[sdiy] rising cost of PCB's?

[Tony Rolando]

Perhaps they are figuring how much work it is to track payments, pack, 
ship... in addition to layout of PCB, capitol up front for fabrication, 
tech support, PCB lost/ damaged in shipping...$40USD is still a good 
deal for a PCB.

Tony


Dan Snazelle wrote:
> maybe i should have been more specific in my subject title.
>
> i wasnt so much  talking about the cost of getting prototype pcbs made as i was referring instead to the prices people are charging for their projects on pcb.  (vco's, filters, lfo's, etc)
>
> i was under the assumption that when someone sells a pcb project for synth diy, they are getting at least 25 boards made, often quite a few more
> so i would think that would get around the prototyping cost. but maybe not
>
>
> thanks
>
>
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>
> --------------------------------------------
> check out various dan music at:
>
> http://www.myspace.com/lossnyc
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> (updated monthly)
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> http://www.soundclick.com/lossnyc.htm
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>
>
> http://www.indie911.com/dan-snazelle
>
> (or for techno) http://www.myspace.com/snazelle
>
> ALSO check out Dan synth/Fx projects:
>
> AUDIO ARK:
>
> www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJRpvaOcUic
>
> www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqIa_lXQNTA&feature=channel_page
>
> www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4nJPjGgOcU&feature=channel_page
>
> and soundtrack/design work:
>
> NEW: check out Dan's sound design from the 1998 award winning film SAFARI by catherine chalmers
>
> http://www.catherinechalmers.com/videos.cfm
>
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> ----------------------------------------
>   
>> Date: Sun, 26 Apr 2009 12:47:10 -0400
>> Subject: Re: [sdiy] rising cost of PCB's?
>> From: tom.corbitt at gmail.com
>> To: synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>>
>> For the most part, the cost of the copper in a PCB is negligible, What
>> you're paying for is the etch, drill hits, plating on the vias,
>> laminating and any lpi (solder mask) /silkscreen work (and all the
>> machines required for the above plus the people required to run them)
>> Complexity, not size is the main driving force behind cost.
>>
>> There isn't a lot of profit in boards and a lot of places have winked
>> out in the past 5 years. Most of the places you see with the $10/board
>> ads are companies that simply buy excess space on other companies
>> panels (Most companies save a certain amount of panel space to
>> accommodate rush orders but if they don't sell they still need to fill
>> them before the run) so you're really paying a middleman fee, which
>> has gone up since fewer vendors means less space.
>>
>> If you want to lower your pcb costs, find a vendor and learn their
>> process. Do they prefer score or tab routes? What panel size do they
>> usually run? What day of the week is lightest? Once they know that
>> your gerbers normally don't need much fixed and that you're easy to
>> work with, you'll start getting better prices.
>>
>> Of course, once you get over 4-6 layers, away from FR-4 or under 6-6
>> all bets are off.
>>
>> Tom Corbitt
>>
>> On Sun, Apr 26, 2009 at 2:00 AM, Dan Snazelle  wrote:
>>     
>>> hey there
>>>
>>> i started doing synth diy about 2 and half almost 3 yrs ago. when i first started buying pcbs many of them were in the 5 to 10  or at most 12  to 15 dollar range. (plus shipping)
>>>
>>> now i am seeing more and more boards that are 15, 17, 18,  20, 25, 30 and up up up
>>>
>>> i was just wondering if this is due to the cost of pcb manufacturing going up? the strength of the dollar?
>>>
>>> or am i just crazy and imagining that the prices are going up?
>>>
>>> granted i am not talking about big pcb boards. multi board projects or things like the asm2.
>>>
>>> just wondering.
>>>
>>> thanks!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --------------------------------------------
>>> check out various dan music at:
>>>
>>>  http://www.myspace.com/lossnyc
>>>
>>> (updated monthly)
>>>
>>> http://www.soundclick.com/lossnyc.htm
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> http://www.indie911.com/dan-snazelle
>>>
>>> (or for techno) http://www.myspace.com/snazelle
>>>
>>> ALSO check out Dan synth/Fx projects:
>>>
>>> AUDIO ARK:
>>>
>>> www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJRpvaOcUic
>>>
>>> www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqIa_lXQNTA&feature=channel_page
>>>
>>> www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4nJPjGgOcU&feature=channel_page
>>>
>>> and soundtrack/design work:
>>>
>>> NEW: check out Dan's sound design from the 1998 award winning film SAFARI by catherine chalmers
>>>
>>> http://www.catherinechalmers.com/videos.cfm
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Synth-diy mailing list
>>> Synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>>> http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy
>>>
>>>       
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