[sdiy] pcb design sucks.

[harry]

Well.... OK   ;^)

If you want MORE DIY... I'll send you my board layouts.  I hate to etch
my own. I used to do this at work when we had an etch line... photo lab...
vacuum exposure frames (arc lamp)... and usually I could piggyback on the
scrap stock of a run... so I didn't have to do anything but tape...

(see how long ago THAT was...)

Jumpers are "non-pro" only to the extent that they are two more solder joints
to fail and one more assembly step... but if you are pro you have automatic
insertion that does all that...

SMT brings back the "single sided" feel to a great extent. As I was looking at
reading glasses at the local office store today... I won't rush to do that  ;^).

The DIY can also be hacking new features into an existing board... while
retaining
the professional look. THAT takes a lot of skill.

My X-2 (wife) used to bitch me out for doing layout at night. I told her its
"Just like your G@#!! Pac-Man... but I'm getting paid $50 an hour for playing
this video-game"

That should have shut her up... but then daddy gave her 10K for a birthday
present...
oh well go figure....

H^) harry

Nils Pipenbrinck wrote:

> > Harry wrote:
> > 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.
>
> Well, I know that jumpers are not worse than a etched trace.. It just feel
> stupid if I need a lot of them. Buying a professional made board is not my
> style.. For the asm-1 I could order a board somewhere, but that's not enough
> diy for me. I'm not expericed enough to make my own circuits, so I want to
> do at least my own pcb's (so there is something I can be proud of..
> soldering just need some dexterity).
>
> > H^) harry (who prefers board layout to chess... anyday!)
>
> Well. I love it too, and my girlfriend hates me for it. I spend hours before
> my computer and optimize a board (I use eagle light btw) - moving resistors
> around, rotating chips and look if it works better this way and so on. For
> me it's the same kind of fun as writing tight assembler code.
>
> Happy weekend everyone,
>
>     Nils