Breadboards are great, but as the world moves more and more to having SMD as a standard, prototyping straight PCBs is becoming more common. If you’re mailing off to China for your PCBs, it’s shockingly quick for what it is, but a one-week turnaround is not “rapid prototyping”. [Stephen Hawes] has been on a quest on his YouTube channel for the ideal rapid-prototyping PCB solution, and he thinks he’s finally got it.
Now, if you’re only doing single-layer PCBs, this is a solved problem. You can mechanically mill, or laser cut, or chemically etch your way to PCB perfection, far faster than the Chinese fabs can get you a part. If you want a double-sided board, however, vias are both a pain in the keister to do yourself, and a rate-limiting step.
Vias are necessary for literally every part of electronics design beyond the basic I take a premade module and hook it up to these other 2 premade modules (which all have many vias on them), not just small packages.
Most PCBs nowadays are ≥4 layers. You need vias to use the center layers. Vias are necessary for ground return paths, stitching, shielding, RF plane coupling, signal integrity, and much much more. Single layer designing simply does not work if one is actually designing electronics and not just quick and dirty throwing 2 data busses together for a proof of concept.
BGAs don’t need vias, they are so small (0.5mm pitch and smaller) they usually need microvias (0.15mm/0.3mm ID/AR or smaller, which brings PCB prices from 15€ to 300€ for a set). Then the vias generally have to be filled at least and capped, optimally to not suck the solder through the vias from the balls. That is a whole other ballgame.
I etch and design my own boards.
Me too mate.
Cool, what does that have to do anything? Are we just swapping facts about ourselves?
I am a professional electronics engineer with experience in high speed data signal integrity analysis, years of circuit and pcb design experience in medical devices, industrial, and consumer electronics with multiple products on the market, and designing and debugging for EMC.
It had to do with your tone and rudeness. Plus you are incorrect in some of your statements, but that is not something I care to address within a place that is about community and being a digital neighbor. The angst reply to a genuine comment is toxic 90s internet that should have died long ago.