Re: gEDA-user: SMT/Through Hole Mix

[Dan McMahill <dan@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mike Hansen wrote:
> I have a design that's very low production quantity(~50 pieces per year) 
> that has a couple of chips that only come in surface mount versions.   
> Does anyone have any opinions on what the lowest cost assembly option is 
> with the design, is it better to attempt to do the whole board in SMT 
> with just a few components through hole(things like power components) or 
> do you do the board mostly through hole except the 2 surface mount 
> chips(noting that one is 48 pin tqfp).  Or do you go with two boards, 
> one with all surface mount(except for perhaps the connector between the 
> boards) and then do a second board with all the through hole components.

My personal opinion is to avoid any through hole components except maybe 
some connectors.  I find it easier to build SMT boards by hand and I've 
also found that not having all those holes in the board actually helps 
with routing.

If you're looking for lowest cost assembly, you should probably check 
with your assembler but my guess is all SMT is the cheapest.  I find 
that 1206 sized passives are very easy to work with although they're 
kind of big.  0603's aren't that bad and even 0402's can be hand soldered.

-Dan