Hi all.

I am contemplating SMT components for my current project. I have it all 
wired up right now on a breadboard with through-hole parts, but the 
compactness of SMT is appealing.

I am a novice to much of the hobby. This would be my second project to 
make it to the "production" stage... the first was done in a 
sea-of-holes fashion.

My intention with this project is to etch my own board as well...

So, given that I have some small successful hobby projects behind me, 
and that I am interested in persuing many more projects, I figure it is 
time to get more "professional" and compact in my execution.

In order to go ahead with the SMT process though, I will have to 
re-stock all the components I have with SMT equivalents, and a I will 
have to manually solder them to a home-brewed PCB.

Is this something that is feasable with limited resources/budget?

There are some things I will have to do through-hole as well (sockets 
and connectors).... but other than that I am looking at a dozen 
resistors, a dozen capacitors ranging from 22pF through 100uF, MAX232A, 
a few diodes, a LM7805 (SMT equivalent), Quad Optocoupler, one FET, a 
few LED's, A 16Pin header to an LCD Module, an external power socket, 
and an RS232 9Pin D-Sub. Oh, and a PIC18F4320.

It will probably take me a month to decide what parts to use, to do a 
few trial runs of PCB Etching (Double sided), to make the schematic and 
PCB Layout, and to get the parts on hand. I need to know whether it 
would be possible to do so with the same equipment that would be used 
for pure through-hole projects. Would I need any special tools?

Is this something that is within reach of a beginner-to-intermediate 
hobbyist?

Thanks in advance for any insights, criticisms, suggestions.

Any links to dealing with SMT components would be appreciated too.

Rolf
-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist