Ok, I admit it, I am a little frustrated here, I have a couple of breakout boards such as theSparkFun Serial Basic Breakout - CH340G and SparkFun Voltage-Level Translator Breakout - TXB0104 that don’t have mounting holes, why oh why would they not have mounting holes? I need mounting holes, I need them bad!
My guess is that the answer to that question is probably going to be something like “well, because those boards are meant to be used on breadboard for prototyping only you dummy!”, ok, that is fine, but if that is the case, my question is, what are we suppose to do once our breadboard prototype has been tested and we are ready to move things to production?
When the prototype is moved from a breadboard to production it may go into a 3D printed box with no breadboards in it, so how are we suppose to use / hookup the breakout boards without mounting holes?
I don’t think that those type of people are the SparkFun target market, I suspect that the vast majority of the people buying from SparkFun are hobbyist and tinkerers with basic electronics knowledge, I also suspect (strongly) that most SparkFun customers don’t have or want to get into designing pbc boards.
For me and others needing mounting holes on these boards, this would mean designing my own pcb to replicate the exact same thing SparkFun sells but just add mounting holes, totally not worth it (time and cost wise), much easier would be for SparkFun to add the mounting holes, if people need them great, if they don’t need them then don’t use them, either way, seems to me like there is no downside from including the mounting holes but there is definitely an upside in including them.
Check out https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13030, minimum pcb usage, not the complete hole but enough of a hole to get a good bite on the board with the mounting screws.
Still hope to hear from SparkFun on why not just include the mounting holes.
And by “Production” I mean take the design out of the breadboard into a more permanent structure. Even for personal project, I am not talking taking something for industrial usage.
One option is to get some sort of proto board (most of them seem to have mounting holes) and solder headers to it and corresponding headers to the breakout boards if needed and mount them that way.
Thanks for the ideas and workarounds, I do appreciate the feedback.
At this point however, I am still hoping to hear back from SparkFun on why not just include the mounting holes. I would like to understand the reasoning behind the decision and go from there.
Looking at both products, it appears sparkfun is trying to keep the boards as small as possible. Adding mounting holes would make the boards bigger. For something like the txb0104, the solder pads should provide more than enough mounting to keep the board in place. The FTDI board looks to be designed tor temporary use, mounting holes wouldn’t be needed there.
YellowDog:
For something like the txb0104, the solder pads should provide more than enough mounting to keep the board in place.
Mounting where? If you are mounting the txb0104 on a breadboard then yes, but if you are done testing and moving the txb0104 to your 3D printed apparatus, how are you supposed to mount / secure the board there?
I shall consider it, but I think SparkFun considering adding mounting holes to those boards is even better.
Honestly, I can’t imagine anyone complaining about having mounting holes on those boards (specially if they are tear off mounting holes => https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15801). Even if they are not tear off mounting holes, it would take 2 minutes for people to cut off the mounting holes with a Dremel if the holes are sticking out like the ones on the link I provide. The opposite is not true, having to design your own board is a heck of a lot more complicated and expensive that cutting off mounting holes. Having to create mounting arrangement for the said mysterious “3D printed apparatus”, also much more complicated that cutting off mounting holes.
Thank you all for all of your suggestions and feedback, at this point, if its ok, I would like to wait to hear back from SparkFun (from the horses mouth) on why not just include the mounting holes. I would like to understand the reasoning behind the decision and go from there.
It’s important to remember that there is a cost associated with every design change/idea/implementation…
While you may want mounting holes, almost everyone we hear from wants the boards as small as possible…because the customer cannot shrink the board, but they can come up with any number of ideas to secure one (zip tie, hot glue, solastic, soldering, headers, plastic tabs, etc…there are endless solutions here)
SparkFun produces Hobby-grade boards for prototyping that are always a ‘best-fit’ for the most likely design constraints. Our ALC program https://alc.sparkfun.com/?_ga=2.2315269 … 1615791300 is precisely meant for folks ready to specify their exact needs
As mentioned before, I would suggest considering a similar designs solutions such as https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15801 (with the tear-off mounting holes). Not sure how much the cost of the board would increase due to the addition of the extra mounting holes but I would assume is just a couple of cents (its simply not that big of a deal). That type of design is really the best of both worlds, it works for both people wanting mounting holes and people that do not. I am sure that even people that want the board as small as possible will appreciate having the tear-off mounting hole option, maybe a survey would shed some light.
There are plenty of other solutions as you mentioned, but there is only one standard, clean and elegant solutions if you ask me, and that is mounting holes.
I think the reason is, sparkfun makes most of their modules for students and hobbyists. Industrial products usually do not use their modules. The manufacture their own PCBs from scratch.
I think that kind of validates my point. If I was creating an industrial solution I would not care if boards had mounting holes or not because at the end, I would most likely be creating my own board exactly the way I want it.
As a student or hobbyist however, Its highly unlikely that I will be creating my own boards, so it makes perfect sense to include the tear-off mounting holes as value added. No student / hobbyist will ever complain about having more options than less options in this case (would you)? If you do, I bet your are most likely working on something other than a student / hobbyist project, and if that is the case, it is then you should consider creating a custom board, not the other way around.