[sdiy] pcb design sucks.

[harry]

I too... enjoy an occasional poke-in-the-eye-with-a-sharp-stick...

Single sided layout is not a big deal. If you are careful and take your
time you can get an excellent board. Don't be afraid of using jumpers...
most bad SS layouts are bad because the designer skimped on the
jumpers... opting for obnoxious shit like runs between IC pins, long
serpentine runs... and tiny skinny traces, especially grounds and power.

Usually the same layouts forget the decoupling caps... and extra ground
and power points...

but the BEST way to get boards is to make friends and go in together.
That's why I get the EFM boards when they are available... its cheap if
you can buy a bunch. The PV-1 (shameless plug) was that kind of thing...
I wanted a couple... I was doing the layout anyway... so why not make a run.
It will take MANY years before I break even... but in the mean time I'll
buy boards from everyone else.

So guys if you have a cool, useful design... post to the list "Hey I'm making
a blah-blah-shoop-shoop and I can get boards for $10 each if I buy 25...
who's in ???"

H^) harry (who prefers board layout to chess... anyday!)

Scott Bernardi wrote:

> I must be masochistic. I kind of enjoy designing PCB's. I do most of
> mine double sided, hand routed. Of course, I've never done anything as
> big as the ASM-1, and I've had my share of failures (usually more in the
> manufacture than the design, but I've made some big boo boos too. Like
> getting the power supply pins reversed on an LM339 quad comparator -
> didn't pass the smoke test. I was able to salvage that board by cutting
> traces and soldering jumper wires). But I've managed to turn out a fair
> number of usable boards.
>
> Jim Patchell wrote:
> >
> > Magnus Danielson wrote:
> >
> > > From: "Nils Pipenbrinck" <np at inverse-entertainment.de>
> > > Subject: [sdiy] pcb design sucks.
> > > Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 16:18:11 +0200
> > >
> > > > Either it's just me, or doing pcbs for synthmodules is a pain in the a**. I
> > > > already did a lot of pcb's for my old projects - digital toys and simple
> > > > transistor amplifiers.. Nothing with dual power supply (so it was a always a
> > > > easy job).
> > > >
> > > > I tell you, I tried 4 times do do a "good" single-sided pcb for the asm-1
> > > > vcf, and I always failed to do so. (with "good" I mean: as few jumpers as
> > > > possible, and wires thick enough so that they don't suck if the
> > > > exposure is not perfect, no wires between ic-pins and other stuff I can't
> > > > solder..).
> > > >
> > > > I think lot of you already did a pcb for the asm-1 vcf, could someone please
> > > > send me an image of it? I'm not lazy, but I would love to see how someone
> > > > with more practice (and skill!) did it.
> > >
> > > Do you now know why the ASM-1 PCB is double sided? ;o)
> > >
> > > Single-sided PCB layout is an artform of its own.
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > > Magnus
> >
> >     Plus, it might be considered masochistic. (Hope I spelt that correctly...).
> > If you are going to be etching the boards yourself, I can fully understand why you
> > would want to do a single sided board, but, if you are going to send out the board
> > (to a PCB house), then you are not really saving anything.  The process most
> > houses use these days does not differentiate between single and double sided.
> >
> >     -Jim
>
> --
> Scott Bernardi
> sbernardi at home.net