Creating boards?

mosquito56

· I am completly new to semiconductors and only a parallax customer for a month. I am getting close to finishing my project on the education board and need to find info on how to make a custom board for my project. I saw a real nice soldering how to and was wondering if someone can point me to a video on making your first curcuitboard. Thanx in advance

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Hmm, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all"

······· "No such thing as a dumb question" unless it's on the internet
········"What happens in Vegas ends up on the Internet"

Technologically challenged individual, Please have pity.

Post Edited (mosquito56) : 1/14/2008 1:18:30 AM GMT

PLJack

There is an episode of Systm on Revision3 here:
Systm Episode 15 - PCB Etching

Pretty much just the basics.
You might want to download the hi-def version instead of watching it via the web page.

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- - - PLJack - - -

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Perfection in design is not achieved when there is nothing left to add.
It is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.

mosquito56

Sweet I had no idea I could do it at home this easily!!!! These guys are a hoot!!! Thanx
Is there free software to do the layouts? What is that called?

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Hmm, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all"

······· "No such thing as a dumb question" unless it's on the internet
········"What happens in Vegas ends up on the Internet"

Technologically challenged individual, Please have pity.

Paul Baker

That was quite·a scatterbrained presentation. What the heck are they advocating brillo pad or sand paper for? Sharpie and etch resist pens are solvent in isopropyl alcohol, you place it in a shallow dish of it and gently rub the ink off. I think his soap box on Eagle is off base too, he just hasn't figured out how to use the software, library creation is simple if you follow a few techniques, I can create any DIL SMT package in a couple minutes.

Oh and you may want to consider having them done for you, prices are getting more and more affordable.

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Paul Baker
Propeller Applications Engineer

Parallax, Inc.

Post Edited (Paul Baker (Parallax)) : 1/12/2008 2:56:55 AM GMT

mosquito56

Being new, I bow to your knowledge. Starting eagle now. I seem to be in a terahz world with a kilohz brain. I guess I am just trying to process·to much too fast.·Expecting my order Mon so more to learn then. Amazing support here. Thanx much

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Hmm, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all"

······· "No such thing as a dumb question" unless it's on the internet
········"What happens in Vegas ends up on the Internet"

Technologically challenged individual, Please have pity.

PLJack

Paul Baker (Parallax) said...
That was quite a scatterbrained presentation. What the heck are they advocating brillo pad or sand paper for?

Whoops, your right Paul. It's been a while since I've seen that episode.
I forgot about that silly rant of Brendan's. I've always thought of him as a bit flaky but in the recent Revision3 Gazette it turns out that he is a very talented studio engineer.

Paul Baker (Parallax) said...

Oh and you may want to consider having them done for you, prices are getting more and more affordable.

True that.
For a quick board you can always buy a kit with instructions.

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- - - PLJack - - -

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Perfection in design is not achieved when there is nothing left to add.
It is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.

Leon

This is the best place for advice on making your own PCBs:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs/

I get very good results (down to 8 mil tracks) using the photo-etch process, with artwork produced on an inkjet printer and positive resist precoated boards.

Leon

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Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle

PLJack

Leon said...
This is the best place for advice on making your own PCBs:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs/
Leon

I second that. I logged on just to post that link in this thread. And there it was.
Good call Leon.

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- - - PLJack - - -

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Perfection in design is not achieved when there is nothing left to add.
It is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.

parts-man73

I've always advocated Batchpcb.com

if you design your board with Eagle, you can upload it to them, and have soldermasked and silkscreened board in your hands in a little less than a month. Takes awhile, but the results are professional (if you design it right) and only $2.50 per square inch, plus a $10 set up charge per order, but if you order 3 boards, that cost is diluted to $3.33 per.

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Brian

uController.com - home of SpinStudio

PropNIC - Add ethernet ability to your Propeller!

SD card Adapter

mosquito56

i seem to remember reading about batchpcb and them saying they were going to discontinue this service as is wasn't turning a resonable profit. I hope they continue as I read a lot of good things about their service, including the 1 month turnaround.



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Hmm, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all"

······· "No such thing as a dumb question" unless it's on the internet
········"What happens in Vegas ends up on the Internet"

Technologically challenged individual, Please have pity.

James Long

I too promote their service when·I get the chance.

They are the ones that give me the idea of the SMT service.

I hope my service will give them more business. Even though they don't make a large amount of money on the service, the more orders will hopefully keep the service open.

Prices as theirs are hard to find for the hobbyiest and small owner.

James L

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James L

Partner/Designer
Lil Brother LLC (SMT Assembly Services)

Paul Baker

Yeah I'd rather see them increase the sqin charge than discontinue the service.

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Paul Baker
Propeller Applications Engineer

Parallax, Inc.

James Long

Paul Baker (Parallax) said...
Yeah I'd rather see them increase the sqin charge than discontinue the service.

I second that motion. I really have ordered some very complex boards from them (only 2 layers so far), and only have had one problem. It was ultimately my fault for not ohming the board before I assembled all the parts.

I had done a bad design thing and put a via under a chip. It of course was the one that was not totally plated through. I was able to fix it....but it wasn't easy. They offered to rerun the board (for free), but I declined. I figured my design mistake was not a fault of theirs. Plus I had not checked the board before I started assembly.

They have been real good to me......had to wait last year over the Chinese New Year....but hey....are you really gonna gripe·with those prices?

James L



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James L

Partner/Designer
Lil Brother LLC (SMT Assembly Services)

Steel

I use winQCad to develop the board (Free up to 500 Pins, Cheap license after that)

http://www.winqcad.com/

And send the boards to Batchpcb.com for making.

If you are just doing a cheap and easy board, I would recommend ExpressPCB.· If you use their template outline, you get 3 boards for $51.

mosquito56

·Thanx will download it to give it a try. Anyone know where the prop chip is on Eagle? Does winqcad have a prop on it?

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······· "What do you mean, it doesn't have any tubes?"

······· "No such thing as a dumb question" unless it's on the internet

Technologically challenged individual, Please have pity.

Leon

Why not make your own? You will need to do it some time.

Leon

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Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle