Hi All , Lately I came across an american service called ExpressPCB , that has its own CAD software and after laying out the PCB , you can use the software itself to order board manufacture. The software can be used to generate BOM and specify Part number from Digikey. This is brilliant seamless process. Also it is fine tuned for hobbyists. The pricing is fabulous. The only problem is the shipping cost for outside america is very expensive. So I was wondering if there are similar services in UK? Feedback from anyone who has used such a service for hobbies would be appreciated? BR Rate
PCB Manufacture in UK
Started by ●June 29, 2008
Reply by ●June 29, 20082008-06-29
On Jun 29, 5:59=A0pm, ratemonotonic <niladri1...@gmail.com> wrote:> Lately I came across an american service called ExpressPCB , that has > its own CAD software and after laying out the PCB , you can use the > software itself to order board manufacture. The software can be usedArgh! Just Say No! I can't begin to tell you how evil and ill-advised it is to let yourself get locked into a vendor this way. The proprietary software is /okay/ but it's just that - proprietary. You have no significant number of other users working to help the world build library parts, so every project is a fresh adventure. And migrating to the real world involves 100% reentry from scratch. If you shop around even casually, you'll quickly find the same sort of prices being offered everywhere on PCB fabrication. Free software, e.g. EAGLE, will do your layouts and give you standard gerbers ready to send to anyone. Etc, etc. There are other vendors with a similar business model, doing mechanical parts of various sorts. Stab, burn, bury!
Reply by ●June 29, 20082008-06-29
In article <7b7d4231-16ae-432a-b0bb- 1bc243eca85b@x35g2000hsb.googlegroups.com>, niladri1979@gmail.com says...> Hi All , > > Lately I came across an american service called ExpressPCB , that has > its own CAD software and after laying out the PCB , you can use the > software itself to order board manufacture. The software can be used > to generate BOM and specify Part number from Digikey. This is > brilliant seamless process. Also it is fine tuned for hobbyists. The > pricing is fabulous. The only problem is the shipping cost for outside > america is very expensive. > > So I was wondering if there are similar services in UK? Feedback from > anyone who has used such a service for hobbies would be appreciated?Use something like Eagle or Free version if your board is small. Then good PCB houses will take your files direct or require Gerber files. Project Pooling of jobs onto a larger panel is quite common. You could like on Eagle's site (<http://www.cadsoft.de>) for vendors that take Eagle files direct. www.pcb-pool.com is common one (also known as Beta Layout). Done it this way for years on prototypes and very small volumes. -- Paul Carpenter | paul@pcserviceselectronics.co.uk <http://www.pcserviceselectronics.co.uk/> PC Services <http://www.pcserviceselectronics.co.uk/fonts/> Timing Diagram Font <http://www.gnuh8.org.uk/> GNU H8 - compiler & Renesas H8/H8S/H8 Tiny <http://www.badweb.org.uk/> For those web sites you hate
Reply by ●June 30, 20082008-06-30
On 29/06/2008 ratemonotonic wrote:> Hi All , > > Lately I came across an american service called ExpressPCB , that has > its own CAD software and after laying out the PCB , you can use the > software itself to order board manufacture. The software can be used > to generate BOM and specify Part number from Digikey. This is > brilliant seamless process. Also it is fine tuned for hobbyists. The > pricing is fabulous. The only problem is the shipping cost for outside > america is very expensive. > > So I was wondering if there are similar services in UK? Feedback from > anyone who has used such a service for hobbies would be appreciated? > > BR > RateI always use Eurocircuits "Plot & Go" service. Very quick and good quality. http://www.thepcbshop.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1&lang=e n -- John B
Reply by ●June 30, 20082008-06-30
On 30 Jun 2008 10:51:20 GMT, in comp.arch.embedded "John B" <spamj_baraclough@blockerzetnet.co.uk> wrote:>On 29/06/2008 ratemonotonic wrote: > >> Hi All , >> >> Lately I came across an american service called ExpressPCB , that has >> its own CAD software and after laying out the PCB , you can use the >> software itself to order board manufacture. The software can be used >> to generate BOM and specify Part number from Digikey. This is >> brilliant seamless process. Also it is fine tuned for hobbyists. The >> pricing is fabulous. The only problem is the shipping cost for outside >> america is very expensive. >> >> So I was wondering if there are similar services in UK? Feedback from >> anyone who has used such a service for hobbies would be appreciated? >> >> BR >> Rate > >I always use Eurocircuits "Plot & Go" service. Very quick and good >quality. > >http://www.thepcbshop.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1&lang=e >nHmm, the calculator needs IE5 or greater, FF3 and opera don't work Think I'll stick with Olimex martin
Reply by ●July 2, 20082008-07-02
John B wrote:> On 29/06/2008 ratemonotonic wrote: > > >> Hi All , >> >> Lately I came across an american service called ExpressPCB , that >> has its own CAD software and after laying out the PCB , you can use >> the software itself to order board manufacture. The software can >> be used to generate BOM and specify Part number from Digikey. This >> is brilliant seamless process. Also it is fine tuned for hobbyists. >> The pricing is fabulous. The only problem is the shipping cost for >> outside america is very expensive. >> >> So I was wondering if there are similar services in UK? Feedback >> from anyone who has used such a service for hobbies would be >> appreciated? >> >> BR Rate > > > I always use Eurocircuits "Plot & Go" service. Very quick and good > quality. > > http://www.thepcbshop.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1&lang=e > n >Hmm, just had a look at that site and (reminded about a recent thread here) it tells me on entry to the price calculator that the browser (Firefox / Mozilla 1.7 on solaris) is not supported. That's one company I won't be dealing with then. I was just about to post that it had been several years since I found a website that did that :-)... Chris
Reply by ●July 2, 20082008-07-02
ChrisQ <blackhole@devnull.com> writes:> John B wrote: >> On 29/06/2008 ratemonotonic wrote: >> >> >>> Hi All , >>> >>> Lately I came across an american service called ExpressPCB , that >>> has its own CAD software and after laying out the PCB , you can use >>> the software itself to order board manufacture. The software can >>> be used to generate BOM and specify Part number from Digikey. This >>> is brilliant seamless process. Also it is fine tuned for hobbyists. >>> The pricing is fabulous. The only problem is the shipping cost for >>> outside america is very expensive. >>> >>> So I was wondering if there are similar services in UK? Feedback >>> from anyone who has used such a service for hobbies would be >>> appreciated? >>> >>> BR Rate >> >> >> I always use Eurocircuits "Plot & Go" service. Very quick and good >> quality. >> >> http://www.thepcbshop.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1&lang=e >> n >> > > Hmm, just had a look at that site and (reminded about a recent thread > here) it tells me on entry to the price calculator that the browser > (Firefox / Mozilla 1.7 on solaris) is not supported. That's one company > I won't be dealing with then. > > I was just about to post that it had been several years since I found a > website that did that :-)...And I had an exchange with their UK salesman about it over a year ago... -- John Devereux
Reply by ●July 2, 20082008-07-02
> So I was wondering if there are similar services in UK? Feedback from > anyone who has used such a service for hobbies would be appreciated? > > BR > RateIts much better to buy a PCB CAD packahe that suits your level of needs than just take a free package that is poor. There is loads of PCB CAD packages both free and paid for. Got mine off ebay for just a few pounds.
Reply by ●July 3, 20082008-07-03
On 3 Jul, 00:08, Roger_the_Dodger <cresswellave...@talktalk.net> wrote:> > So I was wondering if there are similar services in UK? Feedback from > > anyone who has used such a service for hobbies would be appreciated? > > > BR > > Rate > > Its much better to buy a PCB CAD packahe that suits your level of > needs than just take a free package that is poor. > > There is loads of PCB CAD packages both free and paid for. > > Got mine off ebay for just a few pounds.He writes his own software and then buys it from himself! Leon
Reply by ●July 3, 20082008-07-03
Leon <leon355@btinternet.com> writes:> On 3 Jul, 00:08, Roger_the_Dodger <cresswellave...@talktalk.net> > wrote: >> > So I was wondering if there are similar services in UK? Feedback from >> > anyone who has used such a service for hobbies would be appreciated? >> >> > BR >> > Rate >> >> Its much better to buy a PCB CAD packahe that suits your level of >> needs than just take a free package that is poor. >> >> There is loads of PCB CAD packages both free and paid for. >> >> Got mine off ebay for just a few pounds. > > > He writes his own software and then buys it from himself!Or as they say on slashdot * Write own PCB software * Buy from self * ... * PROFIT! -- John Devereux
