I've made a few medium-complexity PCB's (and I really
mean, made, with icky chemicals, drills, etc). I
didn't tape them, I used a 17 year old (legit,
incredibly!) copy of Wintek's software. I like to
wire-wrap one-of's because it gives me a feeling of
satisfaction that I really built it (and didn't just
stuff parts in holes), and, to me anyway, it just
"looks" more handmade and unique. But if you designed
the PCB, you can get the satisfaction of designing the
board, and also the built-in capability of sharing or
selling your design easily to people who might not be
as committed or interested in the nasty details, but
just want something to work with a minimum of fuss. I
wire-wrapped a few 8008's and 8080's and sold them on
eBay, but it wasn't really worth my time, except when
I was unemployed. I'm thinking about doing PCB's and
selling 8080 and 6800 kits. Seriously!
--- Michael Holley <swtpc6800_at_attbi.com> wrote:
> I used to do all of my stuff on wire-wrap. I am now
> building classic
> computer board that I want to show off and a PCB
> looks so much better. I
> have done a few circuit boards from ExpressPCB and
> really like it.
>
> Michael Holley
> www.swtpc.com
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ethan Dicks" <erd_6502_at_yahoo.com>
> To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
> Sent: Monday, April 01, 2002 2:35 PM
> Subject: PCB vs perfboard construction economics
> (was Re: "New" PDP-8)
>
>
> > --- Ben Franchuk <bfranchuk_at_jetnet.ab.ca> wrote:
> > > ...The board will be about 8" x 7" and $175
> canadian for two
> > > prototype boards. Wire wrap
> sockets/wire/protoboard would cost me
> $100...
> >
> > While I can recommend a real PCB if the setup
> costs and the per-sq-in
> > costs are not killing you (price an Omnibus or
> Unibus-sized 4-layer board,
> > complete with gold fingers!), personally, my WW
> overhead isn't terrible:
> > I rescued all the prototype hardware from my
> former employer when they
> > went bust - I probably have three lifetimes worth
> of WW sockets. When
> > I do a project, the only part I have to spend
> money on is the wire.
> >
> > My last project is a good case-study for expense
> vs. time. I wanted to
> > replicate a scoreboard from a Dragon's Lair/Space
> Ace. I tried to find
> > one on ePay, but they only come up occasionally
> (every couple of months).
> > I decided to build one. I started with a couple
> of digital pictures,
> > a parts list and a schematic. Since the board was
> approx 6"x9", it
> > would have been somewhat expensive for a
> commercially-made PCB. There
> > are still plenty of surplus units out there that
> sell used for under $50
> > when they are available, so it would be cheaper to
> wait for a sale than
> > to have a professional PCB created unless the new
> PCB added value somehow.
> >
> > I had the blue perfboard (from when the
> MicroCenter got rid of all of
> their
> > prototyping hardware at 80% off list!), the wire
> and the discrete
> > components. I had to purchase the LEDs ($0.65
> each) and the driver chips
> > (a few bucks each). Total out-of-pocket expense
> was <$25. I probably
> > pulled about $15-$20-worth of supplies out of my
> parts bins.
> >
> > Construction took place over several evenings,
> watching the sci-fi
> channel,
> > tacking down point-to-point connections (didn't
> have the vertical
> > clearance for socketing the LEDs). I'm pleased
> that it worked the first
> > time! - pictures at
>
http://penguincentral.com/retrocomputing/retrogaming/
> > under the "LED Scoreboard" link. Mostly, it's
> pictures of the glow of
> > the LEDs, but there's one out-of-focus,
> flash-burned picture of the
> > perfboard and yellow wire in there (the Apple
> QT150 has about a 24" min
> > focal distance without the strap-on lens).
> >
> > The upshot was that if this were being done for
> anyone but me personally,
> > it would have been an economic disaster. Nobody
> would have paid me a
> > reasonable amount for that much work - it would
> have been much cheaper
> > to go to an arcade service company and *buy* a
> used scoreboard than spend
> > 10+ hours wiring up a board. It would have been
> much cheaper than that
> > to wait out the next wave of offerings on eBay
> (which I accidentally did -
> > the project took so long to complete that I _did_
> pick a real one up for
> > around $30, after I was 95% finished with my
> replica. The good news is
> > that it made a nice functional benchmark to prove
> that mine worked).
> >
> > So I chose to trade my time for semi-instant
> gratification. I would
> > have loved to have done a PCB, but I chose not to
> spend the time with
> > layout tape and a blank board, and I chose not to
> pay to register a
> > demo-ware layout package so I could make a 6"x9"
> board. If I were to
> > make the new PDP-8 design that kicked off this
> whole thread, I'm not
> > sure if I'd get professional boards (~$200/set, in
> small quantities,
> > according to the designer, for a couple of 4-layer
> boards) or I'd
> > point-to-point it. In terms of $$$/hour, even
> $200 for a board set
> > is cheap. In terms of a discretionary hobby, $200
> is a lot to divert
> > from other projects when I already _have_ a
> working PDP-8. With that
> > kind of money, I could start trolling for a Qbus
> SCSI controller!
> >
> > Back to the initial topic, though, I'd love to get
> a good buy on a dozen
> or
> > so spools of kynar-coated wire. I'd prefer an
> assortment of colors, but
> > I'd take it in whatever I could get - yellow, red,
> white...
> >
> > Anyone have a lead on any surplus places that have
> it for a few bucks
> > a spool?
> >
> > -ethan
> >
> >
> > __________________________________________________
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> >
>
>
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Received on Mon Apr 01 2002 - 23:38:08 BST