progressive wiring: SMT part with normal protoboard...

I have just come across this page that describes the progressive wiring technique.

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The author managed to build an MP3 player using a normal prototype board, with mostly SMT parts, some ICs are as complex as 48 LQFP. The trick is to connect the parts with thin enamel wire one by one. It seems to be a very attractive option as I don't have room in my flat to setup a PCB tank and want to avoid spending money to make the PCBs professionally.

The technique seems to be very good, but, it does not seem to be a common technique when I search the web. I wonder if anyone has experience with this. Also, the polyimide (Kapton) tape mentioned in the article is hard to locate in my town. Any alternative solution for that?

It works up to a point. You need ~ 350C to melt the covering quickly, but if you apply 350C to the leads of many SM parts, damage will result ! If you scratch the covering a bit, then a soldering iron at ~260C will enable you to tin wires and make joints - but it takes much longer.

The other key point about this and similar techniques (wire-wrap for instance) is that you really need a ground plane for most of todays fast digital logic. You can buy proto boards with a collander ground plane, and these work well. Any significant wire length in a ground or power decoupling circuit is asking for Trouble.

Finally, it is pretty fiddly to do, particularly when you need multiple connections to each pin. With my aging vision I always need to check my work under a low power microscope ! D

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