Homebrew PCBs

Charlie,

I used to use a box with a glass surface about 12x12 inches. That was for
prototype work at an aerospace-research lab. I don't think I ever made a
board bigger than about 6x9 inches, and that was for some very serious work
on instruments to fly on the space shuttle, etc. The design policy was to
design systems that were distributed over more than one board if necessary.

I pretty much follow the same philosophy. I don't make boards bigger than
4x6, if even that big--3x4 is handier, I think. I prefer to modularize
designs in smaller chunks. In ham radio work, that seems to be the way we
build anyway: VFO, LO, IF, final PO, LPF, audio, etc. Generally one board
for each item in a block diagram. Easy to make, easy to handle, easy to
remove for testing or replacement, easy to wrap my head around. I really
dislike big-ass boards that are just a smear of traces and components from
one end to the other without visual clues as to where one function leaves
off and another begins. I need my meat cut into small pieces.

Now I don't use a box per se. My light source come down from above the
board which is placed on a piece of foam and then clamped (with toggles)
under a 1/4 inch thick piece of glass that's about 5x7--but only that big
because I salvaged it from something else.

Hope this helps.

73,

Todd
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K7TFC / Medford, Oregon, USA / CN82ni / UTC-8
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QRP (CW & SSB) / EmComm / SOTA / Homebrew / Design


On Tue, Feb 12, 2013 at 5:17 PM, Charlie Taylor <scubadogct@...>wrote:

> **
>
>
> I am building a uv exposure box. I initially need it for a project that
> will fit on a 100mmx160mm pcb. I will obviously design it large enough to
> deal with this project.
>
> My question is what size should I build the box taking into account
> possible future projects that I am likley to embark on. What size is your
> exposure box and what size would you feel is necessary?
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>  
>


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