As circuits on a makershed shield, and also i am horrible with schematics what is the best way to get familiar (books, videos, write it out) with them. The schematic is found in this instructables http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Guitar-Pedal/step8/Build-the-circuit/ .
Thanks for any and all help
I dont know the difference tween the two sheilds so its hard to say
schematics on the other hand are pretty easy, find a starting point trace the wire until it hits something, most decent schematics will have a value or a legend key next to them (IE R2 470K). Wires that intersect dont connect unless they have a fat dot at the intersection... other than that its mainly learning what symbols are what. For instance theres a few for capacitors indicating if they are polarized or not, and of course different drawing styles.
heres a pretty decent chart, though you wont see much of them in standard issue electronics of the day
http://www.mazotroop58.com/Schematic_Symbols.htm
ps: if you hit the i link inside the upper left of the instructables image, then choose the original image you get
That is very help full thanks for the blown up schematic. As for shields how would i be able to compare the two without purchasing a makers shed one (have arduino and dont have cash to order makers even though i would love multiple shields) is there a schematic for all of the shields?
Thanks sorry i suck at this stuff
As a maker of prototyping shields myself I can safely confirm that all prototyping shields are not the same.
They will all have certain things in common, however.
They will primarily have a "Plated Through Hole" (PTH) area, which is where the majority of your "normal" components go. Some are laid out to specifically take a single chip in the middle, with power and ground rails going down the centre and pads radiating out for the DIP pins. Others will just have holes for you to put components in where you like. Others (mine included) have the holes arranged in pairs, which makes a good trade-off between the two - the ease of the multi-pad DIP arrangement with the flexibility of the single hole arrangement.
A number will also dedicate some of their area to surface mount components (SMDs). This is driven both by the ever increasing number of components only being available in SMD packaging, but also due to the positioning and size of the USB connector on some Arduinos causing PTH components to short out when placed above it.
What I would suggest is to decide upon the project, then look at the component requirements for that project. Select your prototyping shield appropriately. For example, if the project calls for multiple DIP chips, then the single-chip style prototyping shield is no good - a single or paired hole one is better. If one of the components you need for the project is only available in an SOIC package, then find a shield that has that right footprint on it.
No shield is perfect for every situation, which is why there are so many designs around now.
As for a schematic of any one prototyping shield - well, that is largely a pointless request, as there won't be a schematic as such. Yes, some may include a reset button circuit on board, but this is usually just a button and a pull-up resistor or similar arrangement. Maybe a power LED and resistor, but these are obvious too. You can get all the information you need from the photos (see the footprints) and the description.
You can see my prototyping shield by looking in my eBay shop (see the link in my signature) to get another example of a prototyping shield layout.
Your shields look awesome and thank's for the advice. So im guessing the arduino board has a center spot that inst perferated (guessing its where the chip would start) so i think it could be doable with mine but thank you for opening my eyes to the ebay world of arduino products i havent thought to check that out at all. So i think i might just hang on to my shield and use it for a new project and get the one used in the instructables.
This is a single-chip specific breadboard area. The chip would straddle the two long centre tracks and you would connect your components and wires to the radiating tracks.
I guess you could use a DIP socket and place some tiny decoupling caps inside it on those rails if you wanted.
All the other holes are single-hole. You'd need to either squeeze multiple wires / components in each hole, or bend over the leads underneath and solder them together.