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Ask HN: What resources exist to help me build my own PCB boards?

4 pointsby sky_projektorover 5 years ago
Hi!<p>I am an electronics novice who want to design my own PCB for some projects. I am looking for any resources or materials (apps, url, books) to guide me in my endeavor.

4 comments

ChrisGammellover 5 years ago
I have a youtube tutorial for making a PCB using KiCad (5.0) called &quot;Getting To Blinky&quot;. It has helped some people design their first PCB. This will be a separate exercise from learning about actual electronics, but will help you get a PCB made: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=BVhWh3AsXQs&amp;list=PLy2022BX6EspFAKBCgRuEuzapuz_4aJCn" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=BVhWh3AsXQs&amp;list=PLy2022BX6E...</a>
davismwflover 5 years ago
As for books to learn from, get the latest edition of &quot;The Art of Electronics&quot;, that is kinda like a bible to a lot of people. I have definitely learned a lot from it.<p>As for making PCB&#x27;s, personally I pay for a subscription to Eagle. Yea there are better software solutions out there (Altium), but the cost is significantly more. I personally like Eagle better than KiCad, I think Eagle has made a lot of progress and I can tie it to Fusion360 now and do full design views, enclosures, heating etc. Altium is the more professional and complete solution, and they have a free version called CircuitMaker (same company IIRC just not as sophisticated). I like Eagle because there are tons of resources to help you with, getting parts into the library is easy and it isn&#x27;t hard to use.<p>As for creating PCB&#x27;s (assuming you are US based), Use Osh Park (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;oshpark.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;oshpark.com&#x2F;</a>) over seeedstudio, although I have used both. I&#x27;ll still use seeed sometimes for prototypes and even small runs when I need more optionality than OshPark allows. There are some other US based production houses like OshPark that I use from time to time too.
mdorazioover 5 years ago
Do you mean actually build a PCB? If so, there are many tutorials using different types of tools on instructables.com For best results you&#x27;ll want to get access to a laser cutter or small CNC mill, perhaps through a local makerspace. That being said, there are now many short-run and one-off PCB manufacturing houses you can use for much higher quality boards than you can make yourself. People seem to like seeed for this - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.seeedstudio.com&#x2F;fusion_pcb.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.seeedstudio.com&#x2F;fusion_pcb.html</a><p>If you want to learn the design side, there are many other threads on HN with tool recommendations. Ex. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=16533475" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=16533475</a>
sky_projektorover 5 years ago
Thank you!<p>I realised, that I was looking for a text book for electronics, because online courses had confused me as I had been doing it without a reference text. The Art of electronics, (PDF, IIIrd edition) appears to be the one I had been looking for. I shall definitely be checking seedstudio as well.