RF PCB House? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: EricVanWyk
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2014, 04:35:31 pm
content: I'm looking to do a couple 4 layer PCBs that have RF components in the 5-7GHz range. Does anyone have a favorite house for doing these sorts of things?

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2014, 04:56:38 pm
content: whaddaymean ? to do the layout work or to make the bare board ? any serious board house can make this. Pick one of the Nelco or Rogers RF substrates , pick the layer stackup , plug the numbers and off you go.

author: EricVanWyk
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2014, 08:02:12 pm
content: To make the bare board. I have my favorite houses for high current, and another set for "cheap crap quick", but I don't yet have a favorite house for RF.All of my RF work has been either 900M or 2.4G, and honestly wasn't all that complicated - mostly I did antenna design or front ends with just a handful of RF components. This will have a few copper defined components (filters and splitters) and is more sensitive to interference than other designs I've done.What is your favorite "serious board house" for this?Thanks!- Eric

author: Dago
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 25, 2014, 11:06:37 am
content: I know PCBcart (chinese shop, ok place) offers RF-substrates at least:http://www.pcbcart.com/No experience with their RF-boards though. I have a bunch of friends who have ordered regular boards from there without a hitch though. I think you need to email the design files to them to get a quote for RF-boards, can't use their automatic quote.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 21, 2014, 10:41:36 pm
content: Where are you located? Eurocircuits offers Rogers material IIRC.

author: Dago
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2014, 06:13:27 am
content: Also Brandner (https://www.brandner.ee/) has Rogers RO4003C in their stock list but I have never ordered an RF PCB from them. Plenty of other boards though with very good service.

author: Chris Jones
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 24, 2014, 08:55:10 am
content: If you are in Australia,http://www.lintek.com.au/are good. Their design rules documenthttp://www.lintek.com.au/resources/datasheets/Capabilities%20and%20Design%20Guide%20V2.4.pdfis very clearly written.

author: IconicPCB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 07, 2014, 11:57:20 pm
content: Chris,Iconic PCB make bare boards in Brisbane using mechanical milling process. Mechanical process will provide a cleaner edge profile than chemical etching.They have made some cavity boards in Rogers material in the past.www.iconicpcb.com

author: Alexei.Polkhanov
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 08, 2014, 05:37:47 am
content: Quote from: IconicPCB on September 07, 2014, 11:57:20 pmInteresting. From your experience, besides 3D-iness and miniaturization does "cavity board" give any other advantage over simple planar board? Which CAD tool do you use?

author: IconicPCB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 08, 2014, 07:31:04 am
content: The process relies on mechanical etching. Gerbers are processed by Graphicode Gerber editor which also generates G code.Cavity structure was a part of resonator design.