Andy1845c said:
haha, first circuit I ever made was a astable multivibrator, the two transistor kind. I salvaged all the parts from an old tape deck, and cut a square of its PCB, sanded the traces off and used some existing holes and drilled some of my own to mount the components and then hand wired it. Talk about crude!
I built a valve amplifier years ago when I was a kid, a guy who lived up the road drew me the circuit, and also gave me a mains transformer (as it was a part I couldn't get from the tip). The circuit used an EF80 preamp, a 6BW6 output valve, and a metal rectifier.
I wrote a list out of all the parts I required, including writing the colour code for each resistor, and went to the tip and searched old dumped TV's for all the parts I required (including valve bases).
For a 'chassis' I got a piece of hardboard off an old kitchen cupboard (on the tip), I seem to remember it was a yellow colour?.
I cut holes out for the valve bases and screwed them in place, and drilled holes for either end of every component, inserted the ends through, and bent them over to stop them falling out. I then soldered wires between all the components, and the valve bases, under the board - rather like a crude 'PCB'.
For layout I basically followed the circuit as he had drawn it, and it worked first time!
For a 'cabinet' I found an old small leather suitcase at the same tip, I mounted the 'board' in that, and cut a rectangular hole in the lid, and fitted a speaker and grill (from the tip) in that!.
I think I've still got the old suitcase somewhere, but I've no idea what happened to the insides? - it was over 40 years ago.
As kids we spent most of our days at the tip, great fun - riding old bikes with no tires and no brakes down the 1 in 6 hill that was the main road through the village! - or making carts with 20 wheels, and fifteen kids riding on it down the same road!.
Makes you wonder how you survived? - I'd kill my daughter if I thought she did half of the silly things I did.
I don't know how you would put down your own traces on a PCB though, seeing as you normally start with all copper and etch away what you don't need.
You used to be able to buy self-adhesive copper strips for just such an occurance.