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Registered Member #509
Joined: Sat Feb 10 2007, 07:02AM
Location:
Posts: 329
I think most likely FR-1 or FR-2, which is basically epoxy and paper fiber to make a PCB instead of glass fiber that is used in FR-4 which is common in "nice" PCBs
However that being said, what do you have online thats cheaper and better? most FR-4 based protoboards are pricey compared to radio shack protoboards
I've been wanting to get some FR4 stuff for a while but it seems to be far more expensive - to the point that I gave up searching.
I've been using the pre-drilled and pre-etched perfboard item no: 276-147 from RadioShack with good success. It is a fairly decent size board for only $4 and will break along hole lines if you use flush cutters on it. A bit of a pain to have to solder-bridge all your traces, and it sure does eat up solder, but well done solder-bridge "traces" are low inductance, low impedance, and removable/reworkable.
I haven't tried etching my own PCBs yet though because even though my local store sells copper clad boards, they don't carry etchant chemicals. I also don't have a laser printer, so I haven't had enough of a reason to try shipping in chemicals, but the thought of paying HazMaz fees makes me shudder. Sometimes I'm tempted to fork out the >$51 (the cheapest price for a minimum of 3 tiny boards) ExpressPCB charges.
Registered Member #3900
Joined: Thu May 19 2011, 08:28PM
Location:
Posts: 600
as i posted in a thread recently, both batchpcb and futurlec both sell decent sized pcb's for under $40.
personal i gave up both toner transfer and photo resist because i couldn't get either to work consistently. now i just cut the traces out on my cnc mill. and to cut out a board on the mill, i have to manually write up a big block of gcode just to do that. its not hard really, gcode is extremely easy xyz absolute positioning line by line, but to do it for every board(some of which are irregularly shaped) it gets old.
and i did solder bridge soldering for a while too, but its a waste of solder, and takes hours of work and rework to do anything the size and scale of the complex boards i now do.(smd, double sided, etc.)
Registered Member #1451
Joined: Wed Apr 23 2008, 03:48AM
Location: Boulder, Co
Posts: 661
If you're looking for a PCB fab house, Advanced Circuits does a $33 two layer and $66 four layer board deal. Smallest dimensions are .006" traces and clearance, with .015" holes. The website says that this deal is for a minimum of 6 boards, but if you put student in the comments they waive the min order. They're based out of Denver, ship anywhere, and are of great quality.
Registered Member #1643
Joined: Mon Aug 18 2008, 06:10PM
Location:
Posts: 1039
Well, before I started buying online I was a radioshack user and i never once had issues with breaking their proto boards in half along the lines, or soldering to them...I actually liked them for the thicker copper to handle more power.
Over time I found radioshack over-sells products. $2 for a 555? You've got to be kidding me...
I never do breadboards/protoboards anymore. If i want to test a board, or assemble something, I bring out a 3" x 4" sheet of copper clad, print onto it, and etch it. Your talking at most 10 minutes of work to get a board in your hands to solder up so.. I'm 100% done with boards like that :)
I use toner + gloss paper + radioshack etcher. Always comes out perfect.
A few times I forget to iron the edges and like the boards on the left, the lettering is messed. But the circuit parts, pristine :)
Registered Member #509
Joined: Sat Feb 10 2007, 07:02AM
Location:
Posts: 329
Killa-X wrote ...
Well, before I started buying online I was a radioshack user and i never once had issues with breaking their proto boards in half along the lines, or soldering to them...I actually liked them for the thicker copper to handle more power.
Over time I found radioshack over-sells products. $2 for a 555? You've got to be kidding me...
I never do breadboards/protoboards anymore. If i want to test a board, or assemble something, I bring out a 3" x 4" sheet of copper clad, print onto it, and etch it. Your talking at most 10 minutes of work to get a board in your hands to solder up so.. I'm 100% done with boards like that :)
I use toner + gloss paper + radioshack etcher. Always comes out perfect.
A few times I forget to iron the edges and like the boards on the left, the lettering is messed. But the circuit parts, pristine :)
Registered Member #3900
Joined: Thu May 19 2011, 08:28PM
Location:
Posts: 600
Its probably supposed to be 20 cents... One time mouser had a $800 'lytic priced at 8$, so I think someone who's putting this stuff in misses some decimal places sometimes. Btw, I bought that cap
Killa-X, I don't proto anymore either. In my first post I said hat I now cnc etch my boards. Perfboard is easy to break. Fr1/2 is not! And I can tell from your picture that you have fr4, so I know you agree with me on rs boards!
Registered Member #15
Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 01:11PM
Location:
Posts: 3068
Killa-X wrote ...
Over time I found radioshack over-sells products. $2 for a 555? You've got to be kidding me...
Radio shack is not a parts supplier. They sell these chips in single pieces, which means they purchase them, then have to create their own custom labels and packaging, repackaging labor, shipping labor twice, and touch labor. They merely provide them as a convenience, just as a convenience stores provide milk which are marked up considerable over what it costs at the supermarket. Parts suppliers such as digikey etc... can sell them much cheaper because they buy direct from manufacturer, and just slap these things in ESD bag, and they sell millions of them.
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