FYI, spell it 'their', not 'thier'. Just pointing out a typo. No big deal. Regards, Jim > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: Re: [EE] SUPER cheap PCB manufacturing > From: peter green > Date: Thu, August 12, 2010 5:08 pm > To: "Microcontroller discussion list - Public." >=20 >=20 > Wouter van Ooijen wrote: > >> Price is $5US per square inch of board size. For that price, you get > >> three copies (i.e., a board 1 inch (25mm) to a side costs $5, and > >> you get three of them). Shipping inside the US is included, and he > >> does a flat rate to foreign addresses. > >> =20 > > > > Compare to Olimex: E 30 gets you one 100x160 mm (160 cm^2), panelized a= s=20 > > you specify. > mmm, there are a lot of issues with olimex though >=20 > 1: they insist on a particular panel size. if your designs fit thier=20 > panels nicely then great, if not you could end up with a lot of wastage. > 2: thier design rules aren't great, in particular the minimum drill size= =20 > is large which leads to relatively large vias. To add insult to injury=20 > the smallest drill size they offer (which is twice as big as the=20 > smallest one our onsite PCB facility at uni can do!) isn't part of thier= =20 > standard drill selection. > 3: they charge extra if you use drill sizes out of a very limited set. > 4: they only have metric drills which means if you have a design that=20 > was originally done with everything in imperial you have to re-check=20 > everything manually to make sure it will still meet design rules after=20 > they have applied thier rounding. Adding insult to injury thier design=20 > rules are given as round imperial sizes which (thanks to the inch being=20 > 2.54mm) puts them just over a round metric size. Would thier yeild=20 > really hurt that much if they allowed the round metric size that is=20 > marginally below the round imperial size they allow? > 5: afaict (haven't used them myself) they interpret the hole sizes from=20 > your design as drill size where most places interpret them as finished=20 > hole size. This means unless you are very carefull you can end up with=20 > componenets not fitting (our uni PCB facility does this too and it's=20 > bloody annoying when you use say a standard header footprint only to=20 > find your header has to be fitted with the assistance of a hammer=20 > because of the delta between drill size and finished hole size). >=20 > Basically if you want your PCB to be able to be made by olimex it has to= =20 > be designed specifically for olimex. >=20 > Still I agree dorkbot isn't that cheap for larger boards. What they do=20 > seem good for is when you are in the US (outside of the US the shipping=20 > is a killer) and want a few of a very small board. >=20 > Olimex are probablly the cheapest option i've seen if you wan't one or=20 > two of a moderate sized board and either your board is already designed=20 > for them or you consider your time to convert it to be of low value. >=20 > If you want a large board, multiple copies of a moderate sized board or=20 > a lot of copies of a few designs GP seem to be a good bet but thier base= =20 > price is rather high. They also seem to be the cheapest place i've found= =20 > (though it's still bloody expensive compared to normal boards) to get=20 > boards with properly shaped gold plated edge connectors. > --=20 > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .