Hi If you are one of those people who feel “cramped” in anything less than 6 layers, the Chinese are about the only way to go. There are a few houses over there that will do 6 and 8 layer boards at a “basement affordable” sort of price. Given the way things change with some of these outfits figuring out who is doing this or that (and doing it right) can be a major chore. In some cases the right answer last month is not the right answer this month …..
Bob > On Dec 9, 2016, at 3:34 PM, John Ackermann N8UR <[email protected]> wrote: > > That points out a key difference in the PCB house pricing models: ExpressPCB > and the Advanced Circuits $33 prototype are flat fee up to a size limit (for > Advanced Circuits 4 x 6 inches) while others go by the square inch -- OSH > Park is $5/in2 for three copies of two layer, and $10/in2 for three of four > layer. > > So for small boards, OSH Park is great but for larger boards, the price > difference reduces (a 4 x 6 board ends up being just about the same price as > Advanced Circuits). And if you can stand the slower turnaround, the Chinese > board houses can't be beat for any size. > > John > ---- > On 12/9/2016 3:18 PM, Bob Stewart wrote: >> I built my first set of boards with ExpressPCB, but they get expensive >> quickly if you want to make something that's not in their special form >> factor. I use KICAD and OshPark.com to make my boards (there are other >> board makers). I just ordered some boards that are .7" x .63" that cost >> $8.40 for 12. You buy in multiples of 3, so that was actually $2.10 for a >> set of 3 times 4 sets. Using surface mount, I was able to put an SOIC-14, >> an SOIC-16, an SOT23-5, three 0805 caps, a 3 pin header, and a 5 pad >> connector on the board. Something like that would be wastefully expensive >> on ExpressPCB. >> >> Bob >> >> >> From: BIll Ezell <[email protected]> >> To: [email protected] >> Sent: Friday, December 9, 2016 1:58 PM >> Subject: [time-nuts] OT: ExpressPCB (cross-post from volts-nuts) >> >> Sorry if I'm behind the times, just did a new project that required a >> pcb, and ExpressPCB is my go-to vendor for one-off boards. I just >> noticed they now provide the low-cost boards (fixed size, 3x5, quantity >> 3) that I've always ordered with silk screen and solder mask for $71. I >> got my latest boards that way and they're beautiful. No relationship to >> them, just a happy customer. You can still get the barebones boards for >> $51. The hack I used to use was to put the component id and such on the >> top copper layer as tiny text, but that was a bit of a pain for layout. >> (Oops, can't put that label there, it's copper and there's a trace there >> also) Really nice to be able to get real boards, even if it does end up >> being ~$23/board. >> > _______________________________________________ > time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts > and follow the instructions there. _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
