On Saturday, Feb 28, 2004, at 21:41 US/Pacific, Gustaf J. Barkstrom
wrote:

> I wasn't implying folks here don't "roll their own."  I just meant
> that compared to my skills and level of complexity in my designs, the
> projects I've seen and heard discussed here would not work with a
> board I could make myself.

I can see that.  For more complex circuits, the lack of plated through
holes, and the lack of a solder mask, get really annoying, even if you
have tools that allow accurate registration of double-sided boards.
On the other hand, I find that it is equally frustrating not to be
able to make simpler boards quickly at home.  There are just SO many
circuits that don't justify the expense of sending out for a board.

There are some tricks to avoiding the need for plated-through holes,
but they don't scale to complex boards or really high densities.
basically, you start favoring vias over using the component holes.
that way you can solder wires in before you start on components, so you
don't have to do the "solder on both sides" thing.  But you don't want
to do this if you have LOTS of vias, and you still probably can't put
vias under a thin smt part..

billw

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