Where do you have your PCB's made?

[Tobie]

I saw these guys make arduino - I have mailed them and will pick up what they have in Cape Town next week. http://www.ntspcb.co.za/

aslo

http://cboards.co.za/

anybody used an overseas company that ships etc?

[Shannon]

I ordered from SparkFun and had a guy bring it over to SA. Amazon UK
apparently delivers to SA free (to local post office I think). No
direct experience with shipping from overseas tho.

[Tobie]

response from http://www.ntspcb.co.za/

I will pick up some boards for myself... anyone else want. I will be in cape town whole of next week and will bring back if you want.

Hi Tobie,

Yes we have stock of the Arduino boards at all times.
You are welcome to stop by anytime, our address is Unit 5 Maitland Mews, 16th Avenue Maitland,
There is Google map on our website.

Best regards
Anthony Clegg

[Tobie]

Software that seems nice to do layouts - http://www.lis.inpg.fr/realise_au_lis/kicad/

[Tobie]

http://www.sasteksolutions.com/  - any body knows them?

[Tobie - Die Toob]

This is just for a bare PCB. Let me know who wants. .... I will pick up 10 or so.

[Schalk Heunis]

I want one please!

[Tobie - Die Toob]

skulkey - i'll get you five... one wont be enough!

[Toby Kurien]

I used the softwae from expresspcb.com, but never ordered from them. Etched the PCB at home myself.

[Schalk Heunis]

This looks cool, do you know of a local group that offers the same service? i.e. design, order, deliver

[Toby Kurien]

No I don't, would love to find one though if reasonably priced.

[Tobie - Die Toob]

it seems that roughly setup costs will be in the region of R500 and that sometimes include the first 2 boards (double sides, silk screen etc), ten prices come down......

i ordered the arduino pcb's today here in cape town. i ordered 11. They are R50 each. So the cost will come down significantly if you have something that gets ordered a lot

Toby - Had some time to write about your experience with Andriod. We will try and get a spot at Google group to present.

t

[Schalk Heunis]

ok, so the idea would be to design some generic shields and get these mass produced.

Maybe something like github for circuit boards ...  where you can book out a circuit board and it get delivered, then mod and commit.  Once the commit level is mature, the version moves up and becomes a stable release.

Does anybody know of a open source collaborative PCB design pacakge?

[Tobie - Die Toob]

the first one should be a decent logger shield, 3 ct's , sd card and reartime clock

t

[Willliam]

This may be a good start for the logger shield
http://www.nuelectronics.com/estore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=20

[Tobie - Die Toob]

Sitting with the boards in my hand

[Tobie - Die Toob]

Yes! just need to layout etc to modify and add the CT circuit.....

[Anthony]

Hi Guys,
Just some advice about the CAD programs -STAY CLEAR from ExpressPCB, it can not generate industry standard gerber and drill files used to manufacture pcb's locally or anywhere else. You can only send the generated file to the US for manufacturing -pricey.
 If you want a cad program, depending on your needs, try these free options : Kicad (opensource, big learning curve -full auto router) , www.freepcb.com ( simple to use , not the slickest interface),  DesignSpark http://uk.rs-online.com/web/generalDisplay.html?id=pcb ( new package from RS, free, auto-router, looks promising and well supported)
Paid for versions: SprintLayout V5 ( Dead simple, no full auto router, on point-to-point, quick and easy buy online at http://www.abacom-online.de/uk/html/sprint-layout.html or collect a hard cd from pcb manufacturer www.ntspcb.co.za in Cape Town(+-R410ex vat), EagleCad (Popular, free for smaller boards, full auto router, not so easy interface but solid package)
Hope that helps , coz it's a bugger sitting up all night designing in ExpressPCB, only to find out the next morning your files can't be used !! Seen it many times...

[Toby Kurien]

Cool thanks for that heads-up. I've used and love ExpressPCB and the
accompanying schematics tools - even works under wine in Linux. Very
easy to use and clean interface, unlike some other tools I've used. I
didn't need the gerber files tho since I used the toner-transfer
method to etch the PCB at home and even had the "silk-screen" layer
added to the board. Works well for the hobbyist.

On Aug 5, 8:59 am, Anthony <anthonycl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Guys,
> Just some advice about the CAD programs -STAY CLEAR from ExpressPCB, it can
> not generate industry standard gerber and drill files used to manufacture
> pcb's locally or anywhere else. You can only send the generated file to the
> US for manufacturing -pricey.
>  If you want a cad program, depending on your needs, try these free options
> : Kicad (opensource, big learning curve -full auto router) ,www.freepcb.com

> ( simple to use , not the slickest interface),  DesignSparkhttp://uk.rs-online.com/web/generalDisplay.html?id=pcb( new package from

> RS, free, auto-router, looks promising and well supported)
> Paid for versions: SprintLayout V5 ( Dead simple, no full auto router, on

> point-to-point, quick and easy buy online athttp://www.abacom-online.de/uk/html/sprint-layout.htmlor collect a hard cd
> from pcb manufacturerwww.ntspcb.co.zain Cape Town(+-R410ex vat), EagleCad

[Tobie]

HI check thihttp://teganbristow.co.za/?p=99