N3ZI Digital Dial
PCB Quality
I have recently learned
that some suppliers are pawning off ridiculously poor quality PCB's on
Hams. This is outrageous. I just want to make sure that
everyone knows that The PCB's I use for my counter are
professionally made in the USA by a top quality manufacturer. All
holes are plated through (I am so surprised I have to say this, but
some
suppliers to ham's actually deliver boards without plated through
holes)
I deliver Top quality, State
of the art, fine line, RoHS compliant PCB's, not some Circuit made in
some FAR away garage using technology that was obsolete 20 years
ago. Hams deserve the best.
Here's
the specs from my manufacturer
These are 2-layer PCBs that include
the silkscreen and solder mask layers. These additional layers give the
boards a very professional appearance.
The boards have top and bottom copper
layers with all holes plated through. They also include top and bottom
soldermask layers, giving the boards a green color. On the top surface
is a white silkscreen layer showing the component outlines. The solder
mask layers make the boards a little easier to solder and give a very
professional appearance.
We use a lead-free RoHS compliant
finish
Manufacturing Specs
- Boards are manufactured double-sided with all holes
plated-through.
- Our laminate is 0.062" FR-4 epoxy glass with 1/2 ounce copper.
- We plate an additional 3/4 ounce of copper (totaling 1 1/4
ounce), resulting in a copper thickness of ~0.0017".
- The top and bottom solder mask layers are green LPI.
- A white silkscreen is printed on the top side of the board
showing component outlines and text. These features are automatically
masked to prevent the white printing from overlapping on top of pads
(or anywhere there is no solder mask).
- The board finish is the industry standard SMOBC. Pads are plated
with a choice of a tin/lead solder, or a RoHS compliant lead-free
finish.
- The minimum board dimension in height or width is 0.35 inches,
however the total board area must be greater than 0.4 square-inches.
(i.e. smallest square board we can make is 0.64 x 0.64 inches)
- Etching resolution is: 0.006" minimum trace width, 0.006" minimum
space width.
- Board perimeters are cut to shape using a 0.093" router bit.
Slots in the perimeter must be 0.100" or wider. Narrower slots will not
be milled correctly. Routing slots or holes in the interior of the
board are not offered.
- The edges of the board are cut with an accuracy of +/- 0.015". A
minimum of 0.020" blank space is recommended between the perimeter and
all features on the board. Traces placed closer than 0.015" to the
board's edge may be routed off.
- The dielectric constant of our FR-4 laminate ranges from 4.2 to
5.0.
- The maximum operating temperature is 125 degrees C.