When I submit a design, I get errors…when I look at the board that they recieved, all of the pins on an SMT part are connected together.
Can Batch PCB do SMT Parts?
If not…Does anyone else know a similar company that will?
Thanks
Shaun
Of course we can do [footprints for] SMT parts. If you’re sure that its not your design files that are at fault, email me @ dcarne at this domain and I’ll see if its a bug.
–David Carne
Steel:
When I submit a design, I get errors… Can Batch PCB do SMT Parts?
Shaun,
SMT = Surface Mount Technology.
SMD = Surface Mount Device.
TH = Through Hole.
BatchPCB (any PCB house) will need specific files to define and describe your project:
CAD = Computer Aided Design (software).
Gerber = proprietary data file used to create the PCB copper and soldermask images.
SILK = files used to create ink legend on the PCB.
Excelon = proprietary data file with drill sizes and co-ordinates.
The PCB doesn’t care what is mounted, where or how, it’s the CAD software that determines where to etch copper, where to leave copper, and how to connect the copper islands together.
What CAD program are you using?
Steel:
when I look at the board that they recieved, all of the pins on an SMT part are connected together.
How did you create your design? Are you looking at a real board, or the image of a board in your CAD program? Are you using a second program to look at the files generated by the CAD program, to get a visual check before submitting your design to BatchPCB?
What SMT parts are you using? Did you create the CAD library, or are these parts found in an existing library?
Comments Welcome!
Peter
So, I haven’t made any boards yet. I am still learning how this works. I submitted a design and there are errors on my board…I got the board image sent back in the email and it showed many of the pins connected together, which was not on my gerber…
Aside from the layout errors, I noticed the pads for my 20 Pin SSOP were not correct in the image, and I just needed to make sure that BatchPCB will see my file correctly, and not as the image that was sent back to me…
I have not used BatchPCB yet, and just want to make sure BatchPCB sees my file the right way before I run some boards.
The Program I am using is WinQCad. I have used it for other designs, other PCB houses without any problems.
The WinQCad Design program shows this:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b45/l … 1165534632
The Gerber File shows this:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b45/l … 1165534680
But when I got the error email from Batch PCB, the file showed up as this: (note the pins connected)
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b45/l … 1165534744
Is this just because that image is a low-resolution image, or is this how the BatchPCB Bot is actually looking at my file?
Just low res.
–David Carne
Steel:
I got the board image sent back in the email and it showed many of the pins connected together, which was not on my gerber…Aside from the layout errors, I noticed the pads for my 20 Pin SSOP were not correct in the image, and I just needed to make sure that BatchPCB will see my file correctly, and not as the image that was sent back to me…
…
The Program I am using is WinQCad. I have used it for other designs, other PCB houses without any problems.
…
Is this just because that image is a low-resolution image, or is this how the BatchPCB Bot is actually looking at my file?
Shaun,
Bad news. The image from the BatchPCB is how your boards will be built. I’m not familiar with WinQCad, but clearly it’s output is not being interpreted correctly by BatchPCB.
Do you have a third party software to read Gerbers? (Gerbview, Viewmate, etc.) to see if your files are good before sending?
Recently I did a PCB with flooded plane, my first with BatchPCB. During the BatchPCB bot process the images I got back (with a DRC pass) were wrong. I think the issue is that the BatchPCB check images are set to a different aperture width (likely width = zero). I convinced myself the artefact was in the bot and I decided to fab the boards anyway. Stay tuned!
Comments Welcome!
Peter
get a gerber viewer and look at the gerber output of your board. I like viewmate, it’s free…
Everything looks fine in Viewmate.:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b45/l … 1165539304
I am going with the assumption that the image sent back from the Bot is just a poor resolution image…
Thanks for the help.
Shaun
Also, last time I used batchpcb (a while ago) the preview images came back as JPEGs, which is just crazy — the previews are really just good for making sure that you don’t have any accidentally mirrored layers, that everything lines up, etc.
The bot produces low res images - also - the batchPCB bot is NOT what produces your design. It JUST checks for errors.
Your design is produced from the gerber files you supply. If the gerber files look right, thats probably how the design will turn out.
–David Carne