Homebrew PCBs

Yah, I've thought of SparkFun. I'd be honored to be associated with
those guys. I love their stuff. But they don't usually sell just blank
boards, do they?

*Brian

-----Original Message-----
From: Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Henry Carl Ott
Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 1:55 PM
To: Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] Place to have small quantity board made for
others to buy

At 02:25 PM 2/28/2006, you wrote:
>OK, I'm not trying to go way off-topic here, but I don't know who else
>to ask about this. I have a small board that I have designed (and built
>many of by hand at home using TT) and I've had Olimex make several of
>them. Now other people want to buy bare boards and build their own
>boards. I have no interest in being a 'business' and selling these
>things. Are there any companies or organizations out there that will
>make and sell blank boards for your hobby circuit? I.e., I want to find
>a company that will keep some small quantity of these boards in stock,
>and have a web-store that people can buy single quantities from. Does
>such a thing exist?
>
>Thanks for any leads-
>
>*Brian


It's a commercial outfit, but pretty friendly to the hobby circuit.
  Depending on the type of  project (micro based), you may want to offer
it 
to sparkfun:
http://www.sparkfun.com/



carl

--------------------------------------------------------
Henry Carl Ott   N2RVQ
http://users.rcn.com/carlott/
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At 03:17 PM 2/28/2006, you wrote:
>Yah, I've thought of SparkFun. I'd be honored to be associated with
>those guys. I love their stuff. But they don't usually sell just blank
>boards, do they?
>
>*Brian


Sparfun Electronics (SFE) IS pretty cool.
   They stock a few breakout and prototype boards. Coincidentally enough, 
quite a few of them are olimex boards. (SFE's where I've ordered some 
Olimex m128 breakout boards). And if the board needs any exotic parts, they 
may stock them too.

   I guess the best of both worlds would be for olimex and SFE to stock 
them, then you could just order based on which side of the puddle you're on 
to save shipping.

  Really depends on the project and projected/perceived demands.
  What is the project? Maybe I want one.



carl

--------------------------------------------------------
Henry Carl Ott   N2RVQ
http://users.rcn.com/carlott/
--------------------------------------------------------

At 04:21 PM 2/28/2006, you wrote:
>Carl,
>         Thanks for the interest - it's a very small USB PIC based
>development board - sort of like a Basic Stamp in that it sits down in a
>breadboard. Example code supplied so that it shows up as a virtual
>serial port on your PC, Mac or Linux.
>
>         If you want a little bit more information, check out the pages
>I've put up at http://www.greta.dhs.org/UBW - it's not much, but it's a
>start.
>
>         I would love nothing more than for Olimex or SparkFun to
>actually build and stock these boards. But I have no idea how many they
>would really sell.
>
>*Brian


  Cute,
  Too bad I switched to AVRs years ago.
  It's a real small board, I'd think they could do a bunch on a single 
sheet, and just knock them out.

   But in all honesty It might not be worth their trouble, if only on 
support. SFE in particular has been getting hammered on support for low 
markup items (main reason for the price raise on their proto PCB 
manufacturing service).

  Perhaps more of an educational aid.
  Maybe Peter Anderson would be interested.
http://www.phanderson.com/

Single sided boards I make in house with TT, but these double sided boards 
w/smt and lots of PTHs you really want to send out to a production house 
(or if you have to make more then ten of them). Hey, that's why we are in 
this forum, making boards 'in house'.

  It would be really nice to have a distributor for all these small run 
hobby boards, I just don't see anyone really making much of a profit off of 
it (or even breaking even).  You need larger runs to keep the cost down, 
and then you wind up sitting on obsolete inventory. I know I'm sitting on 
hundreds of boards I'll never be able to use.

  Far circuits,  SFE,  olimex seem to be doing the best. And two of these 
make the PCBs themselves 'in house'.

You really have to do it from a love of the art and to support the community.
  But now I'm starting to ramble,



carl

--------------------------------------------------------
Henry Carl Ott   N2RVQ
http://users.rcn.com/carlott/
--------------------------------------------------------