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PCBWay


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I'm sure old news to a lot of you guys but its my first time :redface

 

On a recommendation from @Frank_fjs I gave PCBWay a go to get a few small jobs done and within a few days of ordering they had arrived!

 

1305612224_IMAG01861.thumb.jpg.7cd422571b6d2d12c4486dbd3991364e.jpg

 

Top one is to replace a custom Z80 on a very rare Arcade PCB Atomic Robokid. I haven't fired up mine for years but its a nice to have the option there if the Z80 fails. To my surprise they aren't battery backed up like Sega, some clever people out there.

Info and credit HERE

 

The bottom one is and adapter for Galaxian to replace four of the spite rams for one 2101 ram. I'm starting work on a long dead and neglected Galaxian board and thought this would be a nice thing to have. It should work on several other games as well.

You can read about it on macros arcade HERE

I slightly edited the brd file in Eagle, some of the text was cut off.

 

Cost $10 usd for both of these which made 5 pieces each and $27 USD with DHL postage.

Pretty awesome value and now I've done it once it's got me motivated to try design my own adapter boards for various projects.

 

I got spares if anybody needs them :lol

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I agree, PCBWAY is great but I find their prices a little high, esoecially for smaller / simpler PCBs. Not a fan of payment (PayPal fees) either.

 

JLC don't charge payment fees and you save a considerable amount with more complex options such as 4 layer PCBs and enig finish etc.

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I agree, PCBWAY is great but I find their prices a little high, esoecially for smaller / simpler PCBs. Not a fan of payment (PayPal fees) either.

 

JLC don't charge payment fees and you save a considerable amount with more complex options such as 4 layer PCBs and enig finish etc.

 

Well you did recommend on its simplicity and I'm pretty simple :D

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Oh and does anybody know the name of the pin strips in this pic?

http://blog.system11.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/robokid_fix9.jpg

 

Looks like the pins are thinner on one end? it's exactly what I need.

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  • 1 month later...
I could be wrong, depends on how the Gerber viewer is interpretting things, that text in the copper layer probably won't be visible unless you select it and choose 'expose copper'. As is I believe it will be covered by the solder mask. Not sure if that matters to you or not.
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Thanks for pointing that out mate, It's just the silk screen layer. I Selected the text and in the drop down went from TopLayer to TopSilkLayer.

I couldn't see any expose copper option :unsure

336797897_Screenshot_2019-07-27OnlineGerberViewer-PCBPrototypetheEasyWay-PCBWay(1).png.c2f8f6b38b53336fc4dc8eb0ae490d5d.png

I sent them the corrected file hopefully they can swap it over in time, if not its not really a big deal, its just for a project im working on to save a bit of extra wiring/hacking.

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Yeah easiest way is to do what you did and just move it to the top silk layer.

 

Previously you had it on the top copper layer. I mean, you'll still see it, faintly, it will appear as traces do if that makes sense.

 

If you wanted to, I'll look up where the exposed copper option is... You can do font / text on the copper layer and expose it so the soldermask doesn't cover it. Means it will just be done in copper, will look like an exposed surface mount pad for example.

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Getting back to this, AK, select the text and change it to the top (copper) layer. On the right within the little dialog box, at the very bottom there is a button labelled expose copper. You can do this if you want your text printed with copper as opposed to silkscreen.
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EasyEDA does have a few issue like that. I also wanted to get some blanks boards made in a particular shape with some drill-holes, and it kinda shat the bed producing the gerbers because if you have no copper it doesn't know what's going on.

 

Overall it's awesome though, and i found a way around the problem :)

 

For pricing i find it's best to check a few places. Price jump all over the place as size of the boards increase. For tiny stuff, OshPark is great, 3 boards for $7-$8, for larger stuff JLCPCB is cheaper (though the quality isn't quite as nice). And JLCPCB seem to have that first order deal - i had 5 designs about 80x40mm, 5pcs of each, and got all 25 boards to me for under AU$30 because they charged nothing for shipping.

Edited by buttersoft
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1164365716_IMAG02492.thumb.jpg.54f357c8fab11c705e149478addc4070.jpg

 

I'm pretty happy with the results right down to the microscopic writing lol. I didn't get the revised one in on time so it would have been interesting to see if the tiny writing would still be readable in silk layer.

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  • 1 month later...
yeah

 

There's a couple of ways to do it.

I would measure x-y coordinates of pin 1 on each chip, make sure the footprints have pin 1 at the centre and type in the coordinates plus or minus the difference the other chips are from each other.

Let me know if that doesnt make sense and I'll post some pics and explanations.

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Are you able to insert the pins into the sockets, then the opposing ends into your PCB, then solder?

 

Yes all lined up except one row which had to be bent slightly to fit.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

There's a couple of ways to do it.

I would measure x-y coordinates of pin 1 on each chip, make sure the footprints have pin 1 at the centre and type in the coordinates plus or minus the difference the other chips are from each other.

Let me know if that doesnt make sense and I'll post some pics and explanations.

 

Thanks for that.

I just wanted a few idea's on others do it. I want to get the spacing right the first time.

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