When PCBs Are Cheaper Than Lunch, Build PCBs! A DA-15 & Banana to Terminal Block Breakout

RE: When PCBs Are Cheaper Than Lunch, Build PCBs! A DA-15 & Banana to Terminal Block Breakout

dang74 — Wed, 05 Oct 2022 19:52:58 GMT

I used to be much more selective about getting boards made. But, yeah, in the last 5 years or so I made a bunch. 2 Layer boards are especially cheap. Sometimes I drive myself crazy keeping things to 2 layers when I should just throw in an extra $40 or so to move up to 4 layer. I like the boards you shared here. They each serve a practical purpose.

RE: When PCBs Are Cheaper Than Lunch, Build PCBs! A DA-15 & Banana to Terminal Block Breakout

embeddedguy — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 05:12:13 GMT

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Still, sometimes, I will consider that the custom PCBs are expensive. The reason is that ordering bare PCB is cheap but then sourcing the components and that to sometimes those tiny components which are not available everywhere needs us to order from multiple vendors. Then of course the cost for shipping and cost of customs which is unpredictable quite sometimes.

So for that reason it still remains expensive. Some companies nowadays recommend parts to use during design phase, like Seeed. This makes things a bit easier.

RE: When PCBs Are Cheaper Than Lunch, Build PCBs! A DA-15 & Banana to Terminal Block Breakout

dougw — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 15:07:39 GMT

I have been using PCBs for prototyping for 2 decades now because the price became affordable (less than 100 dollars per order). In that period the price has come down form 50 dollars per card to 50 cents per card. Now that SMT parts are ubiquitous, PCBs are really the only thing that makes sense or cents. I now consider it an ugly imposition when I have to resort to using strip board, even though I still have a soft spot for it. I usually design between 8 and 18 PCBs per year, although some of them are as simple as connector adapters. At this rate I am often ordering the next PCB before the previous one arrives, so there is always something on the go.

The shipping cost from China has jumped from 3 dollars to between 15 and 30 dollars, which can put it perilously close to the old 50 dollar price, so I have to cut down on ordering frivolous PCBs. Actually one place used to ship for "free" and their PCB cost was about 1 dollar per card.

Likewise if I can't 3D print all the mechanical parts because something gets too hot for plastic or whatever, I throws me into a quandary.

RE: When PCBs Are Cheaper Than Lunch, Build PCBs! A DA-15 & Banana to Terminal Block Breakout

Andrew J — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 08:43:47 GMT

I think I said something similar a few months ago. When it’s that cheap, why pay extra for something like veroboard? Makes prototyping and testing board layouts easy. At one point, I designed a PCB with different layouts for the same circuit so I could see if there was any operational difference in the two. As you say, it can take a few weeks to arrive but the price outweighs thst (there’s always something else to be getting on with!)

I created something similar to your breakout boards to connect my ICB up to a breadboard - 15DA to male and female headers. I did put a 15DA connector as well mind because I had the parts and it allowed me to create cables that could serve multiple hook-up purposes. It’s a great idea.