I have to make 4 more urgently and then (brace yourself) 24 more semi-urgently.
I thought I would get away with just doing it by hand, but I didn't realise how slow it is (especially for me, not particularly skilled at this).
I need an easier way out for my own mental sanity.
Can I buy some copper boards and maybe use some acid to dissolve whatever parts I didn't draw on? Or is there a better way of doing this I don't know about?
It looks like you are only connecting one pin from each connector to the Nano? Much easier to get some 28 or 30 gauge wire and just solder each end. By the time you are done, you will be much more skilled
This is how I would go about it. Been about 13 years but I had boards made. Just send them a Gerber file and as suggested you can have the boards populated if you choose. My turn around time was under a week and having it all done was really inexpensive.
Do the next 5 by hand. Take the time after that to learn Eagle/KiCAD as suggested and make a PC board for the next 12. jlcpcb.com is very cheap and ships quickly.
If you're pressed for time, you could try going on Fiverrr (or the Gigs board here) and pay someone to do a PCB layout for you. It shouldn't cost much for such a simple circuit.I don't know what country you're in, but a 2-week turnaround is pretty cheap. Unfortunately, a 5 day turnaround is usually expensive.
The strips provide your vertical tracks, no need to make them yourself. Use wires for the horizontal. Terminate the strips where needed by removing the copper with a drill bit.
My guess is that won't do the job. The trouble is with something like that is it doesn't fit with 'urgent'. You don't know if it will work so you have to experiment, which takes time you don't have. You could waste a lot of time that you could have used making boards. I've never used a pen like that but I can't imagine that it's possible to make an ink that has anything like the conductivity of any metal you can think of.
Wire has been suggested, I completely agree with those suggestions. I'm sure I and everyone else who has replied could make those for you in your timeframe without a problem (that's not an offer).
What is puzzling me is what on earth the boards do with, apparently, only 1 wire from each 4 way connector to the Nano. No circuit I can think of would work like that.
Make it like sewing: put the wire on top of the board, through the holes next to the pins. Make a diagram, prepare all boards, turn them around and solder the wires. Works perfectly with wire-wrap-wires 'ause the insulation melts and shrinks when in contact with a soldering iron.
Please don't make rat's nest like this. Use a dedicadet solder point or screw terminals so you cannot rip the wires while soldeing / handling. Or solder the stepdown directly onto the board using 2 posts.
