Net Work January 2025

Concluding our nostalgic 60 year journey back to the origins of Practical Electronics, this month’s Net Work reminisces about a product that would make electronics construction accessible to every enthusiast.

In my previous two columns, I looked back nostalgically at the 60-year history of Practical Electronics magazine. In late 1964 the first issue of Practical Electronic appeared, which was designed to meet the demands for hobby projects that exploited new and rapidly-evolving semiconductors.

A system that allowed ‘chopping and changing’ when building or perfecting low-voltage circuits would be ideal for experimenters. The answer came, of course, in the form of Veroboard, the first ‘stripboard’ product of its kind, dedicated to the rapid prototyping and low-volume production of electronic circuits.

The story of Veroboard turned out to have many twists and turns as I write in this month’s magazine column. With the help of the UK Intellectual Property Office, I managed to obtain copies of the original 1959 UK and French patents that were submitted by Vero Precision Engineering Ltd. (VPE) at the time, with Geoffrey Verdon-Roe being the MD.

The ‘Roe’ family name will be familiar to many: Geoffrey’s father was (Edwin) Alliot Verdon Roe (1877 – 1958), who pioneered and co-founded the A.V. Roe aircraft company in 1910. He later hyphenated his surname to Verdon-Roe; Avro is now part of the BAE Systems aerospace company.

I wrote about the involvement of Saunders-Roe (SARO) , an associate company that was also sub-contracted to work on Britain’s ‘Black Knight’ (later, Blue Streak) space rocket project, which was test-launched successfully from Woomera, Australia in 1958 (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mnvd3P9H3o40). For anyone interested, Youtube has plenty more resources including https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne8shDmcd5g and the documentary at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGOTjAL5VVg.

I speculated that this involvement probably resulted in a patent for an ‘improved wiring board’, an SRBP copper-strip panel with a matrix of holes, which was published in 1961. Veroboard would then be produced by a new company set up specially, and the product is still with us today.

^ The original PR photos we published in 1966 showing the manufacturing process of Veroboard in their new factory. 

In the December 1966 issue we featured a news item with press photos (above) showing Veroboard being manufactured by Vero Electronics at their new factory in Chandlers Ford. It showed an indexing machine piercing sheets of copper-clad board, perhaps a vacuum extraction system to remove debris (those ‘holes’ must go somewhere, after all), followed by a second process using milling cutters to remove unwanted copper between the strips.

It would be fair to say that Veroboard was instrumental in enabling hobby electronics to blossom, especially with the digital age coming just over the horizon in the 1970s. Photographic techniques using UV-sensitive chemicals and developers gradually emerged, and by the late 1980s professional PC software enabled engineers to design complex printed circuit boards on-screen.

Abacom’s LochMaster 4.0 from Germany (Loch: hole) is Windows software that handles the design of stripboard layouts (Windows 7+, price €49, download from https://www.electronic-software-shop.com/lng/en/electronic-software/lochmaster-40.html). Another software product, Ambyr’s Stripboard Magic, caught the tide at one time but was discontinued suddenly. It crops up online as abandonware.

They say that the more things change, the more they stay the same: 65 years after its invention Veroboard is still a staple for hard-wiring interface circuitry for Arduino or Raspberry Pi projects. You can explore the Vero Technologies website at https://verotl.com/.

Ryobi One+ Soldering Iron tips

^ Ryobi’s One+ 18V soldering station allows cordless use for odd jobs or use in the field, but you’ll have to shop around for different-sized tips.

^ These compatible Hakko-style T18 tips from AliExpress seem to measure up identically. The threaded collar, also shown, didn’t fit properly though.

Back in the February and March 2022 columns I looked at some rechargeable 18V workshop tools marketed by Ryobi, a brand that’s positioned as ‘middle-of-the-road’ in terms of durability and affordability.

In my 20 years of experience, some Ryobi accessories have been a lot more successful than others, but their One+ 18V soldering station is something I use for occasional quick jobs or for tasks located beyond the reach of a mains power cord.

Obtaining different-shaped tips has been a problem though. I prefer using a 3mm bevel tip rather than the chisel or pointed ones bundled with the Ryobi, and replacements from Ryobi cost nearly £18 (see https://services.ryobitools.eu/uk-uk/getMaterial?matident=5133004382&serident=4000462879). It appears no other parts, including the element, are replaceable.

Happily, others reported that tips from the Hakko T18 series also fit the Ryobi (for technical data, see the trade-only website https://hakko.co.uk/product-category/catalogue/soldering-iron-tips/t18-series/) and I found compatible T18 types are widely available on AliExpress. Doubtless most of them are low-cost clones, but I bought a selection kit of ten different tip styles. They seem a perfect fit, but the original Ryobi sleeve collar must be used and great care is needed not to break the exposed element either, or the iron will probably be a write-off.

In this month’s issue I also describe so-called ‘power wheel adapters’ (photo, left) that are intended for wiring into kids’ motorised toys or buggies, and adapters that fit DeWalt, Makita, Ryobi and other batteries.

Used with a suitable low-cost, pre-built DC power supply, they could be adapted for powering LED lighting, Christmas decorations and novelties outdoors, alarms or monitoring systems in areas where minimum maintenance is desirable. The battery’s high capacity means they should last a decent length of time, and it’s then easy to swap a discharged battery for a fresh one.

That’s all for this month – you’ll find more details in the January 2025 issue of Practical Electronics magazine.