<div dir="auto">Ah, I used the wrong word maybe. It was a board with holes, but laid out like a breadboard (like your 2nd set of examples but colored like a breadboard too), and the pieces were soldered into it. However that format constrained the layout too much. The true perfboard you pictured first would work better and I think I will buy some of that to have on hand for hands-on thinking about arrangements.<div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">My friend sent me that Elektor article, although I think I could only see the intro since I don't subscribe. I have seen several other similar projects over the years, including one very similar on <a href="http://hackaday.io">hackaday.io</a>. I haven't seen one that used a SLIC board to avoid modding the phone but I'm sure someone has - I'm not claiming to have invented something new here. Just made one for myself and then had several other people want one.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Contrary to what I initially said, I *am* interested in learning about board design. I just didn't want to spend a lot of upfront time learning theory or KiCAD before I could start working on the thing I care about. Learning along the way is more my speed.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">I appreciate all the info everyone has provided!<br><br><div class="gmail_quote" dir="auto"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri, Dec 29, 2023, 18:16 Scott Hall via TriEmbed <<a href="mailto:triembed@triembed.org" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">triembed@triembed.org</a>> wrote:</div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">....</div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto"><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div lang="EN-US" dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><div>
</div></div></div></blockquote></div></div></blockquote></div></div></blockquote></div></blockquote></div><div>Funny thing this .... Elektor Magazine in their July/August issue had an article "Rotary Dial Phone Remote Control", and they have also had a sequenced-switch MP3 output device that used an old toy piano keyboard to play audio fragments.</div><div><br></div><div>Anyway, I too am a CAD type of person, KiCAD being my first choice to create files.  Previously I used Eagle and Fusion360.  Here is an article that gives a rundown of free CAD software: <a href="https://www.electroschematics.com/pcb-design-software/" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.electroschematics.com/pcb-design-software/</a>, and another article: <a href="https://www.3dsourced.com/3d-software/best-pcb-design-software/" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.3dsourced.com/3d-software/best-pcb-design-software/</a></div><div><br></div><div>In the picture you provided I saw a breadboard, not a perfboard (see picture).</div><div><img src="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=9de03326c2&attid=0.1&th=18cb82a76e3b5f72&view=fimg&fur=ip&rm=18cb82a76e3b5f72&sz=w1600-h1000&attbid=ANGjdJ9OjzfrjKoKoeAq-jBHjo6gD815hb7JM1jKSTPQX5Q4vwZt6IKgfNQN0qJreY86J4fUCnjgj-KtPyhQjms97wdJD5cdkxSEVfRLrfpHfWrrLSfYPRK42hvAcR0&disp=emb&realattid=ii_lqoiktyd0&zw" alt="image.png" width="461" height="263"><br>Other prototyping products include veroboards (aka stripboards, see second picture).</div><div><img src="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=9de03326c2&attid=0.2&th=18cb82a76e3b5f72&view=fimg&fur=ip&rm=18cb82a76e3b5f72&sz=w1600-h1000&attbid=ANGjdJ8FFtAdEepQDZZ4iQ29BInAdDpbCREzF37wnfqnDwFX4F0PoWUcPO8nxvCnwsFn8WDy2YWsZtWK8Pio3KBT0R28IooGPawEdBWplMTlDQXMk-x52K1PsizdkFY&disp=emb&realattid=ii_lqoimqgg1&zw" alt="image.png" style="margin-right:0px" width="219" height="164"><br></div><div><br></div><div>Then there are prototyping boards that have the same layout as a breadboard (see 3rd & 4th pictures).</div><div><img src="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=9de03326c2&attid=0.4&th=18cb82a76e3b5f72&view=fimg&fur=ip&rm=18cb82a76e3b5f72&sz=w1600-h1000&attbid=ANGjdJ8z3BoYTU68dh7CQUBCl3Xlmbcbfihp5Th_5HiR4p-LbDFQ5b27o9pEsuqOfYL7d2-Os-bo6THMODKc-7od3yQmLxCNtTrIjs4FmFxjb9by_z021QGPfeEz1Yo&disp=emb&realattid=ii_lqoiqwly2&zw" alt="image.png" style="margin-right:0px" width="203" height="122"><img src="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=9de03326c2&attid=0.3&th=18cb82a76e3b5f72&view=fimg&fur=ip&rm=18cb82a76e3b5f72&sz=w1600-h1000&attbid=ANGjdJ9gyc3pi_rBBUvu53iMJYLFgDho0XpVGeYawj-hpC1fG9_jAUlBxZA7Sl3JCLcB3CLEumMGW3Fss6w30Eyp3bYULaiaciqavCw5_gl75AJiiRbG7hebV4kKmdQ&disp=emb&realattid=ii_lqoiutyp3&zw" alt="image.png" width="220" height="144"><br><br></div><div>Here is links to a couple of articles on using prototyping boards:<br></div><div>from MKTPCB (who makes circuit boards): <a href="https://www.mktpcb.com/perfboard/" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.mktpcb.com/perfboard/</a></div><div>from DigiKey: <a href="https://www.digikey.com/en/maker/blogs/2022/start-building-cleaner-perfboard-projects-using-these-simple-tips" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.digikey.com/en/maker/blogs/2022/start-building-cleaner-perfboard-projects-using-these-simple-tips</a></div></div>
</blockquote></div></div></div>