Mike - K8LH
Well-Known Member
Hi guys,
Is there any way to get printed circuit boards manufactured at a better price then what I'm getting from ExpressPCB or Pad2Pad?
I've used ExpressPCB's "economy" service before to get three 2.5"x3.8" boards for about $60 but they don't include a soldermask or silkscreen. And if I put more than 1 circuit onto that 2.5"x3.8" board it was difficult cutting them apart.
I've also designed several boards using Pad2Pad software but their tooling costs determine the minimum board cost which is pretty high, around $136, so I've never submitted any of those designs for production.
For example, I'd like to get 10 to 20 of the little 0.9"x1.7" LCD boards below which I can use for "straight thru", "Predko", or "Serial" style interface. The Pad2Pad price is $135.80 for quantity 1 through quantity 26.
I really like the OEM design software from Pad2Pad but their prices are beyond my budget.
If I switched to a design program that produced gerber output files could I then use other PCB manufacturers who may have better low quantity prices? I looked at Eagle before but I couldn't find any directions or tutorials and so the program just didn't seem to make sense and didn't seem very easy to use.
I'm at the point where I have several designs using SMT parts that pretty much require a printed circuit board but I can't afford to get them made.
TIA for any and all advice.
Mike
Is there any way to get printed circuit boards manufactured at a better price then what I'm getting from ExpressPCB or Pad2Pad?
I've used ExpressPCB's "economy" service before to get three 2.5"x3.8" boards for about $60 but they don't include a soldermask or silkscreen. And if I put more than 1 circuit onto that 2.5"x3.8" board it was difficult cutting them apart.
I've also designed several boards using Pad2Pad software but their tooling costs determine the minimum board cost which is pretty high, around $136, so I've never submitted any of those designs for production.
For example, I'd like to get 10 to 20 of the little 0.9"x1.7" LCD boards below which I can use for "straight thru", "Predko", or "Serial" style interface. The Pad2Pad price is $135.80 for quantity 1 through quantity 26.
I really like the OEM design software from Pad2Pad but their prices are beyond my budget.
If I switched to a design program that produced gerber output files could I then use other PCB manufacturers who may have better low quantity prices? I looked at Eagle before but I couldn't find any directions or tutorials and so the program just didn't seem to make sense and didn't seem very easy to use.
I'm at the point where I have several designs using SMT parts that pretty much require a printed circuit board but I can't afford to get them made.
TIA for any and all advice.
Mike
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