Versatile, Low Cost Electronics Lab Protoboard

Purchased equipment for teaching basic electronics can be expensive. It may also be delicate and, in the case of many prototyping circuit boards, so small that students have trouble visualizing the circuit before them and instructors cannot easily figure out what the student has done wrong when asked for help. This paper describes a versatile circuit board system that can be built for about $100 in parts. It contains its own DC power supply, voltmeters, and large blocks with which basic electronic components may be arranged and interconnected using large wires and banana plugs. Typical lab projects using the board involve DC and AC circuits, relays, diodes, op amps and other IC devices. These projects guide students through exercises using a combination of the actual circuit and a Multisim simulation. A web site is given from which lab manuals may be obtained.