Folks, I have lots of youtube videos on this subjects please check them out, I'd
be happy to answer any questions you have thanks and subscribe...
Homebrewers invited...
For those interested in a youtube videos of my Homebrewed Printed Circuit Board
fabrication, PIC chip experiments, High powered LED projects, Arduino
applications, QRP kit builds, and Electronics Tourism, Please take at look and
subscribe to my new improved youtube channel "Hamradio2008"
link...
http://www.youtube.com/user/HamRadio2008heres a current video; Back from Silicon Valley:
Back from Silicon Valley _ LeCroy WaveAce 112
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ2-a1oB57Q73 tnx de kk3oq
----- Original Message ----
From: Ryan Bray <
rbray89@...>
To:
Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.comSent: Sun, May 1, 2011 5:08:32 PM
Subject: Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Newbie + SMD, prototyping?
As someone who recently converted to nearly all SMD boards, I find it great
as:
I don't have to drill as many holes.
You have a much larger selection of parts available (ie. accelerometers)
You can make TINY boards.
A few things to consider when designing your boards:
When placing components, don't forget that if you have through hole
components (ie. USB connector, or programming header) they will be on the
opposite side, so don't forget to Mirror them. (or mirror the SMD
components) I have made a few boards in my time where I forgot this crucial
step and ended up having to essentially start over.
When doing fine pitch soldering or TQFN type pads, you might find that
altering the pad layout to extend outwards from the part a little to be a
lifesaver. Another thing you will want on hand is fluxpaste so you can dab a
bit on around your leads, and then apply solder. it keeps the pads from
bridging, and makes nice little solder blobs on your tiny non-pin
components.
(you can checkout
http://rucalgary.hackhut.com/2011/04/26/upov-with-better-firmware-pics-video-and-source/foran example of my work)
There are MANY ways to make your own boards. For me, I was able to
successfully modify an inkjet printer to print etch resist, meaning my
boards come out to nearly the cost of the copper clad. (think $0.50 for a 2
inch square board)
I have tried toner transfer, but that never really gave me excellent
results, and some of the traces would always come off for me.
I have heard that UV exposure works extremely well, and the cost isn't
horrendous either. This does require a few more steps however, so it can be
a little more time consuming.
The essentially last option is to order boards from fab houses, but then you
are looking at costs for 20-100 + shipping depending on the size of your
board. They are however the best option for mass manufacturing of boards.
On Sun, May 1, 2011 at 1:32 PM, David Bobb <dave.bobb@...> wrote:
>
>
> I don't remember who it was, but there was a company that made smd to pth
> "conversion" boards. They were one component per board, and the most
> expensive was a $1.50. We used them for prototyping at work all the time.
>
> On May 1, 2011 2:18 PM, "Aaron Turner" <synfinatic@...> wrote:
> > Hi Everyone,
> >
> > I'm building my first project which consists of two AA battery powered
> > modules- a transmitter & receiver. I've been looking at
> > various step up/buck power circuits and trying to find something that
> > was relatively efficient for decent battery life, simple, cheap and
> > doesn't take a lot of PCB space. It seems that the only way to meet
> > all those requirements is using SMD parts as all the PTH parts tend to
> > have higher part counts (inductors for example), higher costs and
> > obviously take up a lot more space.
> >
> > I've done a fair bit of research on the web about soldering SMD parts
> > and looks like this should be quite doable by hand. The only issue of
> > course is that I don't yet have a board to solder them to for testing.
> > I'm planning on designing my own boards for this project, but one
> > really nice thing about PTH parts is being able to go from breadboard
> > to perfboard to PCB and test/learn/tweak along the way.
> >
> > Anyways, I was hoping to get some insight on how to proceed in way to
> > keep my costs down (ie: avoid costly mistakes).
> >
> > I was thinking perhaps of initially designing a small board which
> > would have the 4 components and have standard 0.1in pins for testing
> > on a bread/perf board and have them done by BatchPCB or the like. I'd
> > be in for about $10 in components + 3 small PCB's for testing purposes
> > and when I was done I'd have some
> > nice little power modules left over for other future projects. Once I
> > know I've got everything working, I'd be able to transfer that design
> > to the final design for my project.
> >
> > The other idea I had was to just design the transmitter PCB which is a
> > lot smaller/less complex then the receiver. I suppose my chances of
> > getting a small PCB with even just PTH parts right the first time is
> > slim to nil, so perhaps it's just better to get it over with? That
> > way I could test/debug/learn on a bit more involved board rather then
> > just 4 small components which may have limited learning opportunity.
> >
> > Any suggestions on how to prototype/test SMD based circuits without
> > spending lots of time, effort and money making mistakes? I've never
> > designed a board before, but with PTH parts at least I have a chance
> > to test the circuit ahead of time. With SMD parts, I feel like I'm
> > sorta guessing what will and won't work.
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > --
> > Aaron Turner
> > http://synfin.net/ Twitter: @synfinatic
> > http://tcpreplay.synfin.net/ - Pcap editing and replay tools for Unix &
> Windows
> > Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary
> > Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
> > -- Benjamin Franklin
> > "carpe diem quam minimum credula postero"
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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