Why build an entire computer on breadboards?

[@BenEater]

For more info on what breadboards I recommend, see www.eater.net/breadboards And if you want to play with the graphing calculator models, check out these links: www.desmos.com/calculator/txls6jc88c www.desmos.com/calculator/i75gnzi3jb The rest of the 6502 project is here: www.eater.net/6502

[@memojl7195]

I want use my 25 old x86 processors with breadborads, it is posible ?

[@mohammedasadig6030]

Hello Ben

[@memojl7195]

I want use my 23 year old x86 pentium MMX processor with breadborads, it is posible ??

[@mohammedasadig6030]

Ben I was wondering if you ship to Sudan because I really want of your kits because some of these stuff you use in your videos are not available in my country

[@hololightful]

I was only at the beginning stages of an EE degree when I decided to switch back to IT, so this question might be totally off but: I don't see how the switching of the logic signals are 'built' using sine waves? I know that you can make a square wave using sign waves, but in the case of the logic signals, they aren't just simple square waves , but a DC voltage at either 0 volts or 5 volts. Obviously you know more than me in this arena, so what am I not seeing?

[@Churchgrimm]

Jokes on you sir, you're assuming that electronics work after I solder them

[@phalcon23]

@@rj-nj3uk the joke ---> Your head....

[@charadremur333]

@Jerome Cabarus r/woooosh

[@mrshurukan]

@Jerome Cabarus r/ihavereddit

[@craigtate5930]

Thats exactly the issue I had. I would fry the electronic components

[@Churchgrimm]

@@craigtate5930 I once was fixing a pair of speakers and accidentally bridged two contacts with a tiny smear of solder. I spent just 5 minutes soldering and then spent more than an hour trying to clean between the contacts. Amazingly the speakers worked and didn't in fact burst into flames. I usually can fix broken electronics, but not before I break them more.

[@SpinelessCougar]

Thirty years ago I was in a computer architecture class listening to a lecture about Andrew Tanenbaum and his MIC machine. (Sienna College, a liberal arts type college) I thought it was cool and decided to write a simulator in Turbo Pascal. I worked real nice with lots of blinky lights and traces lighting up when active. The Prof was so impressed he used it for a few in his architecture classes. Each student received a floppy disk with my simulator on it. I learned sooooooooo much while writing that program.

[@lightless]

Im doing the same class now but they just give us a arduino uno kit and tell us to go do an assignment. They teach architecture in simulation but the pcbs are pre made so i learn nothing.

[@AG-kp8es]

How's your career path since then? Did you take CE/EE as a profession? Curious to know

[@SpinelessCougar]

@@AG-kp8es I was in systems administration and programming for about 15 years and then got into other things that were not specifically tech jobs but still involved computers/admin stuff.

[@tailslessons9634]

Have you heard of gem5? Did you perchance help develop it?

[@honkhonk8009]

Andrew Tate

I have been using oscilloscopes for around 15 years and today is the day that I find out what is that spring for. Thanks.

[@LPkukin]

haha same!

[@BenEater]

I don't remember when I learned it, but it was definitely *many* years later as well.

[@GameBacardi]

In which point in video you see that spring ? 21:15 ou this

[@quinnr352]

At least I know I wasn't the only person who was baffled.

[@lwizzit]

I remember seeing that part. I honestly have no idea where I’ve put it. Well, another thing to do while I’m at home.

[@LiamLimeLarm]

"ITS NOT ABOUT WHY, ITS ABOUT WHY NOT" -Cave Johnson, CEO of Aperture Science

[@dadolphinplayz]

@Joe on 160 Ping make life take the lemons back

[@LG1ikLx]

Now I have to complete portal 2 again

[@stutavagrippa8690]

I love Portal

[@LiamLimeLarm]

@@stutavagrippa8690 does anyone even hate portal?

[@PhillipAmthor]

@@LiamLimeLarm there is no single person in this world that dislikes portal

[@rickperez8044]

I had wanted to do this about 40 years ago. An older, more experienced friend told me, "No way: it won't work", citing complications like capacitance and inductance. You've proven that it can, in fact, be done Thank you.

[@MrGoatflakes]

Of course it can be done, but you might actually need a static core, because you might actually not be able to clock a non static IC slow enough for both the IC to work and not well, have it compatible with the RF limitations of the breadboard and wires going everywhere. I'm guessing that you would be severely pushing it if you went anywhere near 1 MHz, but I might be wrong ;P

[@rickperez8044]

@@MrGoatflakes I was thinking about this. I figured it would be simpler, but more expensive, to use SRAM.

[@eiryna4560]

@@rickperez8044 idk if youtube gives notifications for such old comments, or if you will even see this. But could you explain what SRAM is?

[@rickperez8044]

@@eiryna4560 SRAM is Static Random Access Memory. It is an array of flip-flop circuits that hold contents as long as power is applied. They are simpler to use because, unlike Dynamic RAM (DRAM), they don't need a periodic "refresh" procedure that reads and re-writes the data to keep data (charge state) from leaking away. This requires circuitry and timing that add to the complexity of the project. During the refresh. the memory is "off the bus", not available to the CPU

[@MrGoatflakes]

@@rickperez8044 having the computer static is more than that though. The entire thing needs to be stable when you stop the clock. The late 1970s/early 80s NMOS 8 bit MPU chips used in the 8 bit home micros usually weren't static for some reason, their CMOS replacements/equivalents that came out in the late 80s/early 90s usually were. But the industry had moved on to 16 and 32 chips by that stage. Most of which weren't static not least of which because they typically used DRAM so they could have more memory. The only home computer that used them that I am aware of was the Apple IIGS, a phenomenal machine that used the WDC 65816, a static 6502 based hybrid 8/16 bit architecture. But as good as it was, it still probably wasn't as good as the Amiga for instance, (Motorola 68000 based), and I don't believe the IIGS was static as a system either, because I believed it used DRAM. It's possible to create a static system with DRAM, but you would then need seperate refresh circuitry and clock and probably buffering between the memory and CPU bus, and that would be stretching the definition somewhat.

[@StCreed]

This actually provides great insight in why a high frequency microprocessor is really hightech.

[@felipe_lopez]

Ok man, it's time to talk seriously. You need to start making videos about the math involved in electronics, signals etc. This video is outstanding but what I loved the most is that you explain the clock signal and the fourier transform with ease. I loved that you use a plotter to explain how to get a perfect square wave from the sum of signals. Really, I learned more from this video than from my entire college years. Keep up with this excellent content!

[@DarthZackTheFirstI]

the sum of the frequencies (discrete complex values), as he showed, are fourier series. fourier transform would be a non periodic signal (but yeah, works also for periodic) with a continuous superposition (steady change in frequency) i.e. decaying signal.

[@Anvilshock]

"Ok man, it's time to talk seriously. You need to" is a weird way to show appreciation …

[@PhilipSmolen]

3blue1brown did a lot of good stuff on fourier. Also check out this one from Technology Connections. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pojNlYp5mrWarKM

[@eaterofclams]

@@Anvilshock ...and "apprecition" is a weird way to spell appreciation.

[@Anvilshock]

@@eaterofclams Fixed.

[@th3cub350]

I really like your approach of "feed a man, it last for a day, teach him to hunt/fish/cook, he'll be taught for life", this is really a lost art for people to try and understand what they're using in depth and be able to troubleshoot or improve, even when something may not be related to what's they're working on but something related/attached to it. Kudos for all your videos, it taught me alot.

[@topilinkala1594]

You're quite right. I'm unemplyed telecom engineer and young techies laugh at me when I try to tell them how computers work. But as I know I have a 15 year old computer that I'm using just now. I bought third set of hard drives to it today because the secoind set I'm having in them give signals that they'd be dead in a year. How do I know. Because I've worked with servers in my life so much that I know what are the signs of failing hard drives. I've also changed the graphics card once because they go through the most abuse in a modern home table top and sometimes they are just manufactured to fail. Hard drives are mechanical things so it is clear that they can't last forever, but the main processor (8 cores at 3,6 Ghz) and the memory (16 GB DRAM) are just working fine. I use thermal camera once in awhile to look what is going on and they are just keeping cool.

[@glossymouse7712]

​@@topilinkala1594unfortunately we've gone beyond "why does this not work?". Now if it's not working, you replace the whole thing and forget about it. About young techs, well they're still young and think they're on top of the world.

[@paradox9551]

>Is it a good idea to build a computer on breadboards? Heck yeah it is, without you executing out that idea we wouldn't have this goldmine of a channel.

[@srenkoch6127]

Yea, And I would never have gotten to build my own either (ok that one is technically not a breadboard computer as it uses solder boards), so Yea, definitely a good idea :-)

[@y.z.6517]

It's for people who want to learn how computer works and/or how to design circuit (very important if you want to be a software/computer/electronic engineer). It's definitely not good or cost-effective, if you want a new computer.

[@srenkoch6127]

@@y.z.6517 Exactly, chances are also that you will end up with intermittent errors caused by poor contact somewhere in the system. The one I made works most of the time, but sometimes it doesn't. As far as I have been able to debug, it is caused by either some poor soldering on my part in some of the modules and/or contact resistance in some of the 16-pin ribbon cable connectors...

[@kenan2386]

Now bye motherboards say Hello to breadboards

[@Flying1Panda]

Ben! I went to school for EE, but mostly took classes on the EM/analog circuit side of things. I want to thank you so much for satisfying my curiosity about how the digital world works! Your videos explain at the perfect level for someone who has a basic level understanding but wants to know how things scale up as logic circuits get larger!

[@kanishkkaushik780]

This channel is a gold standard in teaching methods. Should be standardized across as many educational institutions as possible. I don't believe viewers truly appreciate the effort that you've invested in these videos to stay on point! No meandering diversions, no unnecessary references, not explaining mundane things, having just the right amount of expectation from your viewers and so much more!

[@Plaayaa69]

yes

[@DatBui-f2y]

I discovered your channel and content through my "Computer Organization and Architecture" professor! He is incorporating hands on learning using your kits. I feel very thankful and lucky to have come across your content, Ben!

[@proxy1035]

0:34 yes and no... if you have a premade PCB sure it's not really great at showing how it works and it will likely work first try. but when you design them yourself it's a completely different story. that would actually be an amazing expansion of your Breadboard computer, showing the process of designing the Schematic, the PCB, and soldering it together... that would be really sweet. especailly with your really great way of explaing things i would assume it would bring a lot more people to make their own PCBs

[@renakunisaki]

I've been designing PCBs lately and it's definitely not easy! It's simple enough to do, but then you try to cram multiple chips onto a 1x1 inch board, with all the various capacitors and resistors and inductors they need... Someone needs to invent capacitors small enough to fit inside the chips!

[@BenEater]

Absolutely! Laying out the PCB yourself is an awesome learning experience. Perhaps I'll get into that at some point, though there are already some great resources out there.

[@kallewirsch2263]

@@renakunisaki Actually there were IC sockets around, which had the capcitor built in. They could do this, because the 74xx family of ICs had the power supply always on 2 opposite corners. I have no idea, if those sockets still are in production.

[@proxy1035]

@@BenEater true there are other great tutorials out there. but it would still be great as a next step in self designed circuits. @kallewirsch2263 you mean these: i.imgur.com/cVEPSNb.png ? that is pretty elegant.

[@simeondermaats]

Right now, I'm trying to redesign the entire 8-bit breadboard computer PCB, mainly because I want to get into PCB design. I feel like this is one of the most educative things I've ever done. I'm doing it in modules and I hope it turns out well

[@EgeTemizkan]

So, I am in no way even slightly interested in electronics, breadboards and whatnot. Honestly, I just stumbled upon your video while I was browsing for some unrelated programming video. All those considered, you just made me sit here and watch a 30 min long video without being bored on a very busy workday. You, sir, are a very good teacher. Your expertise is on another level and when it came to using raw mathematics just to show what really is going on in a clock signal, you simply blew my mind. You are amazing, I wish I had uni professors half as skilled as you at teaching when I was a student.

[@orion8385]

2:10 breadboard porn. now I've seen it all.

[@artratengo]

I thought the same lmao

[@the_angler_2]

@@artratengo you guys two need to find a girlfriend asap

[@artratengo]

@@the_angler_2 how bout no

[@migkillerphantom]

@@the_angler_2 just stop being poor lmao

[@awertyuiop8711]

migkillerphantom * Just don’t be an incel lmao

[@TheAdamsMcCall]

I love that you just answered the question in the first minute of the video and then proceed to explain the need for capacitor and how square waves work and stuff like that

[@JamesCoyle95]

You do such a great job explaining the reasoning behind things rather than just explaining the theory. I think for a lot of people it is a lot easier to learn about inductance and capacitance in this way where it is actually applied in a real world situation rather than just teaching the theory and not actually showing how it is used in practice.

[@kimjong-un2318]

One of the reasons why maths in school is so boring haha

[@ricarda4846]

Hands down you are the first teacher of electronics where I actually understand / can start to understand what electronics are about. You have a great way of explaining and demonstrating (!) how concepts work. Thank you very much! Very much appreciate it.

[@anj000]

Oh man, this video should be really called differently. It not only gives practical overview for building computer on breadboards but actually for building any electrical circuit. Great video man!

[@garypoplin4599]

0:45 - Just watching _you_ build these computers on the breadboard has greatly enhanced my understanding of the inner workings of the machine down to voltage levels an timing. With a little machine and assembler thrown in! Thanks for all these byte-sized videos on the hardware level computer operation.

[@moosnum2]

I have taken years of circuits and electronics classes, and capacitors have never "clicked" as well as they did during that description... Thank you for improving my intuitive understanding of capacitors!!

[@renakunisaki]

It occurred to me that where a resistor blocks current change, a capacitor blocks voltage change.

[@DrRabbit0]

@@renakunisaki Isn`t the inductor the one, who blocks current change? Resistor just makes current proportional to voltage, while inductor tries to keep it at whatever level it was befor the voltage change.

[@erikk7500]

Dr. Rabbit correct, the inductor resists change in current, capacitor resists change in voltage, and the resistor resists the flow of electrons.

[@ehsanag5837]

i learned that in high school something wrong with your educational system

[@gagehall95]

The amount of knowledge that you have packed into this single video is amazing; took me years to learn and understand most of this through schooling and consistanly loosing my love for electronics because of how I was taught. Love how you explain things and still pack so much useful information in your videos! Keep making these as I would much rather watch a video of you explaining electronics compared to a long lecture where I get lost so easily.

[@juxuanu]

I liked how you presented low pass filters and a hint of all the caviats that you are taught at university about RF in Telecomunications. As always, quality content.

[@JohnSmith-fq3rg]

Or you can be the rest of us with an associate degree where we learn that rf and inductance in general is magic, and that your only defense against it is to pray, jostle any and all wires and wiggle the components until your assembly starts working the same way every time you power it up. If all else fails... changing rooms and/or turning off the overhead lights sometimes helps.

[@juliocamacho7052]

Awesome content! I have no words to express how much I like your detailed explanations. You answered each and every question that came to my mind as the video went on. I live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and I am buying one of your kits ASAP. Your high quality educational videos are filling the gaps I have about the topic. I am an Electronics technician that have been working as IT for a while and there is so much I do not know. Thank you for lighting the way!

[@riteshkakkar7112]

Killl

[@nuridincersaygili]

So what's next? Build an OperatingSystem for that computer! Hell yeah!

[@genjii931]

God, I hope so!

[@activex7327]

Yo, you need more memory for that!

[@chrismumford9206]

Benux

[@JanBruunAndersen]

@@activex7327 - tell that to my Acorn Atom with (originally) 4 KB of ROM and 2 x 512 bytes of RAM. That 4 KB was enough for the OS and an integer-only BASIC.

[@xtdycxtfuv9353]

freeB(en)SD

[@gildardorivasvalles6368]

Your videos are excellent. Now I'm going to watch the whole series on building a computer. And, being a physicist, I have to say your explanation about capacitance and inductance in a circuit is both simple, elegant, and correct -- that is actually a very tall order to fulfill.

[@JohnDuthie]

I love how you break down videos into less complicated subjects and tackle one at a time. It's easier to follow along and enjoy it. Sincerely, A super casual electronics enthusiast.

[@ZubairKhan-vs8fe]

Of course its a brilliant idea to build a computer on bread board. You have shown us each step in detail. Please don't stop. Please show us software development for this computer

[@sobertillnoon]

I always try to go off weight when selecting breadboards. Also, I have no idea why but I loved when you put your multimeter probes on your capacitor drawing.

[@dmeemd7787]

Same here! 😊 (and with breadboards, you can usually see the contacts inside - especially with a light or now-a-days a camera phone zoomed in on the contacts..--can always tell when you have a small diameter wire and it still grabs.... but just obviously it's a bummer you can't do that online 😋.. I dont know why, but over the years anytime I've gotten breadboards that are slightly darker in color (that off-white like he shows) they have air far always been better quality - but there's NO way that can be true all the time, lol, doesn't make any sense, but alas it keeps happenings, LoL

[@StarkRG]

I wish someone would compile a list of good quality breadboards.

[@steveheist6426]

@@StarkRG I think he literally said he had a list of recommended boards on his website.

[@benjaminjoeBF3]

I wasnt hoping to last more than 30 seconds instead I watched it all and learned more in 5 mins of your video than in a year of reading books. So clear and well presented, thank you!

[@wouterj6879]

Never thought I'd get turned on by breadboard connections

[@martyJJ]

After 21 days in the quarantine, a nicely curved piece of wood is enough to get me going

[@superconfort]

LOL, really

[@jimmyjohn832]

There's the comment I was looking for

[@sergiogarcia2984]

Ew

[@TheBodgybrothers]

Oh yeah, check out those slender well proportioned wire connections!

[@howardbaxter2514]

"very good chance things won't work the first time" Yeah, sometimes you incorrectly wire an op-amp and end up both burning it out and melting your board. Fun stuff.

[@fredmdea785]

The breadboard quality really is a huge deal. Last year I had to assemble my group's course conclusion project and I had to use our breadboards to make a functioning prototype to test before getting a PCB. While using only one breadboard it all went well, but when I started to put components on the other, which was from a different manufacturer, it all went downhill and would only work if I aplied pressure do some connections. After that I got really frustrated and just sent my friend a scheme for the circuit so he could draw it on a fenolite copper plate and I could corrode it. Luckilly the design didnt have any problem with the basic circuit.

[@Miller7747]

I purchases a cheap breadboard, and I found an entirely different problem: Leakage currents due to poor insulation resistance! I was getting very weird results, then I found that the actual plastic was conducting electricity! Great video, keep up the good work!

[@leprotto89]

I'm very happy I discovered your kits. I have always been interested in your projects. I finally found a job as software engineer and now I'm able to afford them so I ordered the 8 bit one. It's going to be fun!

[@leslieng5669]

I went through my whole eng college degree not fully understanding what I learned This actually makes a lot of sense and provide a lot of context on all the formulas I had to learn/ memorize

[@rdwells]

My experience with breadboards is pretty limited, but from what I've see, the whiter the breadboard is, the worse it is.

[@y.z.6517]

Crap breadborad manufacturers saw this, and painted their breadboards black.

[@Tokmurok]

@@y.z.6517 Time to avoid black breadboards, it just looks bad anyway.

[@drasco61084]

Something about polishing turds right

[@radicaledward9486]

@@Tokmurok You got me with that "72 years ago"

[@VndNvwYvvSvv]

I've noticed that too. I have 4 different sets. Same thing, except for expensive digi-trainers

[@benjfischer]

This guy's just a genius. I wish my professors in college took this approach to teaching!

[@LuisMedina040199]

The problem is that such approach could consume a lot of time: it's hard to prepare and teach step by step. Think now of going on to review more of the topics in the course. Imagine finishing a career in 10 years...

[@liyifenn]

@@LuisMedina040199 This guy managed to make it into (relatively) concise KZbin videos over the span of a couple of months, that can be watched in a day. The fact of the matter is that most professors are not qualified enough, nor good enough at teaching, to be professors

[@bigbloke2000]

I sucked so much at electonics at UG-level in college in early 2000s. Watching this video makes me realise: Where were the simple practical demonstrations of core principles have practical effects on real-world electronic issues as in this video? Having a set of blackboard math lectures from 1 professor and then technicians guide you through a practical session is just ineffective higher education teaching. I hope no one reading this had a similar experience

[@scharkalvin]

You gave a very good explanation of the Fourier transform without actually mentioning it by name. You don't actually have to read the busy flag, in fact most arduino LCD libraries don't. What you do need to do is to add a wait loop between each instruction access of the LCD. There is a known amount of time that each instruction takes, so the LCD drivers just 'spin their wheels' for a few miliseconds to let the LCD catch up. Actually reading the LCD busy flag will end up wasting the same amount of time. Also, by wiring the LCD in 4 bit mode, and leaving the LCD R/W hard wired low (write), only 6 wires are needed in the interface.

[@renakunisaki]

Waitaminute. Is that square wave literally just a graph of the intensity of each frequency!? So he uses all odd frequencies so that the plot alternates between high and low? If that's correct then wow, just blew my mind.

[@hermitoldguy6312]

@Rena Kunisaki The square wave is the sum of the other waves - they're added up.

[@EebstertheGreat]

@@renakunisaki What you are describing is the graph of the Fourier transform of the square wave. That graph is just points at every odd multiple of the fundamental frequency with y-coordinates inversely proportional to their value.

[@Breakfast_of_Champions]

wait loops make baby jesus cry

[@scharkalvin]

@@Breakfast_of_Champions Sitting in a loop reading the busy flag and waiting for it to become false is exactly the same as just waiting a number of MS, the cpu does nothing else during that time. It's not possible to attach an interrupt to the LCD, so there isn't any other choice but to keep reading the status reg and testing the busy flag. You could put some other task inside of the wait loop, such as reading switches, but being that the purpose was to update the LCD things get tricky. Since the Arduino doesn't support threads, a multi task solution to the problem isn't readily possible. Best to just live with the wait loop, sorry BJ.

[@ericvosselmans5657]

I wouldn't be able to replicate it, but the entire series taught me a lot about how a very basic computer actually works. Indispensable information for any software designer. Thank you a lot for the series!

[@akhileshb_]

Please don't ever stop making these videos Ben. All your effort is appreciated!

[@bamgm14]

Yo, wtf. This is incredible Finally, youtube recommendation gives me something good

[@PabloGonzalez-ub6lu]

Understanding so many things in so short time is just overwhelming.

[@TheBodgybrothers]

It always is with tech videos. But never think you have to keep up. Take your time, they are videos that are available for a long time. The great thing about youtube education is that you can take as long as you need. I tell people who ask me how to learn this stuff to set out 6 continuous hours of learning a week. It is not a lot, but a good 6 hours gets you a long way through the learning process. Some people can keep up with videos like this with 6 hours, some people need more. It doesn't matter, all that matters is you learn what you want to learn and learning becomes a hobby. Eater is a pretty good resource as he goes slow enough but not too slow. And explains everything in detail. Once you know what you didn't know, you can always look up what you need to know on google. Just take you time and there is no reason to keep up with the videos as they come out. Not putting pressure on yourself helps make learning fun again.

[@StarkRG]

To properly lock it in, though, you'll have to do it yourself.

[@TheGrandexeno]

@pyropulse do what you want and flex your "intelligence" as cringy as you can. Others will still learn something in a different way.

[@randar3]

Damn this is so interesting! I've been looking to get a bit more "in-depth" with my computer knowledge, and your videos are perfect. Incredibly engaging and entertaining whilst also teaching me lots of stuff.

[@zxlee1]

What a nice way to explain basic signal integrity concepts through the computer in breadboards project. Well done!

[@highbudgettrash]

This is hands down the best chanel on KZbin.

[@patwicker1358]

Ben, I really love this series! Been a programmer ever since the Apple II but not so much with the hardware.

[@hendrih.5349]

It's amazing to see how far one can go with these types of projects without a factory assembling and programming everything like most computers today. However fascinating I find content like this, I'm mostly here for the electronics part, because I don't have the mental capacity for all those extras! Great work taking on such a massive and rewarding project! Keep up the good work Ben.

[@ColinTimmins]

I hate how they come so close to making a decent bread board, then cheap out on the most important part...

[@stoatrepublic]

That actually costed more to make wrong in a way so in a way thats industrial Terrorism.

[@kevincozens6837]

There are also two main versions of solderless breadboard. The ones shown here and the type that (used to be?) sold by a company whose name is (or was) Continental Specialties Corporation(?). Not sure of the last word. IIRC, it was either wider or narrower. The distance between the two inside rows of pins commonly used for power is different.

[@dmeemd7787]

Man I know! For some reason the off-white one seemed to be better quality than the ones that look bleached white in color, I don't think that's going to be the case always but for some reason the matter where I've gotten them from that seems to be the case over the years lol

[@mikehunt3688]

The bread?

[@roboknight]

This is a great idea. I've always figured there were ways to use that "old tech" to make new things. And while I love the idea of a large breadboard project to wrap your head around how a complicated circuit might work, I've got an old Atari 800 that's just begging to be turned into something useful. Really like your walkthrough of breadboard construction. Its good to know why my cheap breadboards can be frustrating. I really liked your analysis of breadboards and "high frequency". I don't think I've ever had anyone walk me through the *WHY* things can fail on a breadboard. It likely explains the need for an "antenna" on a project I worked on once in a college lab. Thing did not work unless we had a stray wire hanging out of the thing. Stray wire added, problem solved. We didn't have the tools to figure it out, and my lab partner was one who didn't like moving forward without figuring those things out. Unfortunately, I saw no real way to fix it (well, the thing to do was to rip it up and make it look as neat as what you have here... but no one wants to do that in a college lab...)

[@windsaw151]

My simple answer after the first sentence was finished: YES! I learned so much more about how computers work simply by watching this than by my entire time hacking the C64 and later studying informational science.

[@MyNathanking]

Why build an entire computer on breadboards, you ask? Why, for the most stupidly simple reason of being able to see how a computer works from a perspective that you can't see while your'e unboxing the latest-model computer all assembled and ready to go --- THAT'S why you build computers on breadboards. And Ben Eater, I thank YOU for being the one doing it.

[@Krakow1937]

Your videos are really interesting to watch and I can literally feel how nicely detailed, well explained and how much love you put into your videos. Im studying something different than this field but this is still very nice to watch !!

[@janikarkkainen3904]

After watching your videos first intermittently, and then splurging the whole 6502 project videos, I got so excited about electronics and breadboards and signal processing and timings and clock signals etc that I feel like a little kid again. I've also been wanting to really understand all this stuff for a really long time, but have been procrastinating on actually putting the work in to learn this stuff - but then you gone did and made these videos and these are so enjoyable and interesting to watch and I've "accidentally" learned so much that the whole thing kinda "clicked" a couple of nights ago. The same way programming clicked back when I was kid and trying to understand how programming works - I remember the moment things just kinda "clicked" and I realized I just got bootstrapped into how I can learn more. So I went and ordered an Arduino, a breadboard, some jumper cables and and assortment of components, and I can't wait to get my hands on them to gradually get to understand even more of these things. And maybe one day make that 6502 breadboard computer myself.

[@kaanarslan2264]

Kärkkäinnen

[@StoxFT]

Ben, please, man, do not listen haters. Many thank you for your work, you are doing awesome job.

[@Mastertexter]

Just started with programming and got my first Pi. I saw this and I think this should be my next project. Thanks for sharing! This is brilliant!

[@cfhay]

11:00 I'm not an expert, but I think phase shift is actually caused by the speed of light. Signal travels about 95% of the speed of light in a copper cable. If I read the scope right, the shift is around 10 nanoseconds. Over that time period, light travels around 3 meters. I wouldn't be surprised if the sum of the length of cable used for the scope and the extra wire on the breadboard would add up to around 3 meters.

[@ObjectsInMotion]

The two phenomena are in fact one and the same.

[@caidenkesler3945]

Objects in Motion so then, would that slight delay always be there, it just isn’t noticeable at lower frequencies?

[@keithklassen5320]

Wouldn't you see a more linear response to increasing frequency if that was the main factor? I'm sure it plays a part, but the response seems to be quite sharply non-linear, which to me implies that it's more to do with impedance and capacitance, as Ben says.

[@notloli3746]

general theory of relativity kicks in

[@Benjibits]

When your wavelength is comparable to the length of the wires you use, you get losses/shifts

[@togglefire3537]

A minute into the video you have already convinced me to look into buying and building a computer out of breadboard. I'll check out your link. I've always wanted to understand how computer chips work but I thought it was something that was made in a factory that I would never understand.

[@ifaiful]

Used a small breadboard in secondary school 20 years ago. Thought I’d excel in electronics but I hated it; bad class of students. But this could be worth looking into again.

[@aaron9828]

It's so great that there is a community for stuff like this on KZbin.

[@SreeramVenkitesh]

Thanks to your outstanding work with these videos Ben! Your videos have inspired me to start writing an interactive book to learn digital electronics from the ground up, from bits to building computers. I plan to release it by the time this coronavirus is dealt with!

[@DazzaDirect]

thats cool bro, good luck ;-)

[@sanjuthomas9635]

Malayalee🤩

[@SreeramVenkitesh]

@@sanjuthomas9635 Hey!

[@sanjuthomas9635]

@@SreeramVenkitesh hai I know you from your KZbin channel , I checked out ktu coa playlists 😁

[@SreeramVenkitesh]

@@sanjuthomas9635 woah cool, thanks! I should make more of those, I can even feature Ben's videos there

[@didierseverac]

I'm a goat when it comes to electronic. I don't understand how you always manage to explain so clearly all this concepts. I just love all your projects they are always perfectly chosen. Thanks a lot !

[@Blacklab412294]

Remember back in the 80's they had chip carriers that had the .1 uF caps across the Vcc and Gnd, so you did not have to do that on your circuit board.

[@Photoeye65]

Ben, I really like your way of speaking and explaining things. It is easy to listen to and follow! Thanks, Jeff W Waldrop

[@thisisnotok2100]

Me: Yep. I have a high quality breadboard. Ben: takes out my exact breadboard as low quality example Me: ah

[@tifforo1]

Dear Ben Eater, I know this video has almost 1.7 million views, but what do you think of REXQualis and their breadboards?

[@driesceuppens7623]

While talking about the inductance you mentioned the magnetic field doing the work of the motor turning, this isn't actually the magnetic field but the electric on because the magnetic field can never do any work. It's a small detail but in EM physics it's a important distinction. Despite this micro flaw this is a great video and I love the series!

[@Mical2001]

If the answer to the question were "no", I'd feel bad for following the tutorial but doing it in Minecraft

[@noether9447]

Yeah doing it in Minecraft is best as you don't have to do the hardwork of actually cutting wires and stuff. Also it makes a lot of stuff kinda easier due to mechanical components (pistons etc.)

[@Zougloulevrai]

@@noether9447 It also makes some things harder, since signal needs to be repeated every 15 blocks, and since you're making a CPU and logic constructions, you need to space things a lot and get reaally long wires and place them by hand. But you also don't need to play with ground and power lines the same way. I'm not sure that's really just easier, I think it takes much more time.

[@MisterHunterWolf]

@@Zougloulevrai you can use the repeaters to your advantage by having certain parts of the computer activate before others, so that most instructions need only one clock cycle

[@Hello-qg4yk]

blu yea

[@wibs0n68]

@blu iirc redpower mod also works (used to use it on 1.2.5)

[@flaturiah]

0:50 I had to stop for a second, I _really_ actually needed to hear that bit there. I've been slowly making progress toward expanding my programming repertoire but have been getting BECAUSE it doesn't work. I know this should've been something I figured out myself ages ago, but it was nice to finally come to some form of realization.

[@dmeemd7787]

That's awesome! :-) :-)

[@ndookie]

Why build an entire computer on breadboards? Because it’s awesome!

[@qisu4994]

I've been following your tutorials without the clock module. Literally a few hours ago, I was wondering why my crystal oscillator won't run the code and prints "hello world" but a clock signal produced by my Arduino works. I was searching for the answer for a couple of hours and run into this, so lucky and thanks!

[@kavinbharathirm9478]

The Fourier transform in this video is so subtle yet powerful

[@RGD2k]

Great video - may change my opinion of breadboards. I think I agree they're much better for learning. minor quibble about capacitors - should also say: "Until charge flows to/from terminals of the capacitor, the other side will tend to 'follow' any abrupt changes in electrical potential on the other terminal. That is, capacitors tend to resist allowing the voltage across them to change, and this means one terminal can 'drag' the other around. Given time, the flow of charge will then 'allow' the terminal potentials to become different from how they were. Using them as a filter to 'keep the voltage steady' exploits that effect. You want 'big' capacitors to make voltage differences 'steady', and 'small' ones to allow things to change without interference. So mutual capacitance is your enemy when you want wires to be able to change voltage quickly without interfering with each other." The real limitation for breadboads isn't actually capacitative coupling, it's inductive coupling, which is much more difficult to wrap your mind around. Bolting or sticking a layer of conductive metal under your breadboards, and connecting it to ground or power at as many places as possible - maybe making a conductive 'cover' to put atop the circuit, doing the same thing - offering many points to connect to Vcc - preferable at each chip - will help enormously. This will tend to kill inductive couping, which allows circuits to change currents fast without generating voltage pulses on coupled circuits. This is why multilayer circuit boards are so popular. The other 'trick' is to use 'complimentory' logic signalling. This is where you use two wires per signal, and not just one. With breadboard you can do this by wrapping two wires together, the other can just go to/from ground at each end. This provides a closer, better magnetically coupled 'return part' for the magnetic coupling, which will then tend to prevent any magnetic interference between different pairs. This is basically why all networking over wire is done the same way (although it helps even more to transformer couple at either end as well, this prevents DC voltage differences between ends from interfering too). The other way to avoid magnetic interference, which is even more popular nowadays, is just to have each chip generate always two signals - the output and it's complement. If these always swap on/off states at the same moment, and the transmission delays between both wires are made equal (if over a circuit board with ground planes) or routed through the same physical space (either by coax or twisted pair - if not over a ground plane) - AND the current sum of both signals is constant always - then the interference generated by the signal is always cancelled by the counter-interference in the other. And you avoid both generating interference or being suspect to it. This allows you to use smaller voltage swings, because there's no interference, which lets you go even faster. This is basically how all modern digital connections work - whether between your RAM and processor, or PCIe, or USB3.0 or thunderbolt, etc. Much harder to do on a breadboard, but really only because you can't always buy DIP logic chips with purely complementory outputs - most of the ones that exist, you can only buy as SMD parts - because DIP and through-hole parts fell out of favour long before the advantage of complementory signalling like this became apparent. (Just don't fall into the trap of thinking that it's 'differential' signalling, it isn't really, although you *can* receive it that way, for some noise immunity, it works almost as well just to 'dump' the complement signal into a Thevenin equivalent load next to the chip you're sending it to). So, now I've told you how, you should be able to drastically increase the clock rate of your breadboarded digital circuits. Not understanding this technology, was really what limited 'breadboard like' early PC's to such low clock rates. Putting decoupling caps everywhere near each chip is just a band-aid fix. If those chips are always outputting a constant current (because of having all complementary outputs), then they wouldn't need them, because their current draw could be made constant and not a function of their logic data state - thus avoiding polluting the power supply for the other chips. That would let you increase speeds to the point that the capacitive coupling between the metal pieces in your breadboard becomes the limit. At which point you can use a 'shielded' breadboard to go even futher. But everyone prefers to just use 'dead bug' and 'sky-wiring' prototyping techniques, since it gives much better performance at high speeds, especially if you encase it in a conductive box. Those circuits look like total rats nests to the un-initiated, but they are seriously high-performing prototypes - often working much better than PCB circuits. Beauty only other electrical engineers can appreciate. Of course, for serious digital computer engineering, nowadays you use an FPGA. See icestudio for something that makes it very beginner friendly, like arduino does for microcontrollers.

[@danieljohnson8539]

Netflix: Are you still watching? Somebody's daughter: 2:10

[@Wrackey]

Working on an 8x8x8 rgb LED cube project, and decided to get 4 breadboards, and lay out the entire driver circuit for the cube first. Was very interesting to see it and debug it when it didn't work right away. I used a pic32 microcontroller to drive 12 TLC5940NT LED drivers, driving 192 channels or 64 RGB LEDs at once in total. It worked fine after some tinkering, and I hooked up my scope to check some signals. I was surprised by how noisy it was, while still running perfectly! I decided to drive the signal clock on the Micro controller up higher, to see what would happen, and got one of the clocks up to 13Mhz at one point, with the LEDs refreshing at 400Hz (These drivers have 12Bits brightness control per channel!). Checking with the scope, showed a complete MESS on all the clock lines, and power lines, but it still ran perfectly! Had some fun at that point, adding and removing caps here and there, and could see the improvements. It would run fine without ANY extra caps but I could see spikes up to 15V on the LED side in some places! (drove the LEDs at 5V with 3.3V logic signals). Putting the ceramic caps back in reduced these spikes to an acceptable 5.4V. Really interesting to see, and play around with, and to see it would work this fast, even on a breadboard setup ;-)

[@KeithOlson0326]

Excellent video! And, thanks for destroying breadboards so that we don't have to. Very interesting to see the differences in quality. But more importantly it is good to know the details of how well the breadboard will work for the computer.

[@DrNasirHayat]

i have never seen such great videos on youtube about fundamental to understand how things works

[@HECKproductions]

"it just works the first time" not if done by someone learning to solder

[@briankarcher8338]

These are some of the best videos on KZbin. Great job!

[@domagojoreski6673]

Thank you for the comma in "Hello, world", you're one of very few literate people.

[@r3nash]

I recently graduated with a degree in EE, and also majored in CE for half my collegiate career. Can say, your videos do a great job of explaining everything. I probably could've learned everything about CE just from your videos. Great explanations every time on the hardware. Also, congrats on your great returns on ur 6502 computer set. Ill stick to digikey ;) (If you know of a better site, lmk)

[@NickFrom1228]

My biggest reason for building the computer on breadboard was passing the class. 20% of our grade was a breadboard computer project and Harley didn't give partial credit for a non working computer... Ah the good ol' days.

[@PeterStinklage]

Thanks!

[@HazeAnderson]

I like to transfer my breadboard successes over to blank, matrix style thru-hole PCB and design the circuits on graph paper with a pencil and later pen. I build the traces on the bottom side by bending the components leads instead of clipping them. I hope to do the same with some or (hopefully) all of these subparts you have built. :)

[@smooooth_]

A lot of people call them perfboard. They even make types that have breadboard style parallel traces

[@FrypanMan69]

This clarifies so many things I didn’t even know would be related to this video, well done sir

[@user-vv9gk9rx7x]

8 bit Micros still interest me but I particularly enjoyed the theory side, wiring induced capacitance and inductance and their effect on signal timing. Thanks for the enjoyment.

[@Tracing0029]

You are an amazing teacher! Thanks for sharing all of this.

[@MIchaelArlowe]

0:36 “it just works the first time” AH HA HA HA HA HA

[@arshiajalali3622]

LOVE THE GRAPHS! Taught me so much, and brought a smile to my face!

[@Snakke40]

I keep clicking on these videos even though I know the answers and what you'll be doing. But man if they aren't entertaining.

[@mrteemug5329]

Damn this is so cool, I was literally researching the same thing you just showed at 11 minutes today at the lab. One of the excersises was to explain why this happens and I had no clue, so this came in very handy :)

[@patrlim]

i hate how educational this channel is, i just wanna see a breadboard explode

[@thonain]

Hello. Wonderfull. how can you get so perfect black for your vidéos ? What material do you use ? And how much spots lights do you have ? Because quality of your vidéos is awesome :) please answer me

[@andreaskyfano]

Up

[@stromorphlutis4665]

Mmmhmmm

[@DreamingConcepts]

vantablack? or a very large dark room behind?

[@zbnmth]

I'd say it looks like black velours or suède, and optionally clip the low values in post.

[@witzprinz4766]

You can probably get the same effect by using a green screen.

[@clausderlien9030]

Fantastic KZbin Series what a clean clear and crisp explanation of how to get from a to b

I absolutely love watching these videos and pretend that I'm understanding anything.

[@mickcox976]

Hey Ben, I just discovered your videos today and I love what you're doing. I actually started with electronics as a project when the shutdown started, however other projects got in between soon after. If I'm returning to electronics soon again then I'll be definitely ordering one of your kits!

[@arnoutmeester1728]

I just bought an oscilloscope and was wondering where those springs were for.. thanks for this unexpected info.

[@gagehall95]

You visually represent the scalability problems(Moore's Law) that we are starting to run into with processors so well; I've known the problem of this but never had a visual to this point on why its so important and direct corolation on the exact problem that arise when, how, and why we must come up with new methodologies on how to compute things.

[@realdragon]

Why build an entire computer on breadboards? Why understand how transistors work? Why understand electricity? Simply aswering all those questions, understanding the basics allow us to make progress, to understand more advanced stuff. Imagine if Tesla didn't know how electrycity works Also making breadboard computer is awesome

[@ericlotze7724]

Making a turing complete redstone computer in minecraft works well too! (not the hands on though...)

[@bibsp3556]

Im just doing it for redstone. hahaha im gonna build huge computers in the apocalypse

[@eccentricOrange]

Ben you deserve more subs and views