[sdiy] Design Process

[David G. Dixon]

> Hardware is completely different that software. If you have a
> short or open trace, that is easier, but if you make serious design
> mistakes, it is much more difficult to correct if it is not a protoboard.
> But you guys already know this I am sure.

(Not to drone on about it ad nauseam, but) that's one of the big advantages
of rolling yer own PCBs.  Circuits are infinitely easier to assemble on
proper PCBs than on protoboard.  In fact, I rarely breadboard circuits
anymore, because I find that laying out and making a PCB is actually much
faster and less frustrating than trying to figure out a breadboard layout.
With homemade PCBs, if you do need to change the layout for whatever reason,
you don't feel like you've thrown good money down the toilet or lost a bunch
of time.  You just make a new board, desolder the old one, and you're back
in business in a couple of hours.  In fact, I always assume that the first
board I make is a throwaway, and I'm almost never wrong.  The second board
is almost always a keeper.  Only very rarely do I have to make a second
revision, and then usually because I overlooked some subtle issue of circuit
design of which I was not aware; never because of layout error.