elegant way to make an 50 LED array?

I suppose I could just solder them all together in a big ugly mess.
How do you people do it?

 

I have gone to the trouble to hand-manufacture a circuit board.

I've also purchased a bit of circuit board with holes on 0.1" centers
with a small pad of copper around each hole. I've soldered thin
copper wire along the top surface of the board, connecting to one
side of each led in the row and again along the bottom surface of
the board connecting to the other side of each led.

Those are about equally dependable and time consuming to do.
This was for 128 or 256 leds, with row and column control over
individual leds but it would work equally well if you just
wanted to wire them all together.

If I were to do this again I might consider paying one of the
discount circuit board houses to make the board and deliver it
to me for assembly.

 

If each LED is somehow controlled separately, then it is a big mess no
matter what you do. Using veroboard to hold the LEDs in place, you can
wire them using wire-wrap techniques, or design a PCB and have it fabbed
by some internet place (PCB123, futurlec, etc, etc)

If they are controlled collectively, then you can use stripboard to good
effect. Stripboard is a kind of premade pcb, that has holes drilled every
0.1 inch horizontally and vertically, and the horizontal rows of holes are
each connected with a strip of copper on the back.

---
Regards,
Bob Monsen

The greatest mathematicians, as Archimedes, Newton, and Gauss, always united
theory and applications in equal measure.
- Felix Klein

 

What type of LEDs?, what's the application? what is your supply
voltage?
A PCB is the easiest way, and surface mount LEDs are even easier (no
holes to drill in the PCB)

The higher your supply voltage the less ressitor you need as you can
string multiple LEDs in series.

Dave

 

stripboard looks satisfactory. Little ungainly tho.
Wow, I wasn't aware you could get PCBs designed for you. What have I
been doing on the internet all these years?

 

I'm not sure if that is sarcasm or not...
I'll ask again - What type of LEDs?, what's the application? what is
your supply
voltage?, and a new one - what will they be mounted too?
A PCB might be the best way, or a stripboard might be the best way, or
point-point wiring might be the best way, or surface mount might be
best.
Give us more information and we can help you some more...

Dave

 

Hah, no, I wasn't being sarcastic.
they are just run of the mill 3.2-1.2V 30-20ma LEDs with inch long
leads. I'll just stick on the stripboard and clip the excess. I'm
making a UV/IR flashlight. That's why it'd be nice to be slick and
compact.

 

radio shack doesn't have stripboard. Where should I go?

 

buy it online. http://www.futurlec.com/ProtoBoards.shtml

(for example. there are lots of others)

--
---
Regards,
Bob Monsen

What good your beautiful proof on (the transcendence of) PI. Why
investigate such problems, given that irrational numbers do not even exist?
- Leopold Kronecker