PCB vs wirewrap, was Re: SBC6120 (a build-it-yourself

[Tony Duell]

> technology that I was unfamiliar with, I etched a single-sided PCB with
> pads for both types of ICs and interconnected them with #24 enameled magnet
> wire.  I got as far as building a working 8-bit ALU with 2 registers, but

Over here there were wiring systems solder under the brand names of 
'Verowire' and 'Road Runner'. You had a 'pen' which contained a spool of 
enammeled copper wire, the enammel was designed to melt at soldering 
temperatures. You soldered the ICs/sockets/etc onto square pad board, and 
rand the wire between the pins. soldering as you go.

The verowire tool was much nicer as it had a metal tip. The road runner 
tool tended to melt if you weren't careful.

It was not really suiable for production (far too slow, and not 
mechancially robust), but it worked well for prototyping (up to at least 
FAST speeds if you used a ground plane board). I've built a lot of stuff 
using it.

-tony