Homebrew PCBs

Hello, 

I am new to this forum, and may be this question was already asked.

In the description of Pic'n mix and Pic a star VFO and Transciever 
(see corresponding Yahoo group forums), Peter G3XJP explains his 
method for a relatively complicated board.

The copper is sprayed with paint, and after it has dried, the copper 
to be removed is revelated by scratching the paint with a more or 
less sharp point. After that, it is etched. He say that this is easy 
and has the advantege to give large ground planes which is better 
for HF work.

This methos has been used for a DDS associated to a PIC micro, which 
means a lot of very fine tracks.

Does anyone know this methos and has used it ?
Is it worthwile to give a try ?

I have Sprint Layout, and although this is not the best PCB design 
soft, it is easy to use for simple designs, so I do not know what to 
think.

Thanks for help.

Gerard, F6EEQ

We call it "scratch and etch" here.
I think someone still uses it in conjunction with a pen plotter carrying a  
sharp tip to do the scratching.

It seems a slow and inferior process to me.

ST

On Sat, 13 May 2006 17:43:41 +0200, gerard_f6eeq <f6eeq@...> wrote:

> Hello,
> I am new to this forum, and may be this question was already asked.
> In the description of Pic'n mix and Pic a star VFO and Transciever
> (see corresponding Yahoo group forums), Peter G3XJP explains his
> method for a relatively complicated board.
> The copper is sprayed with paint, and after it has dried, the copper
> to be removed is revelated by scratching the paint with a more or
> less sharp point. After that, it is etched. He say that this is easy
> and has the advantege to give large ground planes which is better
> for HF work.
> This methos has been used for a DDS associated to a PIC micro, which
> means a lot of very fine tracks.
> Does anyone know this methos and has used it ?
> Is it worthwile to give a try ?
> I have Sprint Layout, and although this is not the best PCB design
> soft, it is easy to use for simple designs, so I do not know what to
> think.
> Thanks for help.
> Gerard, F6EEQ