Itead Studio can get you 10 PCBs for $28 plus shipping

[Chuckt]

http://iteadstudio.com/store/

We provide an industrial quality PCB service starting at the amazing price of 12 USD /5 pcs.

http://iteadstudio.com/store/index.php? ... x&cPath=19

My only concern is the place is located in Shenzhen China and products can be counterfeited so I don't know what protection you would have.

Here is the pricing I was looking for:

http://iteadstudio.com/store/index.php? ... Path=19_20

[brad]

Very interesting that you posted this

I sent through a design a couple of days ago to get made by iteadstudio,

I had to try and fit all the components that make up the LEDBOY onto a 10cm x 10cm square.

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I'll let you know how the quality of the boards are when they arrive.

[bitfogav]

Nice Board!.. Any spare when you get them Brad?

[brad]

Yeah sure, why not!

Hopefully they work because it was a rushed job.

[bitfogav]

What did you use to design them boards Brad? Looks like diptrace?

[brad]

Diptrace of course!

[brad]

Well, I am happy to announce that my first order of 10 - 10cm x 10cm boards arrived this week, and they are fantastic!

Very nice looking boards, super fast turnaround (less than two weeks from placing my order to receiving them on my doorstep) and all this for a total price of $33

I have uploaded some photo of my new and soon to be released handheld game:

Front:

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Back:

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Populated:

PCBPopulated.jpg (100.79 KiB) Viewed 31857 times

Iteadstudio is the way to go for small production boards. If you do decide to go with them, you send through your order via email but they don't actually send you a confirmation at all. You just need to wait maybe upto a week and then they send you an email saying they have been posted. So there is not much in the way of communication. But they certainly are doing a great job behind the scenes!

[bitfogav]

The boards look very COOL!.

did you just send them the design from the gerber file from Diptrace Brad?, sorry ive never ordered pcb boards before so dont know alot about it?.

[brad]

Yep, it's really simple.

You just need to click file then export - gerber (wihin diptrace)

it comes up with a screen that asks you what you'd like to export. I just click export all. (there's files that deal with the top layer, bottom layer, silkscreen, mask etc...)

once you have exported all those to a folder, you then need to export the NCDrill file.

Save it to the same folder, compress it into a zip file and email it to the iteadstudio email (they will send you the email to send it to once you have used their online checkout.

They will also send you an order number (usually four digits) you just need to include this number in the title of your email. And thats it! give it a couple of weeks and your shiny new boards will be arriving on your doorstep!

[bitfogav]

That sounds easy enough, thanks for that Brad


(send me a pm if you want to sell one of your boards )

[sdudley]

Hey Brad...

The board looks AWESOME (as always). I noticed you have a speaker on there. Here is a link to a website that should be a tremendous help if you want to code music into SPB.

http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?115409

It is for the Basic Stamp but the priciple understanding is the same. It was very helpful to me when I coded the MonoFonic Audio Chip MB01 and I did that in assembly.

Congrats on the way the SPB is turning out. I guess the 8x8 Game System has really come a LONG way!

Stacy

[brad]

bitfogav - have sent you a PM

Stacy - thanks for the comments and the link.

I figured that I could just squeeze in a speaker, so even if I don't use it just yet. I certainly could look into it in the future.

I have two weeks to get this little guy finished and submitted to instructables!

[sdudley]

Hey Brad I was just checking out your buttons... NO SILLY... I mean the buttons on the populated PCB.

Did you get those from SparkFun? Just wondering.

I ordered some like that from SparkFun for a project but they were too big and I was unable to use them.

Anyway, I think if you take a little time to look through that parallax thread you might find it easier to add music and sound than you think.

She's got an example in BASIC and it looks pretty straight forward and easy.

When I get back to doing some coding, I may revisit my audio chip and try coding it in BASIC.

[brad]

I didn't get them from sparkfun, I have had them lying around for a while and can't remember where they came from.

However, I found an ebay supplier where you can get 100 of them for $15 (15 cents each)
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/100x-Tactile-Bla ... 1c18e1bb04

The one bad thing is that I forgot to make the holes in the PCB a little big larger so it is a tight squeeze trying to mount the button on the board!

I certainly will have a look at the sound making thread, although I am not sure if I will have time to get both of my projects finished to exactly the way I want at the moment. So I guess, sound will be the last thing that I add.

It's a race against the clock!

[sdudley]

Sound is good!

However, yes it can come later and if you are smart you will wait until you have sold a few million and THEN offer SPB2 with SOUND! Yeah baby!

I wish I had known about those buttons. If I remember right, I paid around $8.00 for 10 from SparkFun and I bought 2 packs.

I should know to consult with one of the GURU's (yes you or bitfogav) before making ANY purchase!