Thanks Olin... Olin Lathrop wrote: > Tag changed to EE as it clearly should have been in the first place. How is > this not engineering and even electrical engineering related!!? > > While it's obviously bad to post off topic on PIC or EE, it's just as > important to use those topics when relevant. If people did that reliably, > some of us wouldn't feel the need to subscribe to OT and there'd be less > complaining about Russell's excesses and all the IT related posts. (I am > not an admin so this is my personal opinion.) > > Point taken.... > Rolf wrote: > >> My intention with this project is to etch my own board as well... >> > > With a lot of effort and mucking about with nasty chemicals that have to > disposed of properly, you might end up with something that's half as good as > a commercial PCB. You won't have plated thru holes. Unless you value your > time at a small fraction of minimum wage, etching your own PCBs just doesn't > make sense anymore. Commercial prototype services are relatively cheap and > available and of good quality. > > I have seriously considered this. There are what I feel good reasons for doing it myself.. (at least at first). 1. This is a hobby, and honestly, the time/minimum wage does not feature. I am looking forward to doing it. 2. I have already found a hazardous waste facility near home, and confirmed that they will dispose of the etchant properly. 3. I will no-double make mistakes, and require multiple versions of the first board, making it pretty expensive for each mistake 4. At least in the short term, there will never be more than one or two "final products". 5. I can say... "look, I did it all myself!". If I were expecting multiple products, was bored of etching my own boards, and I had reasonable certainty that I could get the board right first time, then the prototyping is a very good idea. In a year or so I imagine I will "be there". >> 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. >> > > Why? Unless you really need the space, SMD in your situation is only useful > for showing off to your friends. You can make well constructed and reliable > circuits in a variety of ways. Using SMD parts is neither a necessary nor > sufficient condition. > > Actually, space is part of the problem. The current project is to link in to my camera and provide an "enhanced functionality" shutter release mechanism. All it really does is something similar to the http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009XVA3/104-8543778-5032726?v=glance&n=502394 except my camera is a Nikon... Also, showing off to my friends is a big part of it! ;-) Also, common components are much cheaper as SM. Other components are only available as SM. >> In order to go ahead with the SMT process though, I will have to >> re-stock all the components I have with SMT equivalents, >> > > I would go with what you've got. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a > 1/4W thru hole resistor. If you want to transition to SMD (that may be a > good idea long term), use up the old thru hole parts and buy new SMD parts. > The main attraction to SMD is lower assembly cost, but this is irrelevant > when building singles by hand. > > While what you say is true, it misses one of the "critical steps" in my development. I can not design a board without playing with the components first. I do not have the education/experience to be able to put together a complete system before "bread-boarding" it. I still need the Through-hole components for that. In essence I will need to keep a re-usable library of through-hole parts for further experiments. I just don't want to keep restocking that library unless I need to. If it would be beneficial to go SMT, which it appears it is, then the sooner I get on the band-wagon the more I stand to gain. Once I have it working on the bread-board, I do the schematic/layout using equivalent SM parts, and re-file the bread-board parts in the through-hole library. I see this as being cheaper than having to replenish the through-hole parts. >> and a I will >> have to manually solder them to a home-brewed PCB. >> > > I think it's actually easier to solder 2 pin 0805 parts than the equivalent > thru hole. You don't have to flip the board over and snip off the extra > lead length. > > That's great news. >> Is this something that is feasable with limited resources/budget? >> > > Feasible, yes. SMD parts are generally cheaper and more available, but the > parts already in your cabinet are the cheapest and most available of all. > Again, I would use up the old thru hole parts but replace them with SMD > parts as appropriate. > > My cabinet is small.... (like very small, like I have fewer than 100 resistors, like I sort them in to 6 "drawers" where each draw is an order-of-magnitude.... last-stripe=black in this draw, last-stripe=red in the next, orange the next, and so on....) >> There are some things I will have to do through-hole as well (sockets >> and connectors).... >> > > Absolutely. Anything that takes mechanical stress should be thru hole. > > >> 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? >> > > I find messing with 0805 resistors/capacitors easier than their thru hole > counterparts. You might want a thinner pointier tip for your soldering > iron, and you definitely want a pair of tweezers. I like the kind where the > last inch or so is bent at an angle. You might also want to get a spool of > smaller diameter solder, depending on what you already have. > > Based on responses to the solder paste question, I will go for regular "thin" solder. Tweezers, magnifier, and good light seem to be the order of the day. >> Is this something that is within reach of a beginner-to-intermediate >> hobbyist? >> > > Definitely. > > > ****************************************************************** > Embed Inc, Littleton Massachusetts, (978) 742-9014. #1 PIC > consultant in 2004 program year. http://www.embedinc.com/products > I think my fisrt sub-project is to reproduce your RSLink device. Nice and simple, portable, and immensely useful.... Thanks for the response. Rolf -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist