.

When building electronics project for permanent use - i.e. after testing on a solderless breadboard - you normally go to a #soldered perforated board of some type as a #prototype, or even for very-low-volume production.

There are different types of boards. I dislike "matrix" boards, which are just isolated pads on a grid, i.e. there are no connections between any of them. Some people swear by these; I swear at them.

I prefer protoboards that have multiple holes per pad (so you can connect multiple component leads without having to add an explicit wire jumper). If they've also got #busses - sets of pads that run the whole length or width of the board - so much the better!

Some are #crap: laminated paper PCBs where the pads lift off the board if you even try to desolder something you added. Row/column labels missing, or (like I found with some recently) that don't line up between the front and back of the board 😆 , or most egregiously, they don't actually show the pad pattern on the front of the board, so you have to keep flipping it to check your parts are correctly placed. One example below.

I have some from "BusBoard Prototype Systems" that I like. The SB4 is a 38 x 24 (912 hole) board that is #snappable into quarters. Two of the quarters have rows that are 4-hole, 2-hole, 4-hole. The other two are 5 2-hole pads. Both types have a single bus running along each of the 2 long sides.

But ...

1/x

A scan of the underside of a cheap perforated prototyping circuit board - "protoboard" or "perfboard" - showing its pattern of pads and holes, along with the brand/model name "Radio Shaek 2". :wink: This is a typical crappy generic Chinese board, made from laminated paper. The copper pads are very thin and the glue holding them to the board isn't great, so they lift off the board very easily when soldering, or especially desoldering. The holes aren't very well centered in the pads. There's no soldermask, so it's easy to get accidental solder bridges. The board is browish tan, and has an 18 x 24 grid of holes, so 432 holes total. There are 2 continuous busses running up the middle of the board. On either side are rows consisting of (from outside to in) a 2-hole pad, three single-hole pads, and a 3-hole pad.
#electronics#hobby#ProtoBoard
Public
JdeB

711 #ClimateSolutions #Cities #Bikes vs #Busses

It's a trick !!
The carlobby trying to put cycling opposit public transport. So while 'we' quarral amongst eachother about the limited funds, nobody will notice the unlimited funds allocated to the car infrastructure. Which is much more expensive and benefits fewer people.
Guys... it's not a contest. Present the public with enough safe ALTERNATIVES and there will be less cars polluting the streets.

"Are Urbanists Too Obsessed With Bikes? (Why Not Focus on Transit?)" [8:53 min]
by Oh The Urbanity!

youtube.com/watch?v=BvOoTvmt6_

Quote by OTU:
"Feb 22, 2025
One of the most common arguments against building dedicated bike infrastructure is that we should instead be focusing on improving public transit. This argument sometimes comes from people opportunistically using transit as a cudgel but there’s also a kind of old-school city dweller that fundamentally understands transit in a way that they don’t for this new-fangled bike stuff. It’s worth remembering: in many cities, separated bike lanes are a relatively new idea. Just over a decade ago, Toronto was “considering” building some."

#TakeCareForLife #TakeCareForEarth
#StopBurningThings #StopEcoside #StopThePlunder
#ClimateBreakDown #StopRapingNature

YouTubeAre Urbanists Too Obsessed With Bikes? (Why Not Focus on Transit?)By Oh The Urbanity!
Public
The Kyiv Independent [unofficial]

Ukraine Daily summary - Monday, December 2 2024

Russian drone attack against civilian shuttle bus in Kherson, kills 3, injures at least 8 -- Putin approves Russia's budget with record spending on national defense -- Russia loses almost 46,000 troops, over $3 billion worth of military equipment in November -- EU delivered 1 million shells to Ukraine, fulfilling pledge, Kallas says; no estimate for 2025 yet -- and more

writeworks.uk/~/UkraineDaily/U

writeworks.ukUkraine Daily summary - Monday, December 2 2024Russian drone attack against civilian shuttle bus in Kherson, kills 3, injures at least 8 -- Putin approves Russia's budget with record spending on national defense -- Russia loses almost 46,000 troops, over $3 billion worth of military equipment in November -- EU delivered 1 million shells to Ukraine, fulfilling pledge, Kallas says; no estimate for 2025 yet -- and more
#putin#sanctions#Syria
Public
PDX Dem Socialist 🏳️‍🌈 💖 🇺🇸

TriMet should be in charge of Oregon's mass transit system. Until you reach the urban growth boundary in Portland, mass transit suffers significantly. 🧵1/3
#oregon #busses #ODOT #PDX #highspeedrail

We need high-speed rail from Vancouver, BC, to Medford, OR, along with rapid transit options that do include the MAX, buses, or trams. 🧵2/3

They also need to be included in ODOT's planning, incorporating new roads for trams, MAX, buses, bicycles, and pedestrians. 🧵3/3

Public
Emeritus Prof Christopher May

Is the bus revolution coming?

In the rural areas, if we are to encourage expanded public transport use, then something is very overdue - whether new London-style franchises are the solution is difficult to say, but right now anything that likely improves the bus services in rural areas is worth doing.... whether English local authorities will do as well as Transport Scotland seem rot have done is another matter; but time will tell.

bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c86qy5

BBC News'London-style' buses to be delivered nationwide with £1bn boostThe Department for Transport (DfT) said funding would be allocated based on levels of deprivation and population.
Public
Mike

The increase in the bus fare cap isn't a good look for Labour. However, it's likely to benefit rural bus users more than urban commuters. There are many longer distance bus services out in the counties where - if there were no cap - a single fare could easily be beyond £5. Urban fares may well be below , or nudging up against the £3 cap.
Also don't forget that some urban mayors who've taken control of their buses will have their own (lower) cap - for example Manchester.

#busses#bus
Public
Emeritus Prof Christopher May

Its certainly no surprise to us in the (nor to be frank is this news - there have been previous reports, but its worth re-emphasising) that the last decades have seen a major reduction or even abandonment of as a key element of .

It may not be a sufficient to engineer a , but reviving mass bus transport seems like a necessary element to have some impact on private car use.

theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/n

The Guardian · Bus services cut by more than 80% in parts of England and Wales since 2008, finds studyBy Nyima Jobe
Public
Emeritus Prof Christopher May

How bus use has changed in London & in big cities outside of London since deregulation. (from which London was exempt).

From @thomasforth (posted at the other place)

Its quite an extraordinary 'natural experiment' - from which we can draw the conclusion (without too much difficulty) that is not the way forward if are to be part of the

(and don't get me started on exceptionalism....)

Chart; Bus use in London & England's other big ciotoes since deregulation in 1984 when UK law made it illegal for cities expect London to manage busses, bus use was higher outside London at over 2m bus journeys a year as opposed to London with just over 1m. The lines cross over in 1998 & by 2020 there were nearly 2.5m bus journeys a year in London & just on 1m outside London
Public
Emeritus Prof Christopher May

Hmmm... first took back control of its ... and now seems to be following... its almost like the cities had an enhanced view of the value of at the same time that #¢RishiSunak is trying to make some mileage out of being a friend of the ...

As so often some seem confused by people being more than one thing at once... many urban drivers would be thankful for good reliable , as then they cold leave their cars at home!

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