I've seen some folks simply put the connector on thier board and solder it with no holes. Seems to work well enough. So they would really have less then 50 holes to drill. Also eventually we will have an option to put the CPU on our own board. We are using the TA board for simplicity now, and will probably keep it for future designs as well. I also feel your right, that purchasing the PCB's are better then making your own.Brian wrote:For those who etch their own PCB's, they are still going to have to drill at least 150+ holes, 100 for the two headers alone. Might be easier/better to pay the $15 (plus postage) and get a solder mask, screen print and all holes drilled and plated.
On a different note, I bought a ham radio known as the Kenwood TS2000. Dubbed by many as a "shack in a box" because it covers all ham bands up to 1.2 ghz and does what most people do with an entire shack of equipment. This very versatile radio, cost me a pretty penny when I got it. I know a guy that just finished building a radio with almost the same capabilities (better in many regards), and he did it with his own PCB's. He didn't even use purchased iron on PCB kit's. He made his own by using inkjet glossy photo paper, run through his wife's laser printer, then ironed on to the PCB. The stack of paper cost him a $1 at the local dollar store.
It's because of talented people like this guy AI2Q that I try to keep the doors open for them. How ever, I still prefer to buy it myself.
Wow this post of mine is fragmented. Sorry about that, hope it's understandable.
