On 13/02/2011 14:12,
windswaytoo@... wrote:
> I have been a member of this group for some time and normally read all the posts. I design and build electronics, mostly with embedded controllers. I went thru the stage of making my own PCBs way back
> in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I ran a successful business selling electronic devices then and throughout the 1990s. I switched to commercially made boards around 1993 as it was cost and time effective to do so. I retired around 1998. For the few projects I did for my own interests I used ExpressPCB to do the boards. I am now getting back into business and have taken up EagleCad to do the schematics/board layout stuff. I have begun to use the services of one of the batch businesses, DorkbotPDX, to do my board prototypes. My
> boards are for the Arduino Mega and are 8.4 square inches in area. Dorkbot will make three of these for $42, for $5/sq in, which works out to $14 per board! They offer free shipping in the US and the turn-around is 9-10 days. The boards are two sided, PTH and silkscreening. BTW $10/sq in for 4 layer boards. Check it out
> here:
>
> http://dorkbotpdx.org/wiki/pcb_order
>
> I have no interest in DorkbotPDX but am a happy user of their services
>
> So, my question is why would I want to make my own boards with all the attendant fuss and mess and then etch and drill them or CNC them? Do you get a better board? A faster turnaround? There is no product to order or store. Is it cheaper to roll your own? I guess I just don't get it. Is it a hobby thing?
>
> I expect this post will cause some consternation and there will be quite a few replies. Then again, I may be quietly ignored.
I can make a PCB at home in under 30 minutes, excluding drilling, with
8/8 mil tracks. The only cost is the film I use for printing the artwork
and the presensitized copper laminate. It will cost under $3 for an 8.4
sq. in. board.
Why should I pay a lot more to a company like Dorkbot and wait for 10 days?
Leon
--
Leon Heller
G1HSM