PCB Protos

Nice list ! Do you know any companies that produce full boards as well ? I know there was a company that did that a while ago, but I can't find it anymore.

Eric wrote:

Good deals tend to come and go for different vendors, pcbnet.com had a great $25 proto special, 2 layer, mask and silkscreen, 64 square inches max, min order 1, free shipping (meaning the total price was $25), I used it recently, but it's gone from their web site now, too bad

PCBex.com, I believe has a minimum order of 5, so $68 total.

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I have had good results from

Regards Anton Erasmus

I have done many boards through 4PCB and have also routinely used their free design check at freedfm.com

price isn't everything.

See also

They charge $2.50 /sq. in. + $10 setup + shipping.

Yes, nice list. A few I don't have yet - you must read different magazines. :-)

batchpcb.com has a good deal going for small one-off's, but only if you are *very* patient. Their service is very slow (3-4 weeks typical), absolutely no customer service (not even e-mail), and boards sometimes don't arrive in the batch (meaning the timer gets reset while they re-submit).

has a good deal going too, especially if you need several smaller pieces. You get out the door for $25 (setup & shipping) + $0.65 per sq.inch; about 2 weeks turnaround to the US. Add $12 each for solder mask or silkscreen per side.

I'll second the endorsement for Advanced Circuits (4PCB). They're the best quality I've used, but their pricing isn't competitive outside their 33each.com deal. (If you're a student, they'll waive the 3-piece minimum - now *that's* a deal!) They also run barebonespcb.com, which offers fast, cheap 1-off service, but with no mask or silkscreen.

Others worth checking:

- reportedly very good quality, ~$88/2 boards at last check

Cheers, Richard

2x4 ??? why not just build it at home? the 8051 is a dip part right? sockets can be bought on ebay/jameco/futurelec/etc ... so you don't fry the chip soldering it in.

But other than that .. I would use the toner transfer method to run off one board ... in under 15 minutes ... another 15 and you've soldered the components and testing your creation.

I have generally done that for double sided boards up to 6x9 in size, with success.

What he said.

4PCB aka Advanced Circuits are very good people if you're looking to build a long-term relationship. I just got a postcard from them offering up to $500 free on your first order. Here's the link...

Might be worth checking.

They have an especially cheap deal if you opt for the "Bare bones PCB" without silkscreen or soldermask. Not what you want for production, but it may be just fine for a hand-built prototype.

Robert Scott Ypsilanti, Michigan

Anton,

I am considering this PCB house too, however I have some questions that you might answer:

1. How quick did you get the boards (I assume you are in the USA)?
2. How much did the shipping cost?
3. What about the quality of the PCBs itself?
4. Would you do business with them again?

Regards.

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Next time I do something like this I will send it to you for just the drilling. Suppose the 40 pin 8051 was the only hole mounted device and you get half the 15 minutes for drilling and the other for soldering must mean you drill a hole every 11.25 seconds, that's impressing for a hobbyist.

No, I am in South Africa. It was quite quick though, I took the DHL courier option, which allows you to track the parcel on the internet. It took less than 24 hours from the time they shipped into my hands. It goes from them to Shanghai, then to hong kong. From there it was a direct flight to South Africa, and I presume it would be a direct flight to the USA as well. If there is any problem with the shipping, you can sort it out with your local DHL office.

You can get a quote, including shipping directly from their site. In my case it was just over US$20. The difference in courier versus normal postage was less than 10%.

The quality is good. They can do multi-layer boards, and from my experinece the companies that can do multi-layer boards do better quality 2-layer boards, than companies that can only supply 2 layer boards. They did use the incorrect soldermask colour. (I asked for blue, and they used green). They offered to re-make, or a 30% discount on the price. I took the discount, and they payed it back into my credit card the same day.

Yes I would.

Regards Anton Erasmus

With a properly sized drill helper (etched hole in the copper) and my cheap floor-size drill press, I can drill a hole a second or so. It goes quite fast once you get started.

I have used UltimatePCB twice. The boards were of fine quality, were delivered quickly (7-10 days, including shipping) and their customer support was top notch.

Regards, Abdul

Psst I can drill out a hole ever 3 seconds or less ... its not that hard when you position things correctly using a BENCH DRILL

On a 40 pin IC .. (all your IC's for that matter) you use the same drill bit ... so whats the problem here?

invest in the right tools and you can do everything (at that stage) at home

bench/press drills run ~ $50 on ebay (5 speed units)

Yep ... and right from the mouth of the "PCB" developer himself.

What happened to the days when it was cool to make things yourself or as much of it as possible? (minus fabricating IC's and producing PCB laminate)???

"Anton Erasmus" escribió en el mensaje news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Thanks!

------------------------------ Jaime Andrés Aranguren Cardona snipped-for-privacy@sanjaac.com SanJaaC Electronics Soluciones en DSP

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