Hotrodding the GS - Page 50

johnjen · 04-20-2011, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poolside

Heck no we're not there yet, dangit! And nobody wants us there more than me! Well, maybe with the exception of JJ, who cajoles me about the project at least 5 times a week! That's such a friendly sounding word in'nit? Cajole. This is what it really looks like...

It's more like 5 times a day…

8 of the panels below were sent out Friday for drilling and plating. That's enough for 1700+ IICE Airs. (That was one of the unexpected 'benefits' of having a problem with the original one-stop PCB house we were using.)

1700 frikken boards?
How come the marketing dept never got the memo?
Man this is great. We can sell them non stop, to everybody, all the time, everywhere, with your mind in mind, the sky's the limit, you want it we got it…

I can see it all now, we'll have to hire extra phone banks and telemarketers and do an infomertial. Call the bank we're gunna need a bigger account, one that can handle up to 4 figures.

The drilling process immediately came to a flying stop over the location of the 0,0 origin in the CAD instructions. The drill house now has a new set of CAD instructions with their preferred 0,0 origin.

Yesterday I ran into a problem with the etch and soldermask vendor regarding the photoplots (film transparencies of the board layers). The issue relates to what the words 'positive image' and 'negative image' mean. :-) So today I ordered new plots for a couple of the layers.

The photoplot vendor pointed out the problem when I was there picking up the films. He says, "Did you say you're using such-and-such vendor for etching and soldermask? Why yes I did. "Well he reverses the terms 'positive' and 'negative' on two of the layers."

Looks like we'll have completed boards by Monday afternoon. This is fun!

The Marketing Dept approves of this message!!!

JJ

JRWooden · 04-20-2011, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BostonGS

Poolside. We have used Sunstone circuits for PCB production and Screaming circuits for board assembly for prototyping at work. We had Sunstone ship the PCB's directly to Screaming for assembly. We have done a few dozen different designs this way without a single problem to date.

Not sure about the pricing...it's all relative.

I've never used them but this sounds interesting:

http://www.pad2pad.com/

Parrothead · 04-20-2011, 10:10 PM

That's why I'm glad to be out of that business! Well... One reason anyway. Keep up the good fight and no worries here about your delivery sched. My bike's running fine without it, and I'm sure will be better after! BZ I

Poolside · 04-20-2011, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BostonGS

Poolside. We have used Sunstone circuits for PCB production and Screaming circuits for board assembly for prototyping at work. We had Sunstone ship the PCB's directly to Screaming for assembly. We have done a few dozen different designs this way without a single problem to date.

Not sure about the pricing...it's all relative.

Thanks for the reference BGS. I've heard other good comments about them. I got a formal quote from Sunstone for the PCBs. And like you said, everything's relative.

Not that I'm not trying to go for the cheapest, mind you. If I were, there are any number of Asian vendors that fit the bill. The thing is the US companies pricing was on average 12 times higher.

I was willing to accept the pricing, but the mfg. and mgmt. issues that occurred with my usual vendor pushed me away from the one-stop-shop scenario. I chose instead to go back to my roots and do it old school. And just walk the boards through the manufacturing steps using local individual service providers.

Surprisingly, it works out to only a little more than double the average price of Asian PCBs. All things considered, that's not worth complaining about.

Poolside · 04-20-2011, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRWooden

I've never used them but this sounds interesting:

http://www.pad2pad.com/

Based on their quick online quote, I'll give them a call next time. If they are, they sure have good pricing for a domestic supplier.

Poolside · 04-21-2011, 12:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Parrothead

Holy frak, Poolside! That's why I'm glad to be out of that business!

I'm not complaining, dude. :-) These are just some missteps from getting back in the saddle. I had similar 'who's on first?' miscommunication issues when doing this regular around 20 years ago. This part was just supposed to done by now is all.

Poolside · 04-21-2011, 02:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jscottyk

Could this mean more availability than the original orders?

*fingers crossed*

I was gonna say "Cue marketing!" but I can see they're all over it.

Seriously though, I'm not planning on building more IICE Airs after this batch. I've got to start working on the next product, the IICE Cool, you know? But since there are so many more IICE Air boards I'll more than likely build out to match the minimum buy of enclosures. They'll be some extra.

(Hey! Did you hear that, marketing?!)

slipknot · 04-21-2011, 06:57 AM

Since we're all in a good mood, when should we expect delivery?

Poolside · 04-21-2011, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slipknot

Since we're all in a good mood, when should we expect delivery?

We'll see :-) Looks like the first ones will ship next week before Friday.

jscottyk · 04-21-2011, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poolside

But since there are so many more IICE Air boards I'll more than likely build out to match the minimum buy of enclosures. They'll be some extra.

(Hey! Did you hear that, marketing?!)

Thanks for the update Poolside. I'll keep an eye on the vendor area.

johnjen · 04-21-2011, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poolside

I was gonna say "Cue marketing!" but I can see they're all over it.

Seriously though, I'm not planning on building more IICE Airs after this batch. I've got to start working on the next product, the IICE Cool, you know? But since there are so many more IICE Air boards I'll more than likely build out to match the minimum buy of enclosures. They'll be some extra.

(Hey! Did you hear that, marketing?!)

Heh, marketing is nothing if not flexible.
This means we can get all over the exclusivity of this AMAZING modern miracle cure all for the common cold.

Oh wait, wrong account.
never mind

JJ

frogy · 04-22-2011, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poolside

I was gonna say "Cue marketing!" but I can see they're all over it.

Seriously though, I'm not planning on building more IICE Airs after this batch. I've got to start working on the next product, the IICE Cool, you know? But since there are so many more IICE Air boards I'll more than likely build out to match the minimum buy of enclosures. They'll be some extra.

(Hey! Did you hear that, marketing?!)

Sooo I might B able to get one afterall

Poolside · 04-23-2011, 06:37 PM

The panels were drilled and plated on Friday. Yaay! Etch, mask, and legend started today.

Roughly, the individual steps are,
1. Panelize (create a multiple array of the final board on a panel)
2. Photoplot (generate transparencies of the array for the etch and silkscreen processes)
3. Drill
4. Copper plate (this puts copper in the 'thru holes' on the board)
5. Acid etch (chemically dissolves all the copper except for the circuit traces)
6. Solder mask (a silkscreen process that covers everything but the circuit pads, usually green in color)
7. Hot Air Level (coat the circuit board pads with lead free solder)
8. Legend (a silkscreen process that identifies the parts on the board, usually white in color)
9. Depanelize (rout or v-score the individual boards).

Here's some cellphone pics of the drilling process.

Eight 18" x 12" panels, 213 IICE Airs per panel.

Monsignore · 04-23-2011, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poolside

If I cross my eyes when I look at this, I see a picture of Ewan MacGregor on his GS stuck in a mud bank .

johnjen · 04-23-2011, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monsignore

If I cross my eyes when I look at this, I see a picture of Ewan MacGregor on his GS stuck in a mud bank .

It's funny you mention this.
We talked about the inner 3d picture, when you get real close to your monitor and decouple your eyes and focus just so.

I won't tell you what I see because it should be a surprise, but the results were unbelievable to say the least.

JJ

ps If only this were April 1st and not today…

04-20-2011, 10:10 PM	#738
Parrothead Cu Dubh Joined: Aug 2004 Location: One Particular Harbor Oddometer: 395	Holy frak, Poolside! That's why I'm glad to be out of that business! Well... One reason anyway. Keep up the good fight and no worries here about your delivery sched. My bike's running fine without it, and I'm sure will be better after! BZ I __________________ "... You can go through life fudging and evading, indulging and slacking, never really hungry nor frightened nor passionately stirred, your highest moment a sentimental orgasm and your first real contact with primary and elemental necessities the sweat of your deathbed." - H.G Wells

04-21-2011, 06:57 AM	#743
slipknot Studly Adventurer Joined: Aug 2006 Oddometer: 726	Since we're all in a good mood, when should we expect delivery? __________________ Nothing is worse than active ignorance. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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