Homebrew PCBs

On Fri, 23 Nov 2007, Dave wrote:

> I want to play with small simple circuits but also useful ones. I have
> an interest in alternative energy (just not enough $$ to invest yet) so
> I am going to play with small stuff for now....

Actually, that's what got me going. A while ago, I wanted to get various
garden electrics going (night lights, pond pump etc.) and I was going to
have to get an electrician to lay all the cables, connect it all up etc.

So I thought - for that money, I could get a 2nd hand solar panel off an
ebayer that'd power it. I thought it would be a fun project.

Then I needed to make the night lights automatic, and having meddled a
little with electronics when I was about 17, I thought it shouldn't be too
hard. So I bought a couple of voltage comparator ICs, a few passives,
patch wires, breadboard, strip board etc.

... and got addicted.

... within a year of that little project, I had designed and built my own
8 bit computer. Now I'm making my own 2 sided PCBs for very fine pitch SMD
(0.4mm pitch LQFP-80, for adding ethernet to the aforementioned Z80
computer). Indeed, I can now make a PCB faster for surface mount (fewer
holes to drill) and hand solder many SMD components faster than I can
through hole (1206 and 0603 passives are very fast, no wires to clip! SOIC
is a doddle, as easy as DIL but without the holes to drill. SSOP is
rather slower though). A future project is to build a reflow toaster oven.

So beware. You, too, may find yourself drawn to the inevitability of
homebrewing your own computer!