BatchPCB - this looks cool and useful for DIY

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taj

diyAudio Member
Joined 2005
www.batchpcb.com

This looks like a very cool way to manufacture and distribute short run amplifier PCBs once a layout is done. It looks like it would make group buys a lot easier to manage.

I have no involvement with that business. I just saw a short article on the IEEE website that mentioned it.

..Todd
 
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I've used these guys for quite a while. Very good service. The web interface and DRC are better than everything else I've used, board quality is very good, and of course so is the price.

Beware of the turn time though, it will take minimum 4 weeks to receive your boards, in my experience it's usually closer to 6.

Also interesting is that you can 'release' your project for sale on their site marketplace. Upload the gerbers and other folks can then order their own boards directly.
 
www.batchpcb.com

This looks like a very cool way to manufacture and distribute short run amplifier PCBs once a layout is done. It looks like it would make group buys a lot easier to manage.

I have no involvement with that business. I just saw a short article on the IEEE website that mentioned it.

..Todd

Hi Todd,

Short time, no speak.

I have a PCB will BatchPCB at the moment. Crunching through the numbers, they are only economical for small run and/or small PCBs. i.e 4 x sub 1" squ PCB cost $5 each (includes delivery). A small amp sized PCB costs something like $25 each. If you only get 2 then $50 is still OK. But increase that to 4 boards then its $100 and you can do better.

If I made this small PCB available for others to purchase, it would cost $2.50 plus delivery.

Products

regards
 
Hi Todd,

Short time, no speak.

I have a PCB will BatchPCB at the moment. Crunching through the numbers, they are only economical for small run and/or small PCBs. i.e 4 x sub 1" squ PCB cost $5 each (includes delivery). A small amp sized PCB costs something like $25 each. If you only get 2 then $50 is still OK. But increase that to 4 boards then its $100 and you can do better.

If I made this small PCB available for others to purchase, it would cost $2.50 plus delivery.

regards

In contrast I have just had 10 pcb's 9 inches by 7 inches made in China for £107 and that includes p+p.
They seem to provide a good service even though it does have to come half way around the world to get to me. Turn around time is usually a month in total.
 
The part that caught my eye was the marketplace. You provide the design, pay for setup, and people buy the PCBs. If it's too expensive to do that way, then their business model is not what I thought it was.

I was thinking something like CafePress.com for PCBs. I guess it's not close enough. I'll keep waiting. 🙄

..Todd
 
The part that caught my eye was the marketplace. You provide the design, pay for setup, and people buy the PCBs. If it's too expensive to do that way, then their business model is not what I thought it was.

No, that part is OK if you compare it to what it would cost to get a PCB or two made by yourself.

This issue is with our group buys, when the number of PCBs gets into the hundreds, the cost of a PCB drops to only a couple of dollars per PCB. A lot cheaper than above. Of course the group buys only work because someone is graciously donating their time at nil cost. 😀

BatchPCB forum: http://forum.sparkfun.com/viewforum.php?f=16
 
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About the company "Gold Phoenix" I wonder why they specify only Canadian Dollars. Does this problem exist when doing busness with China? I am quoting from the web site.

"If the payment is from credit card, there is 3.4% surcharge. And only Canadian dollars can be billed to the credit card, customer maybe will see 3% price different from the US dollars depend on which credit card you use. "

Im tempted to stay with a US company, because of this. This may be a political issue, and this is not the place to discuss that. But has someone done busness with Chineese companies and paid with a credit card?
 
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