First board panels are in the mail

[HW_Hack]

While not directly amp related, my first board design that I've had FAB'd is in the mail and I should receive it is a couple of days. Its a small LM-317 design I did as a test. As someone who did many high speed digital designs during the '90s its flat out amazing that I can use a tool like Eagle CAD for free and get 3 boards FAB's for $11.

Back in the day we were running SUN Spark stations at $20k a pop and CAD software running $40K - $60K. And that doesn't even include the actual FAB costs. As a designer I was very involved in board layout, but not the actual guy laying down the traces and placing parts. And yes you could always get a little PCB kit and tape or mark out a board - which I've done - but to get a full up double sided board is just amazing.

Going from a schematic to a perf-board design is pretty easy as you have the flexibility of using what ever parts you have. Going to a PCB means you need to have picked - associated the right component type (foot print) to the part used in the schematic. Many memories of getting boards back in that had the wrong component footprint or mirrored etc.

I chose OSH Park to do the FAB after seeing an interview with the owner. He uses only American FAB shops and services, but also ships free world wide. Its a community FAB shop where your project is FAB'd along with many others to cut costs. His claim to fame is he has created scripts that are getting him 98% panel utilization. You can check them out
http://oshpark.com

I'll be starting my amp design in about a week.

[J M Fahey]

Cool.
Always a stumbling block for the hobbyist  :dbtu: