3 ms·

While I agree with you about protoboards (especially the non-strip kind, which seem to be the predominant ones nowadays), I feel like, for anything but the most

While I agree with you about protoboards (especially the non-strip kind, which seem to be the predominant ones nowadays), I feel like, for anything but the most trivial circuit, drawing the schematic in CAD, picking footprints, laying out a board, doing paper printouts for verification and sending it off to a manufacturer is easily a full working day or more. It also runs the risk of scope creep -- your quick and dirty prototype suddenly turns into "a product" and you start thinking about form factor and enclosures and extra features. And over a week later when your minimum order quantity arrives, you discover your mistake and can add five more boards to the junk pile... UV laser exposure feels like the correct way to go about doing small scale prototyping imho.

peteforde 9mo ago
Yeah! What is the deal with the shift to non-strip protoboards? If you're going to work like that, why on earth wouldn't you want to at least start with the assumption that you're going to need to connect things? The thing that really gets me is when I see designs on non-strip protos that involve the creator drawing a bead of solder across multiple holes to form a really unreliable wire. It's like they spent time using red stone in Minecraft and brought that instinct to electronics. As for your larger point... I hear you - especially on the scope creep. However, it's distinctly possible that there's a realistic minimum time commitment to certain things we want to accomplish in life that are worth doing. If I have an idea for a little amp circuit or something, maybe the right thing to do is to make my best effort in KiCAD, spend that afternoon, measure everything twice... then not think about it for a week. Maybe that's when you jump into Fusion and whip up that quick enclosure. Maybe the antidote to "slop" is that anything worth doing is worth that bit of attention. A product for one customer. Otherwise, the solution is likely still the trusty and small drama solderless breadboard.

peteforde 9mo ago

Yeah! What is the deal with the shift to non-strip protoboards? If you're going to work like that, why on earth wouldn't you want to at least start with the assumption that you're going to need to connect things? The thing that really gets me is when I see designs on non-strip protos that involve the creator drawing a bead of solder across multiple holes to form a really unreliable wire. It's like they spent time using red stone in Minecraft and brought that instinct to electronics. As for your larger point... I hear you - especially on the scope creep. However, it's distinctly possible that there's a realistic minimum time commitment to certain things we want to accomplish in life that are worth doing. If I have an idea for a little amp circuit or something, maybe the right thing to do is to make my best effort in KiCAD, spend that afternoon, measure everything twice... then not think about it for a week. Maybe that's when you jump into Fusion and whip up that quick enclosure. Maybe the antidote to "slop" is that anything worth doing is worth that bit of attention. A product for one customer. Otherwise, the solution is likely still the trusty and small drama solderless breadboard.