Perf+ Background/Overview

[last updated: 2020-10-15]
Perf+ main page
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Perf+ ("perf-plus") was a successful kickstarter in 2015 ((link to:) kickstarter).

It's an ingenious grid/bus arrangement that facilitates making prototype boards that are as clean as PCB's. That is, there are no (visible) jumper wires.

Initial comments in 2015 were largely negative, though as far as I could tell, none of the commenters had actually tried the system. But IMO all the negative remarks were to whatever degree caused by the perf+ system being so completely unique that conceptualizing how you'd make it work is not obvious.

Sometime after its introduction, an open-source routing software became available: (link to:) Perfy. However it appears to be Windows only, and I am trying to keep all my activities on my Linux systems, so I have not tried it nor searched for reviews.

In addition, I confess to feeling challenged to try to figure out how to make the perf+ boards work. So this is a record of my attempts to develop a tutorial of sorts.

In 2016 a (link to:) Hackaday review by Don Papp actually tried the boards and had some very helpful tips. Still short of an actual "do-this" tutorial IMO, but better than what was available before, which was zero. I've added his key findings to my Layout & Build Procedure:

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