Re: [amsat-bb] Schematic capture & PCB creation software

[Bruce Bostwick <lihan161051@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tuesday, Jun 17, 2003, at 09:59 US/Central, Jim Walls wrote:

> Bob Bruninga wrote:
>> On Tue, 17 Jun 2003, Howard Long wrote:
>>> (b) What is the recommended way of producing very small volume 
>>> double-sided
>>> PCBs in the shack?
>> Unbelievably simple.  Go to ExpressPCB.COM and download their 
>> ExpressPCB
>> software (its fully functional and free).  Because after you lay out 
>> your
>> board, you just "click" on "Purchase" and it asks for your credit card
>> number and then you get the board in the mail the next week.
>> NOthing could be easier...  But I dont know about shiping costs to 
>> UK...
>
> I have to second Bob's recommendation.  The software is easy to use, 
> and the boards are very high quality.  For commercially made boards in 
> small volume, the price is fairly good too.  I have used them for 
> commercial projects (back in my broadcast engineering days), and also 
> for a couple around the house in as low as 2 board quanities.  I do 
> recommend that you order more boards than you think you will need as 
> the per order flat cost is high enough that you will kick yourself if 
> you order 2 boards and 6 months later want one more.  The cost per 
> board is fairly low (for commercially made boards).
>
> I have tried to etch boards at home, and never have been able to get 
> decent quality.  ExpressPCB is the way to go!

Now if they weren't PC's-only .. us Mac folks sometimes design PC 
boards too.

Currently I'm using a few tricks of my own to get 300 DPI graphics out 
of AppleWorks 6 on a laser printer.  Not for the faint hearted -- I had 
to build my own library of pads for SOIC and 0203, etc. parts -- and 
I'm focusing on single sided SMD designs specifically to avoid having 
to deal with drilling holes, but I'm planning on trying out Kodalith 
film as a high contrast photomask medium to get high quality 
reproduction from the photoresist.  Not sure how it will turn out, but 
if I'm successful with a project I'm working on, I'll post more info ..

----
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