Metal sheet with breadboard

[M. Hamed]

Hi All,

I've got this breadboard from circuit specialists

http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/6885

and when I opened it, I found a sheet of metal inside of exactly the
same size as the board. The package doesn't say anything about its
purpose. Can anybody advise me of the purpose of that? Some sort of
ground plane? EMI reduction?

Thanks!

 

[Phil Allison]

"M. Hamed"

I've got this breadboard from circuit specialists

http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/6885

and when I opened it, I found a sheet of metal inside of exactly the
same size as the board. The package doesn't say anything about its
purpose. Can anybody advise me of the purpose of that? Some sort of
ground plane? EMI reduction?

** AC supply frequency *electric* fields ( not magnetic) are almost
everywhere inside a premises - ie the world is full of hummmmmmmmm. AC
electric fields induce AC voltages on the conducting parts of a circuit by
capacitive coupling.

However, such electric fields are easily defeated by surrounding any circuit
sensitive to the frequencies involved ( 50/60 Hz plus harmonics) with a
conducting surface ( ie a metal box) * tied * to the common or "ground" of
that circuit.

Short of a complete metal enclosure - a sheet of metal placed under the
circuit you are working on does a pretty fair job too. So the makers of
that breadboard have kindly supplied you one to use.

When you connect your circuits up to a scope you will soon see what the idea
is all about.


..... Phil

 

On May 7, 9:36 pm, "M. Hamed" <mhels...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi All,

I've got this breadboard from circuit specialists

http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/6885

and when I opened it, I found a sheet of metal inside of exactly the
same size as the board. The package doesn't say anything about its
purpose. Can anybody advise me of the purpose of that? Some sort of
ground plane? EMI reduction?

Thanks!

Sure put it under your proto board and try connecting it to various
grounds. It might help a bit. When you start to see a lot of pick-up
noise try putting your whole circuit inside a metal box.

George Herold

 

[Eeyore]

"M. Hamed" wrote:

Hi All,

I've got this breadboard from circuit specialists

http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/6885

and when I opened it, I found a sheet of metal inside of exactly the
same size as the board. The package doesn't say anything about its
purpose. Can anybody advise me of the purpose of that? Some sort of
ground plane? EMI reduction?

I used to have a solid steel sheet ground plane under the test bench. It
can make a difference or two.

Graham

 

[Rich Grise]

On Thu, 07 May 2009 18:36:49 -0700, M. Hamed wrote:

Hi All,

I've got this breadboard from circuit specialists

http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/6885

and when I opened it, I found a sheet of metal inside of exactly the
same size as the board. The package doesn't say anything about its
purpose. Can anybody advise me of the purpose of that? Some sort of
ground plane? EMI reduction?

It's to mount it on. Clean it well, and peel&stick the breadboard to

it. Then go to the local DIY store and pick up some adhesive rubber
feet. You should be able to take it from there. ;-)

If it has countersunk holes, that's for flathead screws, to attach
it to threaded feet, a power supply box, a whole test/development
station, or whatever.

For standalone, it also acts as a bit of ballast so your board doesn't
slide all over the table. ;-)

Cheers!
Rich

 

Thanks all for clearing that up!

On May 8, 12:21 pm, Rich Grise <richgr...@example.net> wrote:

<snip>
....

It's to mount it on. Clean it well, and peel&stick the breadboard to
it. Then go to the local DIY store and pick up some adhesive rubber
feet. You should be able to take it from there. ;-)

This board actually already has the adhesive on the bottom, so all I
need to do is peel and stick the sheet at the bottom.
Pretty cool!

/MHS