January
- Welcome back from Winter Break! Let's get our boards ordered.
- To assemble or not to assemble?
- This depends on your budget, your ability to solder, and your time. In general, assembly services from board houses are very expensive, especially if you ask for "Turnkey" service, where they buy the parts for you.
- If you have a relatively small amount of parts (less than 40), it might be completely doable to forgo assembly and just do it yourself. IEEE has through hole and SMD workshops so you can definitely learn.
- If you do feel like assembly is worth your time, it is best to order all the parts you need as per the board house's specifications (check their website for how to supply components to your board house) and ship them over.
- Of course, if you have the budget, feel free to go full turnkey.
Be VERY careful when ordering turnkey through a seller like JLCPCB or PCBWay. Any additional parts that aren't in their library that have to be ordered through somehing like their "global supply" portal MUST be in your parts library prior to ordering assembly in order to guarantee placement.
- This depends on your budget, your ability to solder, and your time. In general, assembly services from board houses are very expensive, especially if you ask for "Turnkey" service, where they buy the parts for you.
Note: Ordering and procuring a board is the very big third step in making a PCB. It's also arguably the most annoying since each board house has different websites and different standard BoMs and Pick and Place files. Again, Ask. For. Help. Talk to your sponsor and mentor.
- Keep in mind your lead times, typically it will take 3-4 weeks for a complete fabrication and assembly.
- Pay attention to your email. Board houses will often ask questions about your spec and order. Make sure to answer these ASAP to avoid prolonging your lead times.
- Make sure you have your first round of boards ordered within the first two weeks of January, preferably by the due date of your first TDP.