Recommendations for PCB production co.

andykmv

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i have been using the KICAD open source product to date for schematic and pcb design, and, as any designs i have done so far are one off's I could not warrant the expenditure on prototypes from a production house therefore and have not yet sent any designs off for production.

now i am looking at doing some larger quantity pcb designs for my own use around the house for smarthome automation using cnc era serial/ethernet protocol, and, some arcade pcbs for my own use.

i have been getting some advertising from various pcb houses such as Sunstone Circuits, pcb matrix, and Futurlec

Who would you recommend i use asa good low cost low volume and prototype PCBs produced ?

any other good'uns to consider?

Also, what software would you recommend be used to produce the files to be sent to the pcb production house ?
 
i have been using the KICAD open source product to date for schematic and pcb design, and, as any designs i have done so far are one off's I could not warrant the expenditure on prototypes from a production house therefore and have not yet sent any designs off for production.

Since you're in Canada anyway, check out APcircuits.com
 
I used batchpcb.com

+1 Can't beat their prices for small quantities. Turnaround time is a little longer, but as long as you're not in huge rush, this place is ideal. They have a FAQ on their site which tells you how to check your software's Gerber output (which KiCad should be able to create) to make sure it's usable:

http://batchpcb.com/index.php/Faq#How can I be sure the gerber files are ok

Also, when you upload your design, they do an automated DRC and email you the results.
 
+1 Can't beat their prices for small quantities. Turnaround time is a little longer, but as long as you're not in huge rush, this place is ideal. They have a FAQ on their site which tells you how to check your software's Gerber output (which KiCad should be able to create) to make sure it's usable:

Download pentalogix viewmate to view your gerbers... it's free and quite nice...

If your CAD program can output the apertures as part of ther gerber (R264?) then your life will be a lot easier... heh.
 
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