I try the protel pcb sw. WOW! what a mess! what a size! what a price! i stick with Eagle even it's lite version. Regards Tal Bejerano AMC - ISRAEL -----Original Message----- From: pic microcontroller discussion list [mailto:PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU]On Behalf Of Simon-Thijs de Feber Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2002 9:33 PM To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU Subject: Re: [EE]: Making PCBs... I make my layout with protel98, a crakced version. Such a tool is to my opinion a must. From Protel i print my layouts to PDF so i can print them at work on a good laser printer. The paper i use is X-Y stable and can be bought from different electronic stores (elecexp.com has it). The paper is quite expensive 1 dollar a piece but it is worth it. Exposure i do with a facial suntan light (or how do you call them). Nothing fancy so far. With single sided PCB's you just place the PCB and layout under a glass frame (photo frame with glass). This ensures that the film is evenly pressed onto the PCB, apply some pressure to it. When doing dubble sided; Take a spare of PCB and tape on ech side the layout. First stick one side then align the secodn to the first before taping. You've a sandwich now where in between you can stick your to be exposed PCB. Take a fewmore pieces of tape and stick them on strategic places on the layout and to be exposed PCB. This ensures that it is stable when turning teh PCB when doing the second exposure. 3 to 4 minutes exposure is for my kind of PCB's fine. developing can be done with standard stuff from your el. store. Etching i do with some other stuff then that ferro chloride. It leaves nasty orange brown staines ;-) . The stuff i use it saltlike. I will try to find out. When the stuff is at 40-50 degree celsius , it works best. Use an air pump to move the water. The results are good. 12 mil traces are fine and i can make ssop foorprints just great. via's are a problem. just take a piece of wire and solder on both sides ! grtz Simon --- Pic Dude wrote: > Couldn't find a good answer to this in the archives > or web, so... > > Trying to figure out how to make > professional-quality PCB's at home. > These will be one-offs, so I'm avoiding the option > of using a PCB service. > But I would like them to look professional. > > The Ferric Chloride etch method is great, and I have > all the stuff for > that, but I always have 2 problems: drilling holes > neatly, and laying > out the pattern onto the board. > > For the holes, I've circumvented the problem by > surface-mounting my > components. It takes up a little more space, but I > can mount one > circuit on top, and another on the back of the PCB, > so I can actually > save space. For more complex circuits requiring a > dual-sided PCB, > this is not so great though. Here's an example... > http://www.avn-tech.com/stuff/speedo_conv_pcb.jpg > > The real problem is laying out the pattern on the > board. I can draw > some nice board layouts using a CAD program etc, but > I've been using > rub-on transfers to create the circuit, and it never > looks professional. > Been looking at the photo-sensitive board process, > but that probably > means I need a laser printer. Most photo-copier > places won't let me > put any special paper in their machines. > > However, I've heard/read that with the > photo-sensitive process, once > I get a transparency with the circuit on it, I can > lay the pattern out > under the sun, and don't even need a UV lamp. (Lots > of sun here > in Texas!) > > I've seen the iron-on transfer system, but from the > instructions, they > seem like they would be a major hassle to get > perfect. > > Any thoughts, or options I may be missing here? My > priorities are low > equipment/materials cost. Labor is not a problem > ... see, getting > laid-off is not all bad. :-) > > > Cheers. > > -- > http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't > AutoReply us! > email listserv@mitvma.mit.edu with SET PICList > DIGEST in the body > > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Everything you'll ever need on one web page from News and Sport to Email and Music Charts http://uk.my.yahoo.com -- http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't AutoReply us! email listserv@mitvma.mit.edu with SET PICList DIGEST in the body -- http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList mailto:piclist-unsubscribe-request@mitvma.mit.edu