Ugly Construction

This method has been used by the pros for decades. It has been the birthplace for an amazing number of sophisticated circuits, many of which evolved into printed circuit boards, while others stayed in the ugly configuration for their lifetimes. For an excellent summary of ugly construction (as well as other prototyping methods), see the website of Wes Hayward, W7ZOI. http://www.teleport.com/~w7zoi/

Manhattan Construction

The "Manhattan" method is beautifully documented in the web site of Jim Kortge, K8IQY. http://www.qsl.net/k8iqy/2n26picture.html It is a variation of ugly building, and is well suited for those who want more secure anchoring than the "spider web" approach of ugly building can provide.

The Vector System

Vector Electronic Company is a commercial manufacturer of prototyping materials. http://www.vectorelect.com/index.htm They have been around for a long time and their products are of high quality. Although most of their prototyping boards are oriented toward digital electronics, they offer solid options for the RF designer. The Vector board most commonly used for RF applications is the Circboard #8007. See the photograph for a phasing network constructed on a piece of 8007.

One surprising thing about the Vector line is the lack of materials for prototyping surface mount devices. However, Vector can easily be combined with other SMD oriented products, such as "Surfboards" (see the Mouser catalog).

We should briefly mention that Radio Shack produces a number of prototyping boards, some of which are similar to the Vector products. We did not include Radio Shack in this review. Perhaps we should have, but we have a queasy feeling about the quality of some Radio Shack prototyping products, and we are not confident that Radio Shack is committed to serving experimenters.

RDI Solder Mount

The RDI Solder Mount system is not well known in amateur circles, but it has been used by professionals for years. http://www.rdi-wainwright.com/ The system consists of modules that are attached to an underlying ground plane with an adhesive. It is amazingly versatile and comprehensive. See the photograph for a phase noise tester constructed with RDI Solder Mount.

PCB

In this comparison, we are assuming that you are making your own single sided PCBs. The score for grounding can improve to a 4 if you make PCBs with a full ground plane on one side, connected to the other side by hand made "vias."

Grounding

In RF design, the general rule of thumb is the more ground plane the better. (Grounding strategies for oscillators and audio circuits are entirely different, and will be covered in a future article in this series.) Ugly, Manhattan, and RDI are all constructed over a solid ground plane, and thus all receive a 4. The Vector system uses a "colander" system, which isn't quite as good as a solid plane, and thus receives a 3. A single sided PCB often suffers from minimal RF grounding, which is why the PCB receives a 1.

Coupling

We gave a 2 to the ugly system, because components float "in the air," which can sometimes cause undesirable coupling between circuit elements. An experienced constructor can avoid this problem, but it can catch up with a newcomer. Manhattan, Vector, and RDI are all "lower profile" systems, and thus receive a 3. A 4 goes to PCBs, because all of the traces are on the surface of the board.

Anchoring

Ugly construction receives a 1 for anchoring, because heavy parts (like toroids) can be a problem (although, once again, the experienced constructor often knows some crafty ways around this). It is somewhat easier to deal with these parts with the Manhattan method, so it receives a 2. The holes drilled in the RDI modules often help deal with anchoring, so RDI gets a 3. The champions were Vector and PCB, with their holes drilled all the way through the substrate.

Variety

One could quibble about this, but we believe that oddball parts cause about the same amount of difficulty on with the ugly and Manhattan, and both receive a 2. We believe that Vector is worse, because all of its holes are drilled on .1 inch centers. It receives a 1. RDI receives a 3, because of the huge variety in its modules. The PCB gets a 4, because it can be designed to accommodate almost any part you can imagine.

Integration

This is a growing issue, with surface mount devices becoming more important every day. Ugly, Manhattan, and Vector all receive 1s, because we're not aware of graceful ways to deal with SMDs (although products like Surfboards can be added to Vector boards.) RDI gets a 3, because of the extensive number of modules specifically designed for surface mount. The PCB can be the best solution, because it can deal with any surface mount device on earth.

Speed

Ugly is the champion here. It's one of the reasons why the pros love ugly—the circuit can come together just as fast as their heads can think. Manhattan slows down, because of all the gluing and placing, so we gave it a 3. Vector starts off faster; parts can be stuffed on one side of the board very quickly. But it becomes slow, tedious and error prone when it's time to connect the parts on the other side of the board. So Vector got a 2. RDI receives a 3 because the modules can be placed and wired in no time at all. PCBs come in dead last, because of the cumulative time spent in schematic capture, fabrication, and placing the parts.

Visualization

In our opinion, this may be the most important criterion for those of us who are not pros, but are diligently trying to improve our understanding of RF design. There is a huge problem with PCBs, Vector boards, PCBs, and any other prototyping solution in which the "wiring" of the circuit is on the opposite side of the board from the components. When you look at the top of the board, all you see is a jumble of parts. When you look at the bottom of the board, all you see is a jumble of traces or wires, reversed left to right. It is extremely difficult to visualize the circuit and, therefore to have a clear picture of what you are constructing and why. In our judgment, "stuffing parts" is not only boring—it actually discourages learning.

The Ugly, Manhattan, and RDI approaches all allow excellent visualization of the circuit, and they all receive a 4. The Vector system and PCBs (with leaded components) are a flop here, and receive a 1.

Experimenting

Ugly, Manhattan, and RDI are all very flexible. You can rip them up to your heart's content, and therefore they all receive a 4. Vector is less flexible, so we gave it a 3. PCBs are miserable for experimenting, and receive a 1.

Troubleshooting

Want to make troubleshooting easy? Just use surface mounted leaded components. Thus, Ugly, Manhattan, and RDI all receive a 4. PCB (with through hole leaded components) and Vector both flunk, and receive a 1.

Cost

Ugly and Manhattan cannot be beat in the cost department. They both get a 4. Vector is pretty darn expensive and therefore receives a 2. RDI costs at lot up front (because of a $100 minimum order), but if you order the right modules, the cost is reasonable in the long run. It receives a 3. Homemade PCBs are moderately expensive, and receive a 3.

Distribution

There aren't any big complications here. Ugly and Manhattan just require single sided PCB stock, and thus couldn't be easier. Vector can be ordered from practically all the electronic component distributors. There is only one distributor of RDI (which has a $100 minimum), but ordering is simple. PCB materials can be ordered from a fairly wide range of distributors.

Hassle

Ugly, Manhattan, Vector, and RDI are all simple, straight forward systems, and therefore all receive 4s. Making your own PCBs is a hassle, period.

Average Score

Our scores are just our opinions, and yours will be different. Futhermore, we weighted all the categories equally, and you will probably weight them unequally. So, our scores are a starting point. Try your own scores and weighting, and have fun.

Most importantly, build something!