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Report on ExpressPCB — Parallax Forums

Report on ExpressPCB

stamptrolstamptrol Posts: 1,731
edited 2012-04-15 18:54 in General Discussion
Hi folks,

There has been a bit of activity regarding PCB production lately. Thought I'd report on a recent personal experience with ExpressPCB.

I use quite a few TTL-RS232 converters in my projects and usually build them up as needed; many times on perfboard or veroboard. Recently, I decided to build a small board to use a MAX233 or ST232 to speed up the process.

The circuits are very simple so I jumped right to the layout software supplied by ExpressPCB. This is first time I've used the flat rate service giving 3 boards for $51. To keep costs down, only tinned traces and plated through holes are included. Solder mask and silkscreen layer are available at extra cost. The size of the board allowed me to put 4 converters on each of the 3 three included boards.

I pressed the "order" button Tuesday afternoon and the boards arrived Friday about noon via international courier. Quality was excellent and the circuits worked correctly.

HPIM2619.jpg
HPIM2614.jpg
HPIM2615.jpg

Comments

  • FranklinFranklin Posts: 4,747
    edited 2012-03-25 18:59
    How did you go about cutting them out?
  • stamptrolstamptrol Posts: 1,731
    edited 2012-03-26 03:46
    For something this small, I just used a hacksaw and cleaned the edges up with a file.

    I also have a small bandsaw that works well for this kind of thing.

    Cheers,
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2012-03-26 04:34
    Scoring boards deeply on both sides with a Stanley knife and snapping them works quite well. Watch your fingers. :)
  • localrogerlocalroger Posts: 3,452
    edited 2012-03-26 16:24
    I use ExpressPCB quite a bit myself. You can't beat the convenience, though you could beat the price with a little effort. I recently designed a shield for the QuickStart which adds 2 true RS232 ports (brought out as signal and "handshake" on a DB9) and VGA out, with the RS232 signals and 10 parallel I/O brought out to 10 pitch screw terminals. It's a bit pricier than the MiniBoard service to get boards cut to custom size but not too bad if you know you'll use 10 or 20.
  • tonyp12tonyp12 Posts: 1,951
    edited 2012-03-26 17:28
    I sent them an email and fax 3 weeks ago asking if they accept Gerber files, never got an answer.
    Shows a company with no customer support.

    For cutting I recommend putting a line of drill holes (some pcb manufacture will not allow it)
    and then later go down the line with this saw, the drill line will help keep it straight and aid in the weak power of the saw.
    http://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-mighty-mite-table-saw-93211.html
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2012-03-26 17:29
    They also have an economy service that provides 2 boards up to 12x14 inches and is priced by the board area. I needed 42 small power supply boards recently and put 24 on the board for a total of 48. Total cost was about $210.00. Like stamptrol I cut them apart with a hacksaw.
  • localrogerlocalroger Posts: 3,452
    edited 2012-03-26 19:12
    tonyp12, ExpressPCB is admittedly about lock-in. They want you to use their software for design, and if it's simple and you don't need a lot of units and you don't need to scale, which is the case for many hobbyists and small businesses, it's fine. But if you want to use Gerber files ExpressPCB is not where you should be. It's not that they have no customer service, it's that they know you will take your Gerber files to some cheaper house the instant you get a cheaper quote, and they're not supporting that.
  • tonyp12tonyp12 Posts: 1,951
    edited 2012-03-26 19:30
    If I have gerbers means they already lost me from being locked-in.

    For prototype where I only need 3 boards delivered in 4 days for $85, I don't know of any other (U.S) place that take gerbers that can do that.
    They don’t have a phone number, they admit they have spam filter on their email in box so you are not sure if you reach them.

    I'm not gone design first with their software and then later do it over in diptrace when I'm ready to order more with a regular pcb manufacture.
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2012-03-26 19:53
    tonyp12 wrote: »
    If I have gerbers means they already lost me from being locked-in.

    .....I'm not gone design first with their software and then later do it over in diptrace when I'm ready to order more with a regular pcb manufacture.

    That is something one must consider if you are laying out a prototype that you may want to have made in quantity by another pcb manufacturer. On the other hand it is a prototype so you have the opportunity to correct any mistakes and improve the final layout by re-doing the layout. Of course that could be more work than it's worth if it is a complex board.

    BTW - I also emailed them asking for a quote at one point and received an answer from them. Of course the answer was for me to submit the pcb layout to their software/web site for pricing.
  • salessales Posts: 2
    edited 2012-04-15 18:54
    Hi Tony:

    How are you doing?
    We can take Gerber files and properly can be a solution for your works. We are specifying in fabricating PCBs.

    Judy
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