Re: OzarkCon Alert: Special Prize Package after the 60 Minute Circuit Board presentation
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Nick-WA5BDU
I’m really happy to be part of the toner transfer presentation, but N5IB is
actually the lead man on the effort.
I’ve gotten into this discussion late and have seen some good pro and con
opinions.
The cost is a big one. It takes a lot to pry me loose from a dollar, so I
wanted to be sure I was getting into something that would work for me. I checked
out Chuck’s videos and read comments on QRP-Tech, plus bugged Jim N5IB with
questions.
The biggies are a Laser printer and a laminator. I was surprised that
the printer was less than $60. And it has other value in my shack (as a printer,
of all things). It prints faster and cheaper than the color inkjet. The
laminator I only use for PCB work. Can it cook a grilled cheese sandwich?
I don’t know. I bit the bullet and bought the nice Apache laminator. I may have
saved some money with another brand but I decided to go with the one with the
best reviews.
I had kind of reached a limit on PCB complexity using my typical Manhattan
and Ugly methods. Yes, you can do complex stuff in Manhattan like the 2N2/40 if
you have the skills of K8IQY or NA5N. My boards just grow and get unwieldy
and collapse under their own weight and chaotic layout. Doing a layout with
ExpressPCB enforces a kind of structure on me. I must complete the layout
before I can start building. I’d have never gotten the complex boards for my
phasing receiver done without the transition to doing my own boards this
way.
As far as the “fab houses” go – it’s hard to imagine that I won’t
eventually give them a go. Right now I don’t have anything that will output
Gerber and learning the rules of Gerber will be a new task for me. Possibly a
couple of downsides ... If there’s a limit of ten or even three boards, do I
need that many? If I make a major mistake, I’ve made it triplicate (or
tenfold). Corrections are easier here in my home mad scientist’s
laboratory.
I think if I were using through-hole parts I’d probably want to use a fab
house – who wants to drill all those holes? But I’ve become completely
sold on SMT and/or converting conventional parts to SMT in the manner of
Pittsburgh or Chuck’s “Muppet” method. (Or Manhattan, for that matter).
SMT is easier to probe and test, easier to remove and replace parts, easier to
make minor corrections to the circuit. Most of the stuff I do is being
done “for the first time” (at least by me), so I need to be able to test and
fix.
OK, there’s my two cents worth. CU in Branson.
72-
Nick, WA5BDU
From: David
Martin davemrtn@... [4sqrp]
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2017 5:21 AM
To: 4sqrp@... ; Doug Hendricks ; Walter - K5EST
Subject: Re: [4sqrp] Re: OzarkCon Alert: Special Prize Package after
the 60 Minute Circuit Board presentation
Doug, Nick is giving a
presentation specifically on this subject at the coming OzarkCon. Perhaps
you would want to attend to get his first hand information
?? David Martin - NA1MH - Mountain Home, Ar.
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On 2/21/2017 23:10, Doug Hendricks ki6ds1@... [4sqrp] wrote:
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