Hey,
Well I've got all the stuff for DIY PCB's, and I'm confident after a bit of practice, I can make some reasonable single sided PCB's...and maybe even some crafty double sided ones.
That said, a lot of my projects use CPLD's and microcontrollers, and so, I'm going to need plenty of headers on boards. Because many of these devices are SMT (oo less drilling for me!) I'm hoping to mount them on the topside of the board, however...connecting top side copper tracks to pin headers is tricky without plated through holes.
Any tips? I've thought of use plating techniques, and rivets and even lifting up the plastic housing from the header, soldering the pins on the top side, then pushing the plastic holder back down..which is a bit dirty. I'm aware of SMT 0.1" headers, but these are rare and expensive, not to mention they don't give as good mechanical conneciton to the board as through-hole.
Just wondering how other people do this, or do you all use loads of via's to make sure all header connections are on the bottom side only? One CPLD has 100 pins, so the idea of soldering 80 or so vias isn't thrilling...especially considering it can all be done on the top side, with a minimal of wire links on the bottom.
Blueteeth
Well I've got all the stuff for DIY PCB's, and I'm confident after a bit of practice, I can make some reasonable single sided PCB's...and maybe even some crafty double sided ones.
That said, a lot of my projects use CPLD's and microcontrollers, and so, I'm going to need plenty of headers on boards. Because many of these devices are SMT (oo less drilling for me!) I'm hoping to mount them on the topside of the board, however...connecting top side copper tracks to pin headers is tricky without plated through holes.
Any tips? I've thought of use plating techniques, and rivets and even lifting up the plastic housing from the header, soldering the pins on the top side, then pushing the plastic holder back down..which is a bit dirty. I'm aware of SMT 0.1" headers, but these are rare and expensive, not to mention they don't give as good mechanical conneciton to the board as through-hole.
Just wondering how other people do this, or do you all use loads of via's to make sure all header connections are on the bottom side only? One CPLD has 100 pins, so the idea of soldering 80 or so vias isn't thrilling...especially considering it can all be done on the top side, with a minimal of wire links on the bottom.
Blueteeth