So if you haven’t been reading the other couple postings, the new website http://www.batchpcb.com is nearly up and functional. You can start bouncing designs off the site. Martyn has done some magic with the interface to make things as painless as possible on everyone.
No one has successfully crashed the DRC bot yet, but it may return some funny errors. Please post any thoughts/oddities found here.
We know the size checker is a bit off, but it works most the time.
We know the DRC violations occur often with ground pours - please modify your DRC settings until you can squeek it by.
Overall, it looks like you guys are getting it together. It looks good.
At this point, I’'m not sure where I should post questions/issues/thoughts so here it is…
Could you explain how you are going to do size calculations? I submitted a board that was a touch under 5 square inches but with the known area checking, it’s a bit too small. Without adding a new gerber layer, I really think putting the outline in a silk layer is the cleanest approach. silk_gen would need to be modified (or just make it a manual requirement). Another approach would be to use a seperate outline gerber (gerbmerge comes with an eagle cam job that does this) which is pretty clean.
[edit] just read more on this farther down. I guess a full scan of all layers would work but it seems like it would still be error prone. [/edit]
My board passed DRC but the cost was $12.50. I like that but it doesn’t jibe with what I’ve been reading here. Not that I WANT to pay you more money…
I’m a little unclear on the digits format for the drill file. I think I’m ok (DRC pass). However, I am outputting 2.4 and I thought you all were expecting 2.3. I’m using eagle 4.15 with stock settings (resx and resy is 10000). If this is figured out by the bot, good job!
Board size now checks top copper, bottom copper, top overlay, bottom overlay, keep out layers. I think the size will work much better now. I am getting to the point where I really like the PCB size checker. If you have a sprite anywhere, it will pick it up as a border. I would recommend adding a pcb board shape using a silkscreen layer or forcing the dimensional layer into some sort of a keepout layer - I speak Protel, so I’m not entirely sure how Eagle works with dimensional layers or keep out layers…
PCB checkout weight fixed. We may have to tweak it a few ounces, but this is pretty arbitrary down the road stuff.
PCB size and cost preview on pages 2 and 3.
Form 2 now autofills for protel file extensions (eagle already supported).
The old system involved a $5.00/in charge for new users, but a $2.50/in charge once users had demonstrated that they were able to submit boards without any technical problems. Is there any chance of this kind of deal coming back?
Perhaps a waiver of the $10 setup fee for users who can demonstrate that they can order boards without any kind of unnecessary manual interaction - no emails/phone calls etc.?
Although $10 doesn’t sound like it should be a big deal, it does change the economics of the service. It means that it only makes sense for very small orders, because for larger orders alternatives like Olimex are considerably cheaper. Including postage and other fees, US$42 will get me 25 sq. in. at Olimex (although without all the same features) compared to 10 sq. in. at SparkFun.
I think that supporting users who would like to order a small board is a great service so I’m very glad to see it continue in almost any form. But larger orders or repeat orders from (hassle-free) customers are probably good business, so perhaps they’re worth encouraging somehow?
It also appears to be handling my order better, not $38 million, but $40 now, which will fit on my credit card.
I won’t be ordering that particular board though, I’ve already ordered it from olimex and I’ll need to make a few changes once I get it and play around with it for a while.
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Hi Guys! Site looks great, and I was about to order my boards, but it seems no matter what shipping method I choose, I end up with “Global Express Guaranteed Document Service”, for $50. Paying $15 for my boards, that I like. Dumping $50 for shipping, not so much… Can’t you just shove 'em in an envelope and cross your fingers?
[edit] Board name was roach200511041516, in case it helps[/edit]
I noticed when includeing the dimesion layer in the top and bottom silkscreen my board would come up with the correct board area. Try that if you are using eagle.
asm2750:
I noticed when includeing the dimesion layer in the top and bottom silkscreen my board would come up with the correct board area. Try that if you are using eagle.
Nope, Protel DXP 2004. All my other boards are coming up with the same area so not sure what’s going on there…
Caffeine:
Nope, Protel DXP 2004. All my other boards are coming up with the same area so not sure what’s going on there…
Have you tried loading the design into ViewMate (or GerbView, or whatever)? Chance are the drill file is the problem (make sure you are using 2.3 format, w/ LZ suppression).
hmm submitted the zip that was the last board I had sparkfun make. batchpcb not only got the size wrong (5in^2 instead of 3 in^2) it also said it violated the 8mil rule. (it doesn’t - not only was sparkfun able to make it without any problems it also passes Eagle’s DRC)
Design was called m162 if you want to take a look at it.
edit: I was just using that to test the service - That is an outdated design for that project and so I don’t need it.
