Contents
Early history. Important commercial developments. Radios and printed circuits. Printed-circuit components. Pocket radios. Re-flexed superhets. Communications receivers. Television applications. Hearing aids. Industrial electronic uses. Amplifiers in control circuits. Printed-circuit strain gauges. Musical devices. The electronic organ. Advantages of printed circuits and sub-miniaturization. Printed-circuit motor. Micro-miniaturization.
Painting. Surface preparation for painted circuits. Putting on the paints. Conductive and resistive paints. Magnet c paints and pastes. Spraying or metalizing. Imprinted-circuit inlays. Spray milling. Stamped wiring. Encapsulation and potting. Soldering methods. Dip-soldering technique. Spot and jig soldering. Solder masking techniques. Soldering troubles. Solder characteristics. Flux considerations. Special soldering techniques. Indium-based solders for glass to metals. Etched circuits. Photographic etch-resist methods. Glue-type photosensitive resists. Etching the home-made plate. Etchants--Etchant handling techniques. Negative masking. Mechanical methods of etch resists. Silk-screen methods. Making your own silk screens. Toughening and waterproofing the screen stencil. Exposure problems with pre-sensitized material. Tape resists. Paint resists. Writing-implement resists. Circuit layouts and design.
COMPONENT SELECTION and APPLICATION
Resistance components. Making your own painted resistors. Subminiature carbon resistors. Selection of subminiature wire-wound resistors. Deposited film resistors. Flexible resistors. Miniature variable resistors. Capacitors for printed-circuit and subminiature use. Ceramic capacitors. Metalized paper capacitors. Mica capacitors. Electrolytics. Tantalum capacitors. Vari able capacitors. Making your own printed and etched capacitors. Subminiaturization and inductors. Inductive components. Rf inductors. Loop antennas. Matched coil kits. Glass inductors (metalized). Making your own printed-circuit inductances. Q values of inductances. Use of magnetic materials. Rf coil forms-winding your own coils. Cores. Hardware and special wiring. Punchboards. Stitched wiring boards. Pre-etched test boards. Sockets. Connectors. Terminals. Flea clips. Component holders. Battery holders. Shields and heat sinks. Individual plugs.
Classification of batteries. Flashlight cells. Air cells. Mercury cells. Construction features of the mercury cell. Using the mercury cell. Primary-cell sizes and terminations. Size and volt ages of dry batteries. Secondary cells. Silver-zinc cells. Nickel-cadmium cells. Recharging nickel-cadmium cells. Silver-cadmium cells. Using B-batteries. B-battery conservation. Testing batteries. Recharging dry cells.
REPAIR of PRINTED-CIRCUIT and SUBMINIATURE ASSEMBLIES
Possible troubles and diagnosis. Pitfalls in printed-circuit servicing. Tools. Replacing components. Complete replacement of component. Replacing foil. Repairing cracked boards. Tube-socket repairs. Replacement of sockets. Replacing transformers, inductors and if's. Replacing controls. Special desoldering methods. Test instruments. In-circuit component tester. Sub-miniature tube tester. Simple transistor checker.
PRACTICAL ASSEMBLIES and TECHNIQUES
One-transistor radio. Testing the one-transistor set. One-tube radio-control receiver. Chronograph neon timer. Printed-circuit maze. Rain detector. Field-strength meter. Printed-circuit amplifier. Photoelectric light meter. Light-beam relay. Circuits using Ampecs. Printed-circuit audio oscillators. High-frequency crystal-controlled transmitter. Phonograph pickup. Printed-circuit switches. Printed-circuit cables. Stamped wiring. Potting.
Rf oscillator. 6-meter converter. Checking the 6-meter converter. Two-tube wristwatch AM transmitter. "Lipstick" transmitter. Adjustable frequency and pulse-width multivibrator. Printed-circuit radio-control receivers. Lorenz two-tube receiver. Little Gem duo-diode receiver. Gazistor receiver. B-supply (transistor converter).
Introduction
This is a guide, published in 1959, on the "how-to-do-it" of printed circuits and miniature equipment, and has been written especially for the radio ham, TV and radio service technician, and garage and basement experimenter. Practical techniques and methods have been presented wherever possible.
The space and nuclear age has brought with it a tremendous demand for smaller and smaller circuit packages. As the information-handling requirements grew, room for equipment disappeared at a startling and discouraging rate. New techniques had to be found to compress a lot of hardware into embarrassingly meager volumes.
Two techniques resulting from electronic "circuit shrinking" have been the printed circuit and the miniature or subminiature component. The bulky thickness and three-dimensional character of conventional wiring are giving away to a flat-nearly "2-D" look--capable of being mass-produced by machines at production rates of thousands of circuits an hour. Components have been scaled down, and, in many cases, completely redesigned with new materials to give more ohms, millihenries and microfarads per cubic inch.
The process of learning is such that no book is the work of any one individual. Therefore, the author wishes to extend his thanks to the many firms and persons who have cooperated so generously; particularly to the following: Ace Radio Controls, Aerovox Corp., Allied Radio, Bruno-New York Industries, Centralab, East man Kodak Co., Electronic Industries, Fortune Magazine, Gulton Industries, Hansen Electronic Industries, International Crystal Manufacturing Co., Kester Solder Co., Lepage's, Method Manufacturing Co., Micro Circuits Co., Photocircuits Corp., Radio Electronics, Tele-Tech Magazine, Ungar Electric Tools, I nc., Walsco Electronics Mfg. Corp., Westbury Electronics, and Yardney Laboratories.
Thanks are also due Mrs. Rose Sell who typed the manuscript, and to Mr. Bennett Carter for his valuable photographic advice.
Electronics is fast becoming one of the key scientific arts. Wall hung TV sets no thicker than a picture frame, cigarette-sized pocket radios, and matchbox-sized recorders are but a few of the marvels which will be made possible with printed circuits and miniature components.
MORRIS G. MOSES; W8UVC
Also see: Guide to VOMs and VTVMs
Troubleshooting With the Oscilloscope