PCB Manufacturing

[reverend]

Anyone had any experience with getting PCB's made up? Who's good on prices, and what software is best for making the necessary CAD files?

Thank you!

Rev

[nrgkits.nz]

Altium designer is what’s used by a lot of professionals, however for hobby use you’ll want to go with something like sprint layout.

For prototype boards I use a local manufacturer a short drive down the road as they have a quick turn around, however for mass production I send it off to China - there’s plenty of Chinese companies on Alibaba that will manufacture PCB’s just remember to select one with a good reputation.

[reverend]

Thanks nrgkitz. Are there any 'free' PCB layout tools, or are all the free ones rubbish? Sprint is just €46 to buy which isn't too bad.

There are some local PCB manufacturers around here too, but I got an on-line quote for a 2 sided board and it seemed rather expensive to me. Alibaba it shall be...

Rev

[Maximus]

pcbway.com are cheap and shipping only takes a couple of days.

Simply upload your gerber file and they make it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rfdiva]

Maximus is right.

[sinus trouble]

Hello Reverend

You could try EasyEDA? I have been using it for all my recent projects, and its free!

It has all the tools i need to produce quality PCBs.

It is also linked to JLCPCB and the prices are good but will depend on size and complexity of your PCB?

Good Luck!

[Bton-FM]

Hi Reverend,
I've been using this free software called EasyEDA.

https://easyeda.com

It's quite basic and certainly won't give you the all the tools that are in Altium has, but it does the trick for the stuff I'm doing. I also have kiCAD which is (also free) but I'm used to EasyEDA so I stick to that.

As for PCBs, I got some made up from JLCpcb and they were great quality especially given the price! Its £2 for 5 PCBs on the first go! The only bad point is the shipping. It takes ~3 weeks on the cheapest rate but you can do DHL, UPS if you need to be rapid. My advice is watch out with shipping because you can end up paying £££ with customs...

EDIT - Sinus beat me to it as I was writing this

[sinus trouble]

Hehe! Sorry Bton-FM!

But yes i totally agree, Its not perfect and takes a while to get used to?

Login details are the same for both EDA and JLC so exporting your design is quick n easy!

As Bton mentioned, Shipping will probably cost more than your PCBs? But still worth every penny!

[oldskoollondon]

pcbway.com are cheap and shipping only takes a couple of days.

Simply upload your gerber file and they make it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Another vote for PCBWAY

[reverend]

Thanks for all the tips. Now to knock up a prototype and get that board designed.

Rev