Re: Outsourcing PCB production
Alex Yuan, Wed May 20 2015, 04:03AM

If you don't mind the wait then go for Seeedstudio. I ordered 10 UD2.5 boards and I got 13 at ~$3.30 each. Takes about 30 days?


If you can't wait then OshPark does 2 layer boards at $5 per square inch and you get 3 boards.

Re: Outsourcing PCB production
mister_rf, Wed May 20 2015, 07:39AM

My personal experience is related to the ELECROW


I have placed there few orders for the PCB prototype production. Good communication and very good quality IMO.

They promote also different type of services, including PCB Assembly services, to get the full service from components sourcing, soldering and testing, but I have never tested that service for my own small experiments.

Re: Outsourcing PCB production
Dr. Slack, Wed May 20 2015, 09:50AM

If you just want a few bare test PCBs to assemble yourself, prior to outsourcing the complete assembly, then dirtypcbs.com has an interesting business model. You get 'approximately 10' 4x4 DS PTH boards for $25. if you want exactly 10 it costs twice as much, as they leech capacity from the edges of big jobs run by other PCB manufacturers.

Re: Outsourcing PCB production
Wolfram, Wed May 20 2015, 12:56PM


I've just started using these guys, and the quality is on the same level as my previous supplier, Iteadstudio, surprisingly good considering the price. I've attached a picture showing what a board from dirtypcbs.com looks like. The slightly small via annular ring is my fault, as I managed to send them gerbers without a drill file. They somehow still managed to drill it, so I won't criticise them for using a slightly large drill for the vias. The board is marked as electrically tested, so it should be fine even if it looks a bit tight.

Re: Outsourcing PCB production
mikeselectricstuff, Thu May 21 2015, 06:51PM

You need to provide a bit more info - volumes, your location, type of board (SM/TH), complexity etc. to get a meaningful answer

Re: Outsourcing PCB production
Carbon_Rod, Fri May 22 2015, 05:53AM

Oshpark is around 30 days sometimes.
The boards are fine for 0.5mm pitch parts, but they simply fail to mill out areas too small for the route-out bit. Thus, I'd recommend someone else if you have surface mount parts mixed with mechanical though-hole tabbed components.

Re: Outsourcing PCB production
IamSmooth, Sun May 24 2015, 02:09AM


I would try a run of 25 boards
Two-sided with vias
A mix of surface mount (resistors and caps) and IC sockets and a few other thru-hole components.
Each board is about 1" x 3"

Re: Outsourcing PCB production
IamSmooth, Tue May 26 2015, 02:20AM

Looks like my PCB Wizard program does not do Gerber files. I'll need that with any of these production facilities. How good is Eagle? It seems pricey for my limited use. I went to the company site and it looks like I have to pay a subscription fee. Is that correct?

Any other programs for PCB design?

Re: Outsourcing PCB production
..., Tue May 26 2015, 04:12AM

I would recomend KiCad

Make sure you are using one of the more recent releases, it has seen rapid growth over the last few years and the most recent version is really a decent piece of software which IMHO surpasses the paid version of eagle.

Re: Outsourcing PCB production
hen918, Tue May 26 2015, 05:32PM


+1
I always use KiCad. A very nice program once you get to know its few quirks.

Re: Outsourcing PCB production
AndrewM, Tue May 26 2015, 07:59PM

PCBWay.com is the best I've ever used. Chinese prices but with 3 day turn.

Re: Outsourcing PCB production
mister_rf, Tue May 26 2015, 08:08PM

I’m not sure that I understood correctly your board dimensions, but for the EAGLE Light Edition the part needs to be placed within the 100 mm x 80 mm (4 inches x 3.2 inches).
The area starts at the origin and includes 100 mm to the right on the horizontal and 80 mm up on the vertical.
In my opinion 25 boards in production is personal use for evaluation purposes.
To use the freeware license select the “Run as freeware” button.

Re: Outsourcing PCB production
IamSmooth, Wed May 27 2015, 02:49AM

So I download the kicad.extras build?

Does this need an internet connection to work or is it stand-alone?

Re: Outsourcing PCB production
..., Wed May 27 2015, 04:31AM

Currently the KiCAD official windows mirror is at you will want the most recent 'product' build (r5684 as of may 2015, make sure you get the _x64 version if you are running 64bit windows), if you are running OSX you need the most recent extras build at It will prompt you (at least under windows) to install wings3d, this will allow you to render your boards in 3d but is not required. There also may be a few errors when you first run it it as it creates its preference files, but these can be ignored.

There are some good tutorials floating around, try to make sure that you are following one of the more recent ones as some are quite outdated and the buttons have moved around since they were written. The official documentation is pretty good there are also some video tutorials out there which I understand are decent (I personally cannot stand watching video tutorials)

edit: it does not require an internet connection to run

Re: Outsourcing PCB production
mister_rf, Wed May 27 2015, 08:00AM

I did a research on it, and I was disappointed on the shipping charges.
Yes, maybe that’s fast, but that’s too expensive IMO.
Let’s say 10 pcs 100mm x 100 mm, 2 layers, HASL,
PCB Cost: $ 13
Coupon Savings: - $ 2
Shipping Cost: $ 25.00
PayPal Fee: $ 3 ???
Total Amount: $ 39
My similar orders to similar company in China were about $ 24.57 ($14.90 + $9.67 shipping by Registered Airmail) and there was a 5-6 days processing time, and 11-14 days delivery time. And there was options for fast delivery too, Hong Kong DHL/FedEx/EMS but I was not in such a hurry.

Re: Outsourcing PCB production
Artlav, Wed May 27 2015, 10:46PM

Wow.
So it's now possible to do a custom PCB for under $100?

And at PCBCart it's still $55 for 10 60x40 2 layer boards plus $50 for delivery, and that's for the "prototype" quality.

Re: Outsourcing PCB production
mister_rf, Thu May 28 2015, 06:30AM

You may compare prices from different PCB manufacturers here:

Re: Outsourcing PCB production
Dago, Mon Jun 01 2015, 11:56AM


You can get 10pcs 2-layer 50x50mm boards for 9,9$ + shipping (like 7$). 4-layer ones are like 30$. I have personally used Elecrow, itead and seeedstudio.

Re: Outsourcing PCB production
Justin, Mon Jun 01 2015, 07:51PM

I'd recommend dirtypcbs.com