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Twombls t1_j9cuo1v wrote

I think the real blocker is having the knowledge design your own pcb, or even implement a pre designed one.

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X7123M3-256 t1_j9d19s9 wrote

I put off learning how to do this until just last month because I thought it would be hard but it was actually really quick to learn. I followed this tutorial and it only took a few days to design my board having never done it before.

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JohnTheRedeemer t1_j9dwv8x wrote

Awesome, I have a robotics class and I was hoping when I was done with my final project that I'd print my own pcb and finalize it into something more permanent

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[deleted] t1_j9eiyj8 wrote

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ACCount82 t1_j9f4zc3 wrote

If you can design a basic schematic, you can design a basic PCB. And if you can open and understand schematics for some development boards, you can design a basic schematic.

That being said - it's still way beyond the skill level of an average guy. Sure, it doesn't actually require a PHD - but most people don't even know how to use an Arduino board.

But for those who want to get into hobby electronics or even embedded proper? There's never been a better time to do so.

Cheap and capable PCB fabs, free open source design and simulation tools, downloadable datasheets, open SDKs, readily available components and hardware tools and plentiful resources on how to use all of that. 20 years ago this just didn't exist. 40 years ago, "hobbyist PCB" involved hand drawing the traces, manually etching copper with corrosive chemicals and drilling all the holes - for projects that today would be considered basic.

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yiannistheman t1_j9fdraa wrote

I started off my career after college as a hardware engineer. I loved prototyping (although analog design wasn't my thing). I ended up moving in a different direction career wise, but today I'm always amazed by the level and sophistication of open source tools for simulation and design. You could DIY back in the day too, but like anything else CAD tools and existing fab options got to the point where just about anyone with a bit of training could have a professionally crafted PCB built at a very low cost.

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OmniManDidNothngWrng t1_j9f6g13 wrote

It's not that hard to make a board, but what use do 99% of people have for their own pcb? And then the problem comes when you try to sell it actually designing for rf regulations is legit phd level voodoo work.

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No_Nobody_32 t1_j9eszzw wrote

I used to use Visio (it had circuit design tools) for some stuff.

At school we had custom software to do it, but applying of the transfers and the etching of the boards was done by us with the usual chemicals.

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SolomonLeGrundy t1_j9gjvtx wrote

I mean, Reddit does seem to have a hard on for giving borrowed money to institutions that have no intention of helping them or delivering on promises. This fetish seems to present itself most when someone suggests that a task or procedure is actually very cheap and/or simple to perform oneself. Making such a suggestion tends to bring people out of the woodwork, furious that you would be so irresponsible/ignorant that you wouldn’t want to pay a ‘specialist’ exorbitant prices for whatever service.

I mean, don’t you know that without a PHD in electric engineering you’re going to burn down your apartment complex and only violent extremists would want to make their own circuit boards??

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lswins t1_j9gchl3 wrote

Guitar pedal PCB building is really big. Get everything in a box and the PCB has labels for all of the components

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[deleted] t1_j9dcylp wrote

I used to work in the PCB industry, I didn’t know anyone was stopping you especially the police?

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HeavensCriedBlood t1_j9e30kn wrote

Just only do it at night with your curtains closed and you’ll be good

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nicuramar t1_j9egzl1 wrote

No one is stopping web sites from making click bait headlines, either :)

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thesupplyguy1 t1_j9czgfv wrote

I agree. Now lets talk 80% lowers and such

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DatTrackGuy t1_j9dyept wrote

You can bottle your own water, and nobody can stop you!

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Nanomachinesnorter t1_j9fw5lq wrote

Best part about chickens? They just shit out eggs, and you can just take them and sell them for money, how mad is that?

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Kelend t1_j9g1erf wrote

Unless you get that water from the sky.

Then they can, at least in some jurisdictions.

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[deleted] t1_j9cxx9o wrote

[deleted]

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DrabDonut t1_j9dspvs wrote

The article is mostly about getting fun PCBs printed for mechanical keyboards and the like. No one sane is out there designing and printing PCBs like what you described for fun.

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DocRedbeard t1_j9dt9ns wrote

This response is like if I talked about trying to do some lithography with a photo resist and they feel the need to explain why I can't make a 12th generation Intel core chip in my basement because I'm not ASML.

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nouserforoldmen t1_j9e0akl wrote

Eh. I’m EE adjacent, but have run into some young people who do need to be corrected when they want to run a ~100MHz digital signal across a bread board.

People should have rough, order-of-magnitude, notions of when the magic and the deep-magic start.

That said, the top poster may have some confidence issues that caused them to boast on a random message board.

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AadamAtomic t1_j9e4o15 wrote

> No one sane is out there designing and printing PCBs like what you described for fun.

Yes we are. And it's only getting more prominent as it gets easier to do.

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DrabDonut t1_j9f9obu wrote

I said sane people. Crazy people can do what they want.

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StaticGrav t1_j9dpxqp wrote

No, but my incompetence will.

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FearlessCloud01 t1_j9ei7ot wrote

Now I just need to figure out/learn how to create a custom keyboard pcb from scratch on my own and I might try to create one in the future...

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BNeutral t1_j9eyy1s wrote

>Now that you have your art on a board, you’re going to have to find a company that manufactures PCBs

It seems to me like I've been successfully stopped from printing circuit boards by this clickbait article. It's about how to design and send a board somewhere to get it manufactured, not about printing it yourself.

My closest approach to printing a board myself was to print guide lines it using a 3D printer and hammering in some copper.

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aoechamp t1_j9ez9tf wrote

Who’s trying to stop me?

I printed my own PCBs a decade ago. Not only can you get them done in china, you can simple etch your own right at home (though it will turn out crappy).

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atomicdragon136 t1_j9hob05 wrote

You can also make single layer PCBs at home using etching solution and a Sharpie to draw the circuit. Or a laser printer to print onto a transparency sheet, and using an iron to transfer the toner onto the copper side or PCB.

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Vucea OP t1_j9chddn wrote

Getting PCBs made is fun and cheap, they’ll let you draw whatever you want on there, and the cops can’t stop you.

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tmc1066 t1_j9cmixa wrote

They aren't trying to.

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syth9 t1_j9e0id0 wrote

You walk into a police station with a custom anime waifu keyboard PCB and see what happens…

No seriously let us know what they say I’m curious.

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