[GreenKeys] PC board work.

Mon Jan 25 11:54:26 EST 2021

 Bob thanks for info.GerryAD6MC

    On Monday, January 25, 2021, 8:04:41 AM PST, Bob kb8tq <kb8tq at n1k.org> wrote:  

 Hi

I also have an old copy of Eagle sitting here. I made the decision to mothball it 
and force myself to learn KiCAD. After a few dozen boards, I can do at least as 
well with it as I could with Eagle. Neither one is as good as the $50K “pro” stuff
I used at work. I’m happy with free vs $50K :) 

With JLPCB, be careful about parts availability. What you see on their list today
may not be what you see a month from now. I’ve done a couple of designs with 
therm where I ran their inventory of this or that to zero. They have never restocked
those parts and the designs are now “on hold” in terms of building any more boards.

For the most part this only applies to “exotic” IC’s ( like 1 GHz BW op amps). 
Normal resistors / capacitors / diodes / logic IC’s all seem to be kept in stock. 
For the price they charge, there is no alternative. You simply can’t get a board
built that cheap any other way. If you are looking for a couple of boards, the price
delta ( them vs next cheapest) could be massive.

Bob

> On Jan 25, 2021, at 10:48 AM, RETRO Innovations <go4retro at go4retro.com> wrote:
> 
> On 1/25/2021 8:19 AM, Bob kb8tq wrote:
>> Hi
>> 
>> KiCad has it’s quirks but it works very well. The price (free) is right
>> and will stay that way. As long as CERN is backing the development
>> process, it should keep getting better. With budgets always an
>> unknown, that part of it is very much “we’ll see ….”.
>> 
>> Bob
> 
> 
> EAGLE has it's quirks as well :-)
> 
> For many years, CADSOFT's EAGLE was more feature complete that gEDA and KiCAD, and you could open any size board in the free EAGLE software to create gerbers, which made it ideal for open source projects.  That's why many of us started using it. For small boards and non commercial uses, EAGLE's free price tag for their entry level option was indeed a draw, but many of us had no issues paying for capability, within reason (ORCAD, PROTEL, were just so expensive at the time, while EAGLE was much more reasonable).  It was the free "viewer" option coupled with the overall capability that made the suite a powerful force. So, I started using it in 2005 or so and have become extremely proficient at board design (I think I actually bought the expensive autorouter, but there are two kinds of autorouters, in my opinion: useless and crappy, so I don't use it).
> 
> But, like Gil, I had significant issues with the AutoDesk move to subscription licensing for the tool.  And, so I share Steve and John's recommendation to try KiCAD.  I've downloaded it many times over the years, and I can do a bit with it, but I am just so much more productive in EAGLE at this time, and it's always a hard decision to take precious hobby time away from new designs to learn a new tool.  Still, I think KiCAD is reasonably feature complete now (I still wait for complete back annotation, which is a piece I use all the time in EAGLE). Like Gil, I continue to soldier on with my v7.7 of EAGLE, which works fine, and work to become proficient in KiCAD.
> 
> For PCBs, if jlcpcb.com has not been suggested, please consider them. Quite frankly, the great options for inexpensive PCB manufacturing now are almost overwhelming.  oshpark and batchpcb for incredibly quick protos; elecrow, pcbway, jlcpcb, etc for flexible colors and quick turnaround; and others for larger runs. V scoring, hard gold, immersion gold plating, immersion silver plating, 4 layer, panelization, etc. all seem to be a single checkbox click.
> 
> I don't use this much anymore, since I typically just head to batchpcb for super cheap protos and elecrow/jlcpcb for regular stuff in colors I want, but folks can use this shopping tool to find an ideal service:
> 
> https://pcbshopper.com/
> 
> I also have used PCB assembly services since about 2006 or so, but those are harder to recommend.  The one I use is much less web automated, but so much more flexible than the current web quoting companies online. I'm sure the PCBA online options are very good, but once you're spoiled with a PCBA firm that does not require you to pick from their stock, it's hard to migrate away...
> 
> Jim
> 
> 
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