Veroboard

Veroboard is the trademark name of the electronics prototyping board manufactured by the Vero company. Among electronics hobbyists and professionals, the name Veroboard is synonymous with similar prototyping board made by any manufacturer.

Veroboard is a general-purpose single-sided printed circuit board (PCB), which is pre-drilled with a regular grid of holes on a standard spacing, 0.1 inch being the most popular. Each row of holes is connected by a copper track on one side of the board. The board itself is made of synthetic-resin-bonded-paper (SRBP). The 0.1 inch spacing allows most standard through-mounted components to be mounted and soldered to the board. The continuous tracks may be easily and neatly cut as desired to form breaks between conductors using a 5mm twist drill or a hand cutter made for the purpose. Tracks may be linked up on the component side of the board using wire links or lengths of insulated wire. With practice, very neat and reliable assemblies can be created, but such a method is unsuitable for production assemblies.

A larger version using a 0.15 inch grid and larger holes is also available, but is generally less popular. Veroboard is unsuitable for surface mounted components. For high density prototyping, especially of digital circuits, wire-wrap is faster and more reliable than veroboard.

Veroboard is similar in concept and usage to breadboard, but is more permanent - connections are soldered and the board itself is not reusable. In contrast, breadboard connections are held by friction, and the breadboard can be reused many times. However breadboard is not very suitable for prototyping that needs to remain in a set configuration for an appreciable period of time, nor for physical mock-ups containing a working circuit, or for any environment subject to vibration or movement.