Silver Circuits vs. Chinese Puma

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Fred
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Silver Circuits vs. Chinese Puma

Post by Fred »

If anyone remembers who Marcos used, please post. If anyone who has seen both boards has any comments, please post.
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DeuceEFI
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Re: Silver Circuits vs. Chinese Puma

Post by DeuceEFI »

I'm curious as well, I have a quote from Silver Circuits and they have the best deal I have found so far for my Jaguar PCB...

Thanks,
gixxer-harry
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Re: Silver Circuits vs. Chinese Puma

Post by gixxer-harry »

On Ebay there are a few PCB manufactures who offer there services
Some also have a Assembly and Components Placement service

(as always please remove/replace this post if it is unwanted)
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nitrousnrg
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Re: Silver Circuits vs. Chinese Puma

Post by nitrousnrg »

OurPCB

I've been manufacturing some 4 layer boards as well, and right now I can't find a good reason to do a 2 layer design for a project like this. Its pretty much the same cost, and you get large improvements. Plus, if freeems uses an expensive 22usd MCU, you can't be so cheap to use a 3usd 2 layer board instead of a 6usd 4 layer board. I didn't knew about the cost back in that time, and the 2 layer board was easy to debug, but in this situation, I'm tempted to add inner ground and power planes to puma.
Marcos
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Re: Silver Circuits vs. Chinese Puma

Post by MotoFab »

I heard them recommended enough times from enough colleagues that I finally surrendered and recently had a few jobs made through OurPCB. Their work was top shelf. As good as anything I've ever had made in the states. My primary one-stop vendor for nearly 20 years is Advanced Circuits. But as often I'll get panels made using local job shops for each process step. Drill, plate, resist, etch, mask, etc.

The first order from OurPCB was an array. You know, multiple boards on a panel. The panel array was to be V-notched (individual boards snap apart) instead of routed. I included a special test coupon to establish registration and drill accuracy, minimum line widths (both positive and negative), for the copper, mask, and silkscreen (legend). A large complex test coupon uses up real estate, and is uncommon for a commercial job, but you get to see what you're dealing with. OurPCB easily held .005in/.127mm pos. and neg. lines on all layers in both axes.

A couple of things took getting used to. Compared to dealing with local domestic vendors I mean. No telephone conversations. All questions took approx. 24 hours to get answered. And when the order is placed you just have to sit tight. A tracking number is emailed when the packages are shipped, and the packages arrive via FedEx as promised.

This may be a little melodramatic, but clicking the order button seemed like trusting your partner in a high wire act. You let go, and you hope he's there to catch you. No telephone conversations, the language barrier, and what feels like dead silence after you place the order. Hey, it all worked out! It was me that wasn't used to the process.

Tips for composing emails to people who do not speak your language. Do not use pronouns. Use the same proper noun over and over. (Yes repeating proper nouns sounds redundant, but repeating proper nouns is effective.) As much as possible, write everything in the present tense. Do not use conjunctions or abbreviations.
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Fred
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Re: Silver Circuits vs. Chinese Puma

Post by Fred »

Great post, Jim!
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Re: Silver Circuits vs. Chinese Puma

Post by nitrousnrg »

Yep, they're good. All my boards, except one, passed the Quality Control of Invap, an Argentinian Organization that designs and produce nuclear, aerospace, military and medical stuff. They're very high end, and few hours after my boards went through QC Invap was getting in contact with OurPCB to test them like you did, Jim.
Skype support is pretty good, you can always ask how it is going, 2 weeks ago OurPCB fabricated a 4 layer board in 4 days, in the hurry of the chinese new year.

They need to improve the silkscreens though, and often the boards get a bit twisted (warped?), especially big ones. Oh, your questions took 24hs because of the time zone, I work (very) late at night and I kinda sync with their timezone, so the replies arrive in minutes. Anyway, skype is more handy.
Marcos
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