Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Homebrew PCBs

Hi all,

I'm new to PCB design and home made boards. I am planning to use the
photo etching technique using transparants printed with a high quality
inktjet printer (Canon IPX5200R). I was looking on the web for a test
pattern to try out etching for the first time, but couldn't find any.
Using Eagle 4.15 I've created one myself. The idea is I've copied the
same pattern 10 times and will expose each part for a longer time (e.g.
every 20 seconds, from 3 minutes on or so) by uncovering it during the
photo phase. The goal is to test both the printer resolution and the
etching technique to find out exposure times and limitations regarding
track/spacing widths.

As I have very little experience in creating PCB's I've taken a shot at
what the test pattern looks like. I've included a PNG image of it, but
can provide the .brd file to is anyone cares. Now my question is whether
this board looks any good for my goals. The track widths I've used are
0.1, 0.15, and 0.2 mm; the spacings are also those values. The isolation
of the polygon is 0.25mm and the drill holes are 0.6 and 0.8mm. I also
added SO8 package and 0402 till 1206 SMD packages. Am I missing some
frequently used patterns that I should test to?

Thanks in advance for you comments,

Ronald Vanschoren


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