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Diptrace full version9/4/2023 ![]() I ordered the bare boards from JLCPCB, and I assemble them here. I've sent well over a dozen board designs to JLCPCB and the quality has always been excellent. That's $1.40 per board (four layers, but there's hardly a difference if you go with two layers.) Slow shipping cost me $8.59, and that was for this board and another one. For example, I just had five of these boards fabricated for a total of $7. Quick shipping is pricey, but it you can wait a couple of weeks it can be quite inexpensive. ![]() I just zip the KiCad-generated Gerber and drill files, upload the zip to the JLCPCB website and within a couple of days they have the boards made. I use JLCPCB (in China) and it couldn't be easier or cheaper. A friend uses OshPark for his PCB fabrication, and I understand that they are pretty reasonable. I built my own library, and use almost exclusively surface-mount devices, but the default library has through-hole as well as SMT parts. I'm using the latest (V 7.0.1) and it keeps getting better. I'm a retired electronics engineer, not a PCB layout expert, but it didn't take long to be pretty comfortable with KiCad. ![]() KiCad is actually pretty easy to use, and it comes with a decent component library. ![]() You can even get them to build the board. I have been using lately but there are a lot to choose from. Here is a Eagle file showing a complex but cheap board: *kuvfm4*_ga*MTg3NTE3NzIzNS4xNjc4ODQ1OTA4*_ga_NEXN8H46L5*MTY3ODg0NTkwOC4xLjEuMTY3ODg0NTkzNS4wLjAuMA. You submit them online and you will get an instant quote. Once you are done the program will generate all the files needed to go to a PCB house. Components don’t have to be connected on the PBC if you name the nets the same on two connected components. You then start replacing the nets with PCB traces. When you go to the PCB layout you move the components around and the nets stay attached. The workflow is you draw the schematic and the wires are turned into Nets. I would recommend picking one and sticking with it. I use KiCAD and Eagle depending on the project. The hard part is setting up a library of parts. ![]()
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