Prototype PCBs in from Bittele today - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: cthree
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 11:02:16 pm
content: I was looking for a PCB prototype house and I saw this place called Bittele advertising on the the front page of EEVBlog.com. I hadn't heard of them but I was surprised to find out they are a Canadian company so I thought I'd give them a go. They have a special offer of free SMT assembly for your first order (if you're a company) so I decided to take them up on it.www.bittele.comSo this is actually my first PCB that I did myself. What I wanted to do was build a PCB which a bunch of connectors on it to accept various eval modules for the various components I was planning to use for my design. This would allow me to wire it all up, write all the software, put it in a box I could 3D print and tote it around to show people with deep pockets how cheque-worthy I am without it all falling apart on me. I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself now but we shall see how I feel after I plug everything in and turn it on!It's mostly through hole but there are some surface mount connectors, FLASH and less. What few passives I was using would also be SMD. The finished board is 120mm x 90mm (145x110mm rough) so pretty big, and because it was going in a box would need to need components exposed to the edges (like JTAG headers) so I panelized it, 1 up to cut out later. The PCBs are 2 layer, FR-4, silver finish, blue solder mask and the layout is 10/10 minimum. the silkscreen is 7mil but it looks more like 10 on the final product. The resistors are 0402.They manufacture and assemble in China, not Canada which is disappointing but the total turn around for the assembled PCBs (3) was about 6 weeks (I sent them the gerber files around May 20th and they arrived at my door today. They sent me one unassembled PCB that I didn't order as well.I silk screened some pretty detailed info on the top so I pixelated some of it, sorry, I need to eatI've also got a couple of macro lens shots of the PCB and one of the assembly work on the FLASH section. Overall I'm really pleased with how they turned out. The total cost to my door for the 3 (partially) assembled PCBs was $550, which includes all the SMT components sourced from Mouser, Newark, Digikey and SAMTEC, turn-key assembly of same and shipping and import fees.Anyway, enough talk, now for some porn...

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2013, 02:24:06 am
content: 550$ , 3 boards and 6 weeks ? Holy bimbam that's expensive !The bare boards should be like 50$ for 10 on 7 day turn in china.There's no way you have 500$ parts on there.

author: cthree
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2013, 02:58:47 am
content: I double checked and I didn't give them the green light until June 12th, so it was more like 3 weeks total including a 10 day wait for parts.They aren't cheap but these are also pretty big boards, 6x5 inches. What does oshpark charge for bare boards? $10/in^2 for 3? These are ~30 square inches roughly so that would be $300 for 3 from them not including shipping from the US which would definitely be cheaper but not cheap.We don't have the same shipping pricing in Canada as you get in the US nor the same lead times. You can't compare them. Shipping on this order was about $150 and that's not that unusual. Highway robbery yes but talk to UPS about that. That's what they charge for a package from China at rack rate (what they charge me). UPS charges $14 just as a handling fee at the border, even with no taxes due. If you owe taxes they can charge you double as a brokerage fee, 30% or more of the value of the goods. They charge something like $35 in brokerage fees plus tax on a $100 item from the US.

author: poorchava
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2013, 06:21:45 am
content: Is the 10/10 width/spacing their specification or yours? If it's their technology limit, then they suck bigtime. Any chinese company will do an 8/8 and most can push it to 6/6 (and those are pcb's for $9.9 / 10pcs).

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2013, 10:03:50 am
content: Quote from: poorchava on July 04, 2013, 06:21:45 amThey can do much better... fromhttp://www.bittele.com/PCB-Fabrication.aspQuote

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2013, 11:15:39 am
content: You could have run the board at itead, paid 25$ ups shipping and gotten it in 9 days...

author: peter.mitchell
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2013, 11:35:38 am
content: on a side note, pad/hole alignment seems 100% spot on!

author: cthree
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2013, 12:35:47 pm
content: Quote from: peter.mitchell on July 04, 2013, 11:35:38 amQuality is first rate IMO. I appreciate that they emailed me high res photos from the factory so I could approve them before shipping. Some people may have extra time to screw around with marginal quality but I'm oversubscribed as it is. I need these for a prototype show and tell with investors next week, failure not an option. I've completed assembly of two of three last night and both work perfect so far.The assembly and procurement service was excellent, no setup fees, tape charges or having to buy entire reels of parts. Only 2 extra days to turn, brilliant.

author: croberts
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2013, 01:11:12 pm
content: Quote from: free_electron on July 04, 2013, 11:15:39 amThat UPS charge at itead is an up front charge. To my location in the US there was an additional $27 dollar charge by UPS post sale. Itead warned me about this before shipping and changed the shipping method to DHL.

author: cthree
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2013, 04:30:23 pm
content: Quote from: croberts on July 04, 2013, 01:11:12 pmIt's worse in Canada. Their import fees are extortionate.

author: croberts
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2013, 04:50:44 pm
content: I did the UPS shipping with my last itead order as a test to see how it all played out. I have used Air Mail as my shipping choice with itead also and while it does take a bit longer the time difference is not that bad so I will use Air Mail with them from now on. I do like itead for price, quality, and turn around so I'm willing to wait out the shipping time with Air Mail.