HI,

Now, I am considering about to do a new project, and this project will according to a WIFI transmitter.
As my first speech, when I go to China as an electronic engineering exchange student.
So now, I am considering about is it better to buy a circuit board then a DIY?
What are you use if you need some boards? Diy one or buy one.
Feel free to leave a comment, cause I don't know how much it will cost if I bought some PCBs.
You know if they are expensive, it is very hard for a school student.

 

HI,

Now, I am considering about to do a new project, and this project will according to a WIFI transmitter.
As my first speech, when I go to China as an electronic engineering exchange student.
So now, I am considering about is it better to buy a circuit board then a DIY?
What are you use if you need some boards? Diy one or buy one.
Feel free to leave a comment, cause I don't know how much it will cost if I bought some PCBs.
You know if they are expensive, it is very hard for a school student.

I've never tried etching my own custom PCBs, so can't comment on that method.

I've built up circuits on proto boards like these:


That works fine for very simple circuits, but it can become cumbersome very quickly on larger circuits.

For most projects these days, I design my own custom PCBs and order them from ALLPCB. Most of my projects have cost $15-30 (USD) including DHL shipping, delivering 10 PCBs in a week or less. Considering that this makes the board cheaper than generic proto-board alternatives, I think it's a great deal.

If you're willing to wait for Hong Kong post instead of DHL, that cuts the price even lower. I've also heard of plenty of other Chinese board houses that are even cheaper, but haven't worked with them myself and can't vouch for them. I've been so happy with the speed and quality from ALLPCB that I haven't tried any of the others.

 

I've never tried etching my own custom PCBs, so can't comment on that method.

I've built up circuits on proto boards like these:
View attachment 184558

That works fine for very simple circuits, but it can become cumbersome very quickly on larger circuits.

For most projects these days, I design my own custom PCBs and order them from ALLPCB. Most of my projects have cost $15-30 (USD) including DHL shipping, delivering 10 PCBs in a week or less. Considering that this makes the board cheaper than generic proto-board alternatives, I think it's a great deal.

If you're willing to wait for Hong Kong post instead of DHL, that cuts the price even lower. I've also heard of plenty of other Chinese board houses that are even cheaper, but haven't worked with them myself and can't vouch for them. I've been so happy with the speed and quality from ALLPCB that I haven't tried any of the others.

Hi, Thanks for your quick reply. I haven't heard ALLPCB, but some of my best friends, they order some PCBs from NextPCB,
And they told me, that it only takes 5 days to arrive at USA.

 

I buy from JLCPCB its cheap enough. I rarely even bother with perfboard or breadboards anymore.

 

i used to etch a lot... nearly all of my boards. But these days i would only do it if i really really needed a quick prototype. PCB houses are making this not worth the hassle. just got last two boards from JLCPCB and no issues there. ordering is very simple, turnaround is maybe two days plus about a 5-7 working days to deliver to Canada. Funny thing is that most of the time spent in shipping is from Shenzhen to Hong Kong (10-15km). It takes less time from HongKong to Canada (with several stops in USA).

 

i used to etch a lot... nearly all of my boards. But these days i would only do it if i really really needed a quick prototype. PCB houses are making this not worth the hassle. just got last two boards from JLCPCB and no issues there. ordering is very simple, turnaround is maybe two days plus about a 5-7 working days to deliver to Canada. Funny thing is that most of the time spent in shipping is from Shenzhen to Hong Kong (10-15km). It takes less time from HongKong to Canada (with several stops in USA).

Hi, Thanks for your info.
And I have search JLCPCB, that I found this question https://designspark.zendesk.com/hc/...Bad-gerber-files-produced-by-gerber-panelizer
I am afraid if I met the same problem. So I think I may contact my friends to order some board at NextPCB at this time.
JlCPCB I may have a try next time. Thanks again for share this info with me.

 

Hi, Thanks for your info.
And I have search JLCPCB, that I found this question https://designspark.zendesk.com/hc/...Bad-gerber-files-produced-by-gerber-panelizer
I am afraid if I met the same problem. So I think I may contact my friends to order some board at NextPCB at this time.
JlCPCB I may have a try next time. Thanks again for share this info with me.

Why do you think NextPCB will not be subject to the same problem with Gerber panelization and JLCPCB will?

 

I used to etch my boards with photo-sensitised boards with success. I tried the toner transfer method but had a lot of failures. I bought a cheap CNC from china and I now use this to produce my PCBs. It will comfortably do 0.3mm tracks and isolation which allows a track between pins on a 0.1" spacing.
This machine will also make boxes, engrave front panel text (fill with engraving wax for your choice of text colour) and make parts like levers for microswitches.
I am presently making an electroplating tank which will allow me to make double sided plated through boards.

 

I am considering about is it better to buy a circuit board then a DIY?

It depends on your objectives. If you want to showcase your board construction skills, a DIY board would do that better than a manufactured one. If your emphasis is on the cleverness of the circuit, then DIY won't add or subtract from that.

What are you use if you need some boards? Diy one or buy one.

For a handful, I'd usually opt for homemade. For a large number of boards, getting them made would probably make more sense.

Feel free to leave a comment, cause I don't know how much it will cost if I bought some PCBs.

PCB house costs are pretty reasonable these days.

 

I generally only use strip board for a quick one off/experimental purposes, but if you don't mind a bit of a wait for Hong Kong post, there are many really cheap board Chinese sources, JLPCB right now are $2.00 for five boards 100mm x 100mm
One nice feature is double sided and plated via's etc.
Max.

 

I have been there, seen it, done that, from protoboards, wirewrap, veroboard, 3M-Scotchflex, DIY etching, sent out photomasks, to full scale PCB shops.

Now, if I want a single PCB, I just let a PCB house do it.

 

Hi, Thanks for your info.
And I have search JLCPCB, that I found this question https://designspark.zendesk.com/hc/...Bad-gerber-files-produced-by-gerber-panelizer
I am afraid if I met the same problem. So I think I may contact my friends to order some board at NextPCB at this time.
JlCPCB I may have a try next time. Thanks again for share this info with me.

Do you really need to panelize? Unless you are building volume of boards that need to be machine assembled, why bother? And issue is specific to that software so, have you considered alternatives?