Radioshack PCB kit

[Matt Warnock]

I bought the kit from radioshack that lets you make pcb boards, but hte
instructions are pretty lousy. i'm curious if there is a way to design the
PCB on the computer, print it out and somehow transfer this to board. Or
perhaps better instructions. Any suggestions?

 

[Tim Wescott]

Matt Warnock wrote:

I bought the kit from radioshack that lets you make pcb boards, but hte
instructions are pretty lousy. i'm curious if there is a way to design the
PCB on the computer, print it out and somehow transfer this to board. Or
perhaps better instructions. Any suggestions?


Start googling. There is a large body of knowledge on PCB making, and

ways of getting circuits made without actually etching PCBs.

I _think_ the ARRL handbook (www.arrl.org) still tells you how to make
PCBs. I don't even know if Popular Electronics or any of it's ilk still
exist, but if they do you should get some copies and look for book ads.

You may also want to check out some of the less expensive CAD packages
out there. I'm currently playing with Eagle, but there are others.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

 

[Leon Heller]

"Matt Warnock" <mdw208@psu.edu> wrote in message
news:V46dnWhPnLCk1Ufd4p2dnA@adelphia.com...

I bought the kit from radioshack that lets you make pcb boards, but hte
instructions are pretty lousy. i'm curious if there is a way to design
the
PCB on the computer, print it out and somehow transfer this to board. Or
perhaps better instructions. Any suggestions?

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs/

Leon
--
Leon Heller, G1HSM
http://www.geocities.com/leon_heller

 

[Terry Pinnell]

"Matt Warnock" <mdw208@psu.edu> wrote:

I bought the kit from radioshack that lets you make pcb boards, but hte
instructions are pretty lousy. i'm curious if there is a way to design the
PCB on the computer, print it out and somehow transfer this to board. Or
perhaps better instructions. Any suggestions?

See my notes and links to some 60 ECAD programs at
http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/ECADList.html

Terry Pinnell
Hobbyist, West Sussex, UK

 

[Bob Masta]

On Wed, 23 Jun 2004 23:19:19 -0400, "Matt Warnock" <mdw208@psu.edu>
wrote:

I bought the kit from radioshack that lets you make pcb boards, but hte
instructions are pretty lousy. i'm curious if there is a way to design the
PCB on the computer, print it out and somehow transfer this to board. Or
perhaps better instructions. Any suggestions?

You may want to check out my instructions for hand-drawn PCBs at
<www.daqarta.com/lptxh.htm>

For small and even moderate-sized circuits it is fairly
easy to hand-draw from a template, which you can make
from a CAD program if you want, or work it out on
0.1" gridded paper. (Gridded mylar is better, since you
can erase indefinitely.) This is the "poor man's CAD",
but for small circuits it is fast and convenient, often
faster than fooling around with the CAD.

Hope this helps!


Bob Masta
dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom

D A Q A R T A
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com

 

[JeffM]

...instructions are pretty lousy.
...a way to design the PCB on the computer ?
Matt Warnock

The 1st page you want to read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printed_circuit_board

Terry's page is the starting point for PCB software.
EAGLE is nice. The free version does 80mm x 100mm (~3" x ~4").

If you have access to a laser printer and a clothes iron,
this stuff makes life easy:
http://groups.google.com/groups?&threadm=f8b945bc.0310121617.3dcd7bfc@posting.google.com
-
An even cheaper way (YMMV):
http://groups.google.com/groups?&threadm=f8b945bc.0308191647.58cb3fad%40posting.google.com

Mike Harrison's page is the starting point for etching.
http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/pcbs.html

The Yahoo group is an excellent suggestion.

Searching the Google archives for sci.electronics.cad
would have given you some insight.

 

[Thomas P. Gootee]

"Matt Warnock" <mdw208@psu.edu> wrote in message news:<V46dnWhPnLCk1Ufd4p2dnA@adelphia.com>...

I bought the kit from radioshack that lets you make pcb boards, but hte
instructions are pretty lousy. i'm curious if there is a way to design the
PCB on the computer, print it out and somehow transfer this to board. Or
perhaps better instructions. Any suggestions?

Matt,

Here is *exactly* what you are looking for:

http://www.fullnet.com/u/tomg/gooteepc.htm

Regards,

Tom Gootee