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Where to get proto PC boards made ? — Parallax Forums

Where to get proto PC boards made ?

LloydsLloyds Posts: 75
edited 2011-07-25 07:34 in General Discussion
Hi,
I've worked all the bugs out of my latest project and have it soldered up on perf board. A Stamp P40, an LCD display, about 60 other components, and a bunch of connectors for peripherals. At least 300 solder joints. Now I want to build a few of them on real PC boards. I am fine with soldering thru hole components, iffy on surface mount. I have kept all the critical stuff socketed. The board would be about 3" x 4", 2 sided. Right now, my schematic is on several pieces of paper (it's OK to laugh).

Sooooooooooo.........

I need a recommendation on a place you have used that has free downloadable schematic software (easy to use, please) , and PCB design software (also easy), and that does a decent job at a decent price in a reasonable amount of time on producing bare proto boards that I would then solder. I only need 2 or 3 of these board made. If I had to choose, I think "easy to learn" would be the main driver.

Any recommendations from happy customers would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks very much,
Lloyd

Comments

  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    edited 2011-07-23 17:17
    Lloyds wrote: »
    Hi,
    I've worked all the bugs out of my latest project and have it soldered up on perf board. A Stamp P40, an LCD display, about 60 other components, and a bunch of connectors for peripherals. At least 300 solder joints. Now I want to build a few of them on real PC boards. I am fine with soldering thru hole components, iffy on surface mount. I have kept all the critical stuff socketed. The board would be about 3" x 4", 2 sided. Right now, my schematic is on several pieces of paper (it's OK to laugh).

    Sooooooooooo.........

    I need a recommendation on a place you have used that has free downloadable schematic software (easy to use, please) , and PCB design software (also easy), and that does a decent job at a decent price in a reasonable amount of time on producing bare proto boards that I would then solder. I only need 2 or 3 of these board made. If I had to choose, I think "easy to learn" would be the main driver.

    Any recommendations from happy customers would be greatly appreciated.
    Thanks very much,
    Lloyd

    Loyd,
    If you can get the board size down to 2.5" x 3.8", ExpressPCB might be the way to go. Three boards for $51.00. Software is free and very easy to use. I use it all the time. If you have any questions on the software, I'd be happy to help.

    http://www.expresspcb.com/ExpressPCBHtm/Costs.htm

    EDIT: Forgot to ask..how many holes on the PC Boards. There is a limit of 350 holes on the ExpressPCB MiniBoards.
  • LloydsLloyds Posts: 75
    edited 2011-07-23 17:51
    Publison,
    Thanks for the info. ExpressPCB was on my short list, and having your thumbs up on them makes diving right in seem like the way to go.
    Because of the size of the LCD display and the socket for the P40, I don't think it will all fit on 2.5 x 3.8, but I had been thinking about a piggy back arrangement for the display and tact switch part of the project. The P40 could be on the bottom board out of harms way, and the display and other user interface stuff could be on the top. I'd have to use some sort of card stacking connectors between the 2 boards... not sure what.
    Sounds good!
    Thanks,
    Lloyd
  • MicrocontrolledMicrocontrolled Posts: 2,461
    edited 2011-07-23 17:54
    I use DipTrace (free version) and it is very good. They have a limit of 300 pins unless you want to buy the full version. I've heard golden phoenix PCB is a good fab house.
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    edited 2011-07-23 17:56
    Lloyds wrote: »
    Publison,
    Thanks for the info. ExpressPCB was on my short list, and having your thumbs up on them makes diving right in seem like the way to go.
    Because of the size of the LCD display and the socket for the P40, I don't think it will all fit on 2.5 x 3.8, but I had been thinking about a piggy back arrangement for the display and tact switch part of the project. The P40 could be on the bottom board out of harms way, and the display and other user interface stuff could be on the top. I'd have to use some sort of card stacking connectors between the 2 boards... not sure what.
    Sounds good!
    Thanks,
    Lloyd

    Could you mount the P40 on the bottom of a two sided board instead of stacking two boards?
  • LloydsLloyds Posts: 75
    edited 2011-07-23 18:18
    Publison wrote: »
    Could you mount the P40 on the bottom of a two sided board instead of stacking two boards?

    Now that's a thought. Put the user interface stuff on one side of the board and the processing and everything else on the other side. The LCD actually is already mounted on it's own little board such that it could straddle other components on the same side of the board. It will be my first real board, so might as well make it fairly complicated, LOL.
    Lloyd
  • LloydsLloyds Posts: 75
    edited 2011-07-23 18:24
    Microcontrolled wrote: »
    I use DipTrace (free version) and it is very good. They have a limit of 300 pins unless you want to buy the full version. I've heard golden phoenix PCB is a good fab house.

    I will have to check them out too, but the 300 pins might be close. Having a couple of options is good, but I guess once you start designing in one piece of software, you can't switch to another. Like taking final vows, LOL.
    Thanks,
    Lloyd
  • JLockeJLocke Posts: 354
    edited 2011-07-24 03:37
    I use Eagle to produce my PC layouts ( http://www.cadsoftusa.com/ ). The free version is limited to a useable board area of 4 x 3.2 inches (100 x 80 mm), only top and bottom layers supported, and only a single sheet schematic. I found it pretty easy to learn. For my pcb's, if you're not in a hurry you might try BatchPCB ( http://batchpcb.com/index.php/Products ). They accumulate orders until they can fill a panel, then ship the order off for fabrication. I've found you should probably expect to wait 2-4 weeks to receive your order. They have a $10 setup fee, then it's $2.50 per square inch for 2-layer boards. I've found their quality to be excellent, and on several orders I have received 'freebie' extra boards (I guess it filled out the panel nicely? Don't know - didn't ask).
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2011-07-24 04:16
    I mentioned on another thread that I'm trying ITread Studios for a small board:

    http://iteadstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=19_20&zenid=qa08tp07o8bn54mjpo155e5o16

    I'm getting 10 boards for $9.90 plus $4 postage.

    They only accept Gerber files. I use Pulsonix software (rather expensive), but can recommend DesignSpark PCB from RS:

    http://www.designspark.com/pcb

    It's based on Easy-PC which I used for many years.
  • LloydsLloyds Posts: 75
    edited 2011-07-25 03:43
    Thanks very much to all. I have decided to give PCB Express a try and am well underway on the schematic. So far, it seems pretty user friendly. We'll see how it goes when I get into the board layout !
    Lloyd
  • MicrocontrolledMicrocontrolled Posts: 2,461
    edited 2011-07-25 05:55
    PCB Express is a good software, but keep in mind, if you ever want to mass produce your project on the cheap at somewhere OTHER than Express PCB, you will have to pay them $100 for the proper files to do so.
  • ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
    edited 2011-07-25 06:35
    Lloyds wrote: »
    ... ExpressPCB... I don't think it will all fit on 2.5 x 3.8....

    Keep in mind: that dimension is just their special. You can shape and size the boards up to 12 inches by 14 inches if you were so inclined. But, of course, then you will end up on a different pricing schedule because it's not their special. Considering how fast they are and how easy to use, I consider ExpressPCB a great place to get started making PCBs.
  • Dr_AculaDr_Acula Posts: 5,484
    edited 2011-07-25 07:34
    I am doing the same as JLocke

    Eagle for the design. BatchPCB for one or two boards.

    For 4 or more boards, I have found OurPCB to work out cheaper, and for many boards (eg 50), the boards can be as low as a couple of dollars each.

    I paid $125 to Eagle to get the "Student" version which gives you twice as big a board as their free "beer coaster" size board.
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