Pcb design Parameters

RichardO

Joined May 4, 2013
2,270
Send your gerbers to freedfm.com Sorry, on phone. Slow. Check it out..
And they are only a bicycle ride away -- at least for me. :D

I have used their barebones service. No solder mask or silkscreen but the cost is fairly low (not as low as from China, of course) and the boards ship the next day.

DIY PCB's are fine until you need to do vias...
 

BAlexander

Joined May 18, 2014
13
Max, what prices did you see that do not match?

********** works by getting prices directly from the PCB manufacturers' web sites. It's not impossible that there's a mistake, but it's rare. If someone tells me about an error in **********'s price list, I usually fix it in 24 hours or less. But I need to know what board specs you entered and which company's price you think is incorrect.

On **********, there's a "Contact Us" link. Please, if you think you've found a mistake on **********, let me know. If you want a response, include your e-mail address (this is very important if I have questions about your bug report). I will not spam you and I will not give your address to anyone else. I'm not a company, I'm just an electronics hobbyist like most people here.

- Bob Alexander
**********.com
 

BAlexander

Joined May 18, 2014
13
For quick and easy printed circuit boards I like ExpressPCB.
Be warned that if you use ExpressPCB's software, you are forced to use ExpressPCB's manufacturing, which is substantially more expensive than many other manufacturers'. I would recommend a PCB CAD package that exports Gerber files. I maintain a list of free CAD software, both open source and limited versions of commercial software. My list spells out what limitations have been imposed on the commercial software, so you can decide whether they are acceptable to you. You can also read and write Amazon-style reviews of the packages.

When you're ready to order PCBs, check out my price-comparison calculator. You enter your board's specs and it shows you prices and delivery times from 25 different manufacturers, including the best-known companies in Asia, North America and Europe. Again, you can read and write reviews of the companies.

- Bob Alexander
**********.com
 

BAlexander

Joined May 18, 2014
13
These ebay 230864219277
and Itead was $59.00 for 10 off 3.5" x 8"
Max.
Hi Max,

The size you mentioned, 3.5"x8", rounded up to the next 5cm, is 10 cm x 25 cm. ********** calculates ITEAD's price for those boards based on this page: https://www.itead.cc/open-pcb/pcb-prototyping/2layer-pcb-larger-than-20cm-x-20cm.html. ITEAD's page is for 5 boards, so if you want 10 boards, you need to double the price shown on the page. Where did you see $59 for 10 3.5x8 boards?

The eBay listing you mentioned is for a different company, sureelectronics, so their price will of course will be different from ITEAD's. ********** does not have sureelectronics in its price comparison list. However, sureelectronics' eBay listing is offering 10 boards, 9 to 19 square inches in size. The size you mentioned, 3.5x8, is 28 square inches. So that eBay listing is not what you want.

- Bob Alexander
**********.com
 

Lestraveled

Joined May 19, 2014
1,946
Be warned that if you use ExpressPCB's software, you are forced to use ExpressPCB's manufacturing, ........
True but not true.
- After you finish your PCB design, ExpressPCB will give you a price right then. If you want to order, enter your credit card and address and it is on order and you know pretty much to the day when you will get it. You don't have to wait for a quote or if the gerber files are right.

- If you have had a board built by ExpressPCB and want the gerber files, contact them and for $60 they will send you the gerber files (in minutes).

- Copper Connection ($49 version) will import ExpressPCB files and give you Gerber files.

Sometimes it is not about who has the cheapest price. It sometimes is about who can make it happen the easiest and the quickest. In my opinion, ExpressPCB wins that contest hands down.
 

BAlexander

Joined May 18, 2014
13
True but not true.
Sometimes it is not about who has the cheapest price. It sometimes is about who can make it happen the easiest and the quickest. In my opinion, ExpressPCB wins that contest hands down.
I went to ********** and priced out 3"x4" boards, quantity 3, 2 layers, green solder mask. Twenty-three companies were cheaper than ExpressPCB; the cheapest was $51, delivered in 8 days, compared to ExpressPCB's $193 in 5 days. If you want to buy American, there were 5 well-known US companies cheaper than ExpressPCB, with the cheapest being $55, delivered in 6 days.

If you're happy with ExpressPCB, great. But you are paying a hefty premium to use them.

- Bob
 

BAlexander

Joined May 18, 2014
13
I just received a recent order from Itead for qty 10 3.5" x 8" double sided silk screen boards for $56.80.
Using your comparison link, they come out at $188.00?
Max.
Max, can you tell us where on ITEAD's web site you got that price? I gave you the URL for the page ********** uses to compute 3.5"x8" board prices. Please give me the URL where you got 3.5"x8" boards for $56.80.

Gopher, ********** does not get a "cut" of the price. I receive absolutely no commissions or sales referral fees. Companies listed in **********'s price comparison list do not pay anything to be included in the list. The prices displayed in that list come directly from the manufacturers' sites, with nothing added.

- Bob Alexander
**********.com
 

BAlexander

Joined May 18, 2014
13
I just went to the site and opened an order. https://www.itead.cc/open-pcb/pcb-prototyping.html
Max.
Which order Max? There are 14 choices there. Help me out here.

You said you ordered a 3.5"x8" board. That's 8.9cm x 20.3 cm. So did you open the "Larger than 20x20 cm" order page? If so, that's $68 for 5 boards. You claim you paid $56 for 10 boards. Will you please tell me where you got that price?

- Bob Alexander
**********.com
 

Roderick Young

Joined Feb 22, 2015
408
My problems comes that I live in a small apartment with smalls kids and it's hard to make pcb at home with all the chemicals and having to drill the pcb with a drill press I don't have and just no room..
If fast turnaround is not a requirement, it's really hard to beat Chinese vendors, even when shipping is included. I ordered qty 5, 8" x 9" boards from pcbway, and it cost $93 plus $24 shipping. Full silkscreen and solder mask both sides. But that was 2 oz copper, if it had been standard 1 oz, it would have come out $20 cheaper. Turnaround time from order entry to boards on my doorstep was 16 calendar days, but in theory, a week could have been trimmed off that by paying $8 more for DHL shipping.

For a small board, I suspect the price of your boards will be less than the shipping.
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
Which order Max? There are 14 choices there. Help me out here.

You said you ordered a 3.5"x8" board. That's 8.9cm x 20.3 cm. So did you open the "Larger than 20x20 cm" order page? If so, that's $68 for 5 boards. You claim you paid $56 for 10 boards. Will you please tell me where you got that price?
I sent in my Gerber file and this is what they quoted me, and received 10days ago, I can't get much plainer than that!
Max.
 

BAlexander

Joined May 18, 2014
13
I sent in my Gerber file and this is what they quoted me, and received 10days ago, I can't get much plainer than that!
Max.
Max, I see no place on ITEAD's web site where they offer that price. ********** shows the prices that are on ITEAD's web site.

I have a contact at ITEAD. I will ask him about this.

- Bob Alexander
**********.com
 

GopherT

Joined Nov 23, 2012
8,009
Max, I see no place on ITEAD's web site where they offer that price. ********** shows the prices that are on ITEAD's web site.

I have a contact at ITEAD. I will ask him about this.

- Bob Alexander
**********.com
@MaxHeadRoom
There are two possible outcomes from this intervention. Either you will find the lower price on ********** in the future or you won't get the good price when you send the Gerber files next time.
 

BAlexander

Joined May 18, 2014
13
I have heard back from my contact at ITEAD and the mystery is solved. Max, you used the Small Batch service. It used to be that Small Batch was for larger quantities than 10, but ITEAD recently added pricing for 10 boards to it. The result is that, for small quantities of large boards, the Small Batch service can be cheaper than the Prototype service.

I have added that information to PCB Shopper. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

- Bob
 
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