Re: gEDA-user: My board is back

[Mark Rages <markrages@mlug.missouri.edu>]

On Wed, Oct 13, 2004 at 06:29:39PM -0400, DJ Delorie wrote:
> 
> > I got my board back from advanced circuits.
> 
> "Wow that was fast" except I expect them to be fast ;-)
> 
> Did you tell them you used gEDA and pcb?
> 

No, but I'll be sending off another board in a week or so, and I'll let 
them know.

> If we're going to fiddle with hole sizes, it's probably a good idea to
> use standard wire sizes intead of arbitrary ones.  Note that 70 mils
> is a number 50, so we're OK with that, but something to keep in mind
> anyway.
> 
> http://www.tfcbooks.com/referenc/decimal.htm

Bookmarked.
 
> Also note that 90 copper on 100 spacing leaves only 10 mils, which may
> not be enough for some fab houses.  Mine were 52 drill (#55) and 80
> copper.  But then again, I measured all my parts with a dial caliper and
> custom made all the footprints :-)

I grabbed a datasheet on one of my parts (IR MOSFET) and it said the
TO-220 pin can range up to 67 mils.  52 mil might work for the typical
case.  I think 20 mils is clearly wrong.  Let's fix it to something. 
It's a real bummer when parts don't fit the board.

I ordered the board and parts at the same time.  I made my custom
footprints directly from the datasheet with this sequence: 
datasheet --> pstoedit -f dxf --> qcad --> pstoedit -f pcb --> pcb

(This only saves time for complex footprints...)

I made a script that uses "vendor" and "part" attributes to add items to 
my DigiKey cart automatically.   If anyone's interested, email me for a 
copy.

Regards,
Mark
markrages@mlug
-- 
You think that it is a secret, but it never has been one.