PCB manufacture

I've recently created my first PCB design in Protel and need to find a company to produce it. The board is 114x114mm and double-sided, and I would like to have a solder mask applied. I thought of Futurlec

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but at about AU$80 including postage it seems a bit expensive. I don't know a lot about the price of PCB manufacture, but is there anywhere I can order this board at a lower price? I'd probably prefer to order within Australia mainly because of postage time and cost. Thanks, Jack Valmadre

Reply to
jack.valmadre
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wrote

I've recently created my first PCB design in Protel and need to find a company to produce it. The board is 114x114mm and double-sided, and I would like to have a solder mask applied. I thought of Futurlec

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but at about AU$80 including postage it seems a bit expensive. I don't know a lot about the price of PCB manufacture,

**** By your own admission you don't know a lot about the price of PCB manufacure!

Therefore,why do you think "about AUD80 INCLUDING POSTAGE seems a bit expensive???

The mind boggles!!

Brian Goldsmith.

Reply to
Brian Goldsmith

Several people on a discussion group thought it seemed a bit overpriced, and it is a fair amount of money to me for this sort of thing. However they either made their own PCB's or ordered in larger quantities. I forgot to mention in the original post that I only want one board made up. Jack

Reply to
jack.valmadre

Wow, does that include setup? Yepp, just looked. Prices certainly have come down in the last few years. Last time I got a single (well, 5 was the same price) PCB made was about $300, and I thought that was cheap! I don't know how these people can make a profit on these small quantities. I guess it's being subsidised by their larger orders, which they hope you'll one day become. You're getting a pretty good deal.

Take a tip, get 2 made. You'll want the second one (blank) to look at while you're debugging the first (loaded).

Cheers, Alf

Reply to
Unbeliever

the

don't

guess

day

while

Yes futurlec is cheap. I bet they make the boards in indonesia. I have ordered from them before and the parts I think came from korea directly.

Reply to
Heywood Jablome

** You would have done very well sending small boys down coal mines the K - back 200 years ago.

Or, maybe managing sweat shops in modern Thailand that employ 9 year olds for next to no pay for 14 hours per day.

** Yeah - try rural China where parents sell their kids into prostitution & for body parts.

But you will have to bribe a few officials first.

** You disgust me.

.......... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

Alright thanks for filling me in on this.

Reply to
jack.valmadre

You won't get a board made in Australia for anywhere near that price. Futurlec are one of the cheapest around.

You might like to try EzPCB:

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There are others as well, but I don't have details to hand.

Making a board, especially a PTH solder mask one is an expensive and time consuming process. If you want it cheaper, do it yourself, but you won't get PTH or solder mask.

Cheap services like Futulec are available because they combine your design with others and make it on one large panel, thus sharing the cost around.

Want one made by a local supplier? try $300. Want one made in a hurry (1-2 days)? add another few hundred bucks.

Postage time is nothing, they ship by plane these days :->

Dave :)

Reply to
David L. Jones

All true. And dont forget the cost associated with a DIY non-PTH PCB, wherein you will spend all hours (days) tracking down dodgy DIY vias and solder shorts (no solder mask). If, of course, your time is worth anything (many hobbyists dont think so)

$80 is astonishingly cheap - I would have budgeted $200 - $300 here in NZ.

Cheers Terry

Reply to
Terry Given

I normally budget about $300.00 dollars for two panels 8 inches x 12 inches.

You might try Jemal PCB in Perth (Tel: 08 9356 1997). They were talking about offering a prototyping service for one off boards but I would say the cost would still be about $80.00 and you will have to wait until they get enough protos to batch together for production.

Alan

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Reply to
Alan

I have some boards on the way from

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in Bulgaria at the moment. They do 160mmx100mm for $US33, plus $US9 airmail, which is $AU56 at the moment. They'll depanelise using a v-groove (rectangular only) - my order is 42 boards 1"x2" with solder mask both sides and silk-screen on the top, which comes to $AU205. Fantastically good price! No setup cost and they even panelise and depanelise for you. Online ordering with credit card payment confirmed by a fax. They take Eagle .BRD files directly, or RS274-X and Excellon/S&M drill files.

Clifford Heath.

Reply to
Clifford Heath

????? boards are made in Thailand ........

Reply to
budgie

you could try RCS DESIGN

Reply to
sideshow bob

"sideshow bob" while reading the NewsGroups, found courage and express out opinion in news:42e096bc$0$25427$ snipped-for-privacy@news.optusnet.com.au:

And got lectured by Bob for free.

Reply to
Parmin

For sure. The advantage of DIY though is that you can have the board within an hour or two, which is sometimes quicker than just raising the purchase order within some organisations :->

If you know you are going to make it yourself then you'll often design the board to suit DIY. Surface mount means less holes to drill, (some boards can have NO HOLES at all which is really nice) and you can use components legs as vias etc.

You can't beat a proper PTH solder mask board though, $80 is dirt cheap and well worth it, even for the serious hobbyist these days.

Dave :)

Reply to
David L. Jones

Fuck you are smart

Ahh, d*****ad, read the first line you wrote.

Yes it does. Why do you always post the blatent obvious??

Fuck off dickweed. Try posting something useful for once in your life.

Reply to
The Real Andy

"The Real Andy" wrote

Fuck off dickweed. Try posting something useful for once in your life.

**** OK,I will.

It is blatantly obvious you cannot spell correctly and you are a very abusive person. How's that?

Brian Goldsmith.

PS. The mind still boggles!

Reply to
Brian Goldsmith

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