[time-nuts] OT stuffing boards: was GPS interface/prototyping board

[Bob Stewart]

Thanks Bob et al,

This is about what I expected, but I had to ask.  I wonder how long it'll take for that several thousand bucks for a pick-n-place machine to become a couple hundred?  That would be the final hurdle for the tiny electronics business.

Anyway, I've had my say and we can let this die.  Thanks for the responses!

Bob

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GFS GPSDO list:
groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/GFS-GPSDOs/info

--------------------------------------------
On Thu, 6/23/16, Bob Camp <kb8tq at n1k.org> wrote:

 Subject: Re: [time-nuts] OT stuffing boards: was GPS interface/prototyping board
 To: "Bob Stewart" <bob at evoria.net>, "Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement" <time-nuts at febo.com>
 Date: Thursday, June 23, 2016, 5:27 PM
 
 Hi
 
 Around here, assuming:
 
 1) You supply all the parts on full reels with
 leaders 
 2) There is no hand assembly
 work
 3) You already have framed stencils
 that are the correct size for their gear
 4)
 You have multiple proper solder and placement fiducials  on
 both sides
 5) The boards are designed to
 mount on their gear
 6) Your parts and design
 rules fit their gear and rules. 
 7) No
 electrical test, visual inspect only. 
 8)
 Best effort only, If the part does not solder etc, you
 replace it on your time.
 
 You can get various places to look at a batch
 for $500 to $1000. If your stencils !=
 their
 stencils figure $100 to $200 each. 
 
 If you want to ship things a ways, you can save
 a bit of money. Shipping plus packing 
 always seems to be a bit expensive. 
 
 By far the best approach is to
 get all of their rules before you start a board layout.
 Then
 do it in whatever arrays / panel size
 they are set up for and all the other little details. 
 
 This all starts to make a lot
 more sense to the local outfits when you are talking a few
 hundred boards. 
 Even more so if it is a few
 hundred boards a month, every month for a few years. 
 
 ====
 
 Some math:
 
 120
 parts on 10 boards is 1200 parts. A good machine will do
 that in < 6 minutes. Setting up the machine, 
 loading and unloading the machine, pulling
 boards on and off the machine, programming the whole thing,
 
 validating everything ….. that’s an
 afternoon’s worth of work (maybe more) and maybe an hour
 of down time
 on the machine. 
 
 ====
 
 Of course for a few thousand dollars you can
 buy your own pick and place machine …. 
 
 Bob
 
  
 > On Jun 23, 2016, at 3:28 PM, Bob Stewart
 <bob at evoria.net>
 wrote:
 > 
 > One more
 related question before this topic dies, if you don't
 mind.  What about the other side of building: stuffing the
 boards.  My GPSDOs have about 120 parts per board, plus
 some custom work on the SMA connectors.  Is there a service
 out there that will populate boards with SMT components for
 small orders at a reasonable price?  Small is 10 boards.
 > 
 > Bob - AE6RV
 > 
 >
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 > GFS GPSDO list:
 >
 groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/GFS-GPSDOs/info
 > 
 >
 --------------------------------------------
 > On Wed, 6/22/16, Clint Jay <cjaysharp at gmail.com>
 wrote:
 > 
 > Subject:
 Re: [time-nuts] RS232 / GPS interface/prototyping board
 > To: "Discussion of precise time and
 frequency measurement" <time-nuts at febo.com>,
 "Nick Sayer" <nsayer at kfu.com>
 > Date: Wednesday, June 22, 2016, 6:06 PM
 > 
 > Life is so much
 easier
 > now,  dirtypcb is a great
 service,  I have a pile of
 > boards here
 from them which are far greater
 > quality
 than anything I could
 > hope to
 > produce at home or even in the lab I used
 to have. 
 > They're also
 > better quality than any of
 > the local board houses I used in the
 past.
 > 
 > Having said
 that,  I did hand
 > manufacture fifty
 single sided boards from
 > photo laminate
 to completed product in one
 > weekend
 using a Dremel drill
 > press for
 > somewhere around four thousand holes and
 hand soldering
 > every
 > component so it was definitely
 > possible
 > On 23 Jun
 2016 00:01, "Nick
 > Sayer via
 time-nuts" <time-nuts at febo.com>
 > wrote:
 >
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