[sdiy] To SMT orNot to SMT.. that is my question

[Michael Bachman]

Received a lot of great response on this topic.  Thanks guys!
There is considerable collective wisdom on this site and the help is
very appreciated.

People have brought up both both sides of the coin.  And from what I
have seen in my day job, both sides are valid.

This project started out as a "all on one card" analog-hybrid
synthesizer..  All analog oscillators, mixer, filters and VCA, with
digitally generated modulation sources, MIDI and a user interface.

This all TH 11.5" by 8" board is running well on my bench.  But it
also has about 12 jumpers and 10 tack-on parts.. update time.

>From what I can tell from the feedback I've been given and my own experience..

1.  Professional and batch produced products are best in SMT.
2.  Some people can and will build these "mass-production" boards by hand
3.  The future is SMT and TH will become more and more limited.
4.  Your average DIY guy is easier served by TH kits.

What will I do?  Still not 100% sure.. but I think I will update the
"all in one" board, fixing all the issues and moving the the user
interface to a second PCB (at allow user flexibility) and offer that
up to anyone that wants to build it.

Then I'll go back to completing the rest of the SMT project..

Since the SMT board is 90% ready, might as well get a few of those
ordered in the meantime.

Mike





On Fri, Dec 20, 2013 at 3:18 AM, Olivier Gillet <ol.gillet at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Honestly, if you're going to sell kits with SMT, I think you'd be better off
>> just getting the pick-and-place done professionally.  It doesn't cost that
>> much in bulk, and if you are willing not to be too greedy, it wouldn't even
>> make the kit that much more expensive.  Plus, at the end of the day, it
>> would necessitate much less work on your part than trying to package all
>> those tiny little SMD parts in a way suitable for a newbie to build a kit.
>>
>> So, the kit building would just involve installation of any through-hole
>> parts, module assembly, and any panel wiring.
>>
>> My two cents.
>
> That's exactly what I did; but in the end it did not cater to the same
> population. Some people love the experience of building things by
> themselves. You're not giving them that if you give them a board with
> pre-stuffed SMT parts.
>
> That's one advantage of a SMT design - if you're not getting any luck
> with it as a DIY project, it can have a second life as a pre-assembled
> product :)
>
> Olivier
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