Prototyping Techniques - In Search of the Easy Way

RE: Prototyping Techniques - In Search of the Easy Way

neilk — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 11:59:19 GMT

Thanks for sharing your extensive experience, Doug.

Many years ago I etched a few PCBs at home - too messy and fiddly!

I use stripboard, protoboards and breadboards as seems to be appropriate for me. I have a number of frequently used sub-systems built up on stripboard or small breadboards to plug into larger projects.

I never seem to get around to commissioning a PCB these days!

Neil

RE: Prototyping Techniques - In Search of the Easy Way

shabaz — Mon, 07 Mar 2022 18:39:40 GMT

Hi Doug,

You didn't miss much with the chemicals era.. results could be excellent, I used to do it a lot, but it's such a mess dealing with it, looking for places to dispose of the waste, and it could be hit-and-miss occasionally with the exposure or etching fluid quality etc.

Regarding KiCAD, it's phenomenally fast working with it, there's really no competition for it in that area, from what I've seen. It's the last of the CAD systems that are designed more for speed than designed around typical UI for intuitiveness. For sure other CAD packages, while better in other respects, cannot compete on productivity if the EAGLE functionality meets needs.

RE: Prototyping Techniques - In Search of the Easy Way

fmilburn — Mon, 07 Mar 2022 18:22:07 GMT

That is a really complete list with lots of ideas. Standardizing on parts is something I've done as well and I bought a book with 0805 SMD resistors and capacitors similar to this one.

They are expensive from major manufacturers but not so much when ordered from low-cost Chinese sources.

RE: Prototyping Techniques - In Search of the Easy Way

Jan Cumps — Mon, 07 Mar 2022 12:50:16 GMT

You've covered them all, [mention:193ac2434c814a24b46635a2210baec1:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05].

I can only add a few extra:

Use the components of a Scienc Fair XX0-in-1 project kit.
Cardboard, a needle and tape to put a little circuit together that has to live longer than a breadboard mockup.