My 1st PCB - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: kvresto
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2014, 10:56:38 pm
content: Hi Everyone.I’m having my first PCB made up soon (approx, 50x70 4 layer) so I’m not too sure how this goes, and I’ve settled on PCB Zone in NZ to do it, but I’m not sure if they are interested as they are not very responsive to emails. Has anyone had experience with this PCB house before, do they look after their customers?Are there others in Oz that can do a PCB at a reasonable cost? I know there's a list of manufacturers listed, but it seems a while ago.I’m tight for space and I’m trying to squeeze things in, and I have placed some vias very close to components. I wondering is this going to be an issue, can this be manufactured easily, and what is the smallest via size I can use that won’t increase the cost?

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2014, 12:22:36 am
content: Assorted comments:1. Have you considered ordering from outside of your country? (electrow, oshpark, the Australian oshpark equivalent, etc, check pcbshopper.com for comparison).2. Are you sure you have to use 4 layers (as opposed to only 2)?3. Having vias inside the SMT pads is not a good practice.

author: lgbeno
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2014, 12:26:09 am
content: Your vias look huge OSHpark can go down to 24 mil drills and 10 mil anular ring so I do a 50 mil circle with 24mil hole usually

author: kvresto
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2014, 12:28:59 am
content: Hi zapta, The pic is only meant as an example, I just slapped it together for a demo.Thanks for your comments, can it still be made up without major issues this way?Thanks lgbeno, I also think they are too big. I've not heard of OSHpark,.. need to look into it.kv

author: Philbywhizz
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2014, 12:40:30 am
content: Quote from: kvresto on December 23, 2014, 12:28:59 amI recently used OSHpark for my first pcb and was more than happy with it (even though I made a mistake on it - see my threadhere).I used Eagle and downloaded their design rules file and ran it against my pcb to make sure I wasn't doing anything silly. Took about 3 weeks to get the pcb shipped to Oz once I submitted it.I will be use them again. Getting pcb's made is a learning experience.

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2014, 12:41:15 am
content: Quote from: lgbeno on December 23, 2014, 12:26:09 amI think OSHPark can do 13mil drills. This is what I am using for low current vias.Quote from: kvresto on December 23, 2014, 12:28:59 amPCB Shopper is your friendhttp://pcbshopper.com/

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2014, 12:43:00 am
content: Quote from: Philbywhizz on December 23, 2014, 12:40:30 amIIRC, Dave mentioned recently a new OSHPark like vendor in Australia.

author: kvresto
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2014, 01:27:04 am
content: zapta, do you remember when/where Dave mentioned an new OSHPark like vendor in Australia?

author: tonyarkles
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2014, 01:34:03 am
content: Just throwing this out there... You might want to try out a simple two-layer PCB as your first. In my experience, one of the trickiest parts of PCB layout is figuring out where you went wrong, and it's especially hard to do that when a bunch of your traces are inaccessible (because they're buried in an inner layer).I'm not trying to be discouraging; I've just done a lot of PCB debugging, and having everything accessible (and patchable) has definitely saved my ass more than once. Even worse than trying to probe inner traces (which you can do awkwardly through their vias) is *cutting* an inner trace. I've got a handy razor blade on my desk that I can use to sever a bad trace, but you can't do that on the inner ones.

author: lgbeno
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2014, 02:55:43 am
content: Quote from: zapta on December 23, 2014, 12:41:15 amdoh your right 13 mil hole 26mil pad all day long

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2014, 03:23:52 am
content: Quote from: kvresto on December 23, 2014, 01:27:04 amhttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/manufacture/$5sqin-batch-pcb%27s-in-oz/

author: kvresto
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2014, 06:14:33 am
content: where's the web site (http://www.breadboardkiller.com.au) I cant load it? is it still operating. I get the following error, I'm not sure if its my settings.Error displaying the error page: Application Instantiation Error: Could not connect to MySQLkv

author: Falcon69
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2014, 07:00:23 am
content: I don't think they are in business anymore?The website stats show total website value of $8.95 and a daily revenue of $0.15

author: kvresto
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2014, 08:49:31 am
content: ok, so much for that.

author: rob77
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2014, 01:43:24 pm
content: 4layers as a first PCB ? .. common guys....it's pretty possible to layout virtually anything (talking about complexity suitable for DYI of course) to 2 layers or even single layer....the beauty of a single or dual layer is that it can be done at home and you have immediate feedback if you go wrong - you can re-spin your board immediately.as an example... here is a 100% home made FT232BL + eeprom board in single layer made with toner transfer + hand corrected with marker before etching (messed up the transfer and was lazy to do the toner transfer again - hence the hand corrected and UGLY mask).