After listening to The Amp Hour I found out about OSHPark! It's an inexpensive prototyping PCB service, the boards are high quality, and PURPLE. I couldn't believe the $5 per square inch price point, so I checked it out myself by creating my first pcb. I learned how to use KiCad and whipped up a board that would host an msp430f2012 microcontroller, some breakout headers and a programming header. I ordered it using the site on November 12th and it arrived December 10th in my mailbox in a unique purple mailing envelope. See below.
Fancy.
Fancier. A pull to rip a hole in the top.
Oh, and did I mention that they send a sticker? That's a nice touch. There are my three copies for $2.79 total including shipping. WOW.
The area is 0.558 square inches, which comes to $2.79 when multiplied by $5 per square inch.
Now I'll just show you a bunch of pictures taken with my cheap USB microscope. This is the first time I've ever soldered non-through hole components, so it was a bit rough.
A close up of the pins on the TSSOP package after being soldered (tortured).
More, I'm looking for solder bridges when I take these pictures.
Solder bridge? Between the two pins on the right side, near the top of the photo.
I did such a poor job of soldering this chip that I burnt away the purple solder mask, you can see the copper of the trace going to the pin in the centre of this photo.
Again I burnt away the purple solder mask, you can see the copper trace here.
And here.
And here...
One of the resistor's legs shown from the top after being soldered. Gold plated through hole.
This circular indent on the MSP430F2012 shows which corner pin 1 is in. This is typically what is done (or a notch).
As you can see, it's difficult to see the indent by eye, This is taken with a microscope after all. I have a loupe to help with this sort of thing.
Here are two legs of resistors as seen from the bottom, which is why the through holes are covered in solder, as well as flux (the shiny 'wet' looking stuff).
This is a via.
One of the through holes on the header, plated in gold.
I admire this article for the well-researched content and excellent wording. I got so involved in this material that I couldn’t stop reading. I am impressed with your work and skill. Thank you so much. If anyone looking for the printed circuit board assembly services, eiicomponents is the best choice.
ReplyDelete