what is this type of circuit board called - how are the traces made?
It's just a basic PCB. There are several ways to make them, but you could google "toner transfer" and "photographic method pcb" for the starters.
It's a regular copper clad board and it looks like the circuit was drawn on with a permanent marker then etched and then tinned to make it silver.
Markers are shit and rarely work well, I've had much better results with toner transfer.
>>921289
thx
>>921289
It doesn't look anything like a marker etch. Look at how all the lines are uniform width and the numbers are done with a vector font.
Could be aluminum tape cut with aid of a straight edge
>>921329
Ever tried soldering to aluminium?
It's pretty hard to get rid of the oxide layer. Defnetly nothing to make circuit boards from
>>921330
I presume you'd remove it after you etched.
![M061299P01WL[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/fyAnpnJ.jpg "M061299P01WL[1].jpg")
>>921311
>>921285
I would be hugely surprised it if wasn't done using etch-resist transfers.
>>921285
Looks like a pcb made with toner transfer, and after that treated in either a solder bath, liquid tin or done by hand with a soldering iron and solder. I suspect liquid tin since the upper traces look very uniform in distribution, something that is difficult to do with solder by hand or with a solder bath (with a bath the traces would 'bulge').
What's the best thing to make circuits with, etching seems very cool, but a lot of work and equipment I don't have. Otherwise I presume just stripboard?
>>921348
yes
>>921348
Depends on the complexity and usage.Breadboards are dandy for prototyping and not fickle stuff. Stripboards are a more permanent solution for relatively simple circuits but even very complex circuits can be done with protoboards with the help of CAD. Some anon on here did some very impressive protoboard work. If you're using many parts that are only available as SMD packages and have very small footprints, it'll be advantageous to get a board ordered and made in China. Simple SMD stuff such as resistors can be done via ethcing, just pick the largest package to be safe.
>>921348
Ferric chloride and a chinese container for small jobs. Not perfect. Used a black texta/marker last time and had to make the traces huge to stop it eating through the marker in spots(or under it). Circuit worked, I guess.
If you want a quicker and easier way to do it, give this method a shot;
http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/~pharden/hobby/HG-MANHAT2.pdf
Not exactly the prettiest, but beats etching boards
>>921355
I mean, it's a reasonably simple circuit, size is no great issue. Just has to be cheap and robust. I mean, etching and whatnot is very cool, and I'd like to do it but seems like too much effort.
>>921348
I don't like stripboard because it's very easy to overheat and lift the little circle pads right off the fiberglass backing.
>>921370
There are ways to make it easier like the sponge etching method which uses ALOT less liquid and is much faster than the bubble tank method. But the downside is that you need a very good resist, like UV transfer or a perfect toner transfer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2Ajlkik2nI
I come from here
>>920845
Also looking at these things and trying to understand em
The attached is the fairly ghetto board keeping things from exploding, I think
>>921442
Hey I knew I recognised that pic.
>>921348
There's a couple options:
Solderless breadboards are good for prototyping, but not for permanent circuits and can't deal with surface mount components unless you make or buy an adapter board
You can use a proto board with solder pads and solder everything point to point but it gets old pretty quickly
You can use a proto board without pads and solder directly to the leads, or glue your components to something and solder "dead bug" style
You can etch your own boards but it's a pain in the ass and requires toxic chemicals and equipment (you need a laser printer and a drill press)
You can draw up your boards in a CAD program, send them off to ching chong land and get professionally printed circuit boards in the mail a few weeks later for a nominal fee. The downsides are: cost (even if each board is individually cheap, there's almost always a minimum run of 3-5 boards) time (may take up to a month depending on how much you want to pay for shipping) and they're unsuitable for initial prototypes. However it's the only way to go if you want to do SMD.
Anoption most people don't know exists is pic related, which is wire-wrapping. Look it up on the google. Pros are: it's faster than point-to-point soldering once you get the hang of it, and the connections are actually more reliable than soldering, are gas tight, don't corrode, and have very good noise resistance. The boards and sockets are reusable which means you can prototype on the same board you use for your finished device and then take it apart whenver you want and get everything back but the wire.
Cons are: wire wrap sockets are expensive these days (but will cost less than getting boards printed), you can only do through-hole, and it can be a fucking mess to look at and tell what's going where. you can easily rewire things but it means removing any wires on top of them, which may turn into a chain reaction of rewiring. It goes pretty fast once you get the hang of it, though.
>>921556
>Cable Management: Nightmare Edition
>>921609
Sssh. Just let it happen.
Removing wires is only an issue if you have multiple stacked on a single pin. You can unscrew a wire, snip the screwed bit off, then pull it out through the weave.
>>921285
>surface mounting axial leaded diodes
I know people hate MELFs, but come on
>>921680
You should try it. You don't have to spend time drilling holes and putting components through them. Everything is so much easier to design and debug when you can see the traces and components all at once and the copper side isn't mirrored.
>>921494
Not gonna lie, I fucking love this place
>>921348
> etching seems very cool, but a lot of work and equipment I don't have.
You can do etching with an ice-cream tub (the etching tray) and a soda bottle (to store the solution). You don't actually *need* a bubble tank. Just lay the PCB flat in the tub, pour on some ferric chloride solution (it etches faster if it's warm), occasionally rock the tub to gently slosh the solution around.
If you want to do detailed circuits (e.g. fine-pitch surface-mount ICs), using a marker pen isn't going to cut it. Either use toner transfer (requires a laser printer or copier, can be a bit hit and miss) or photoresist (requires a UV light and a few tests to work out the optimum exposure, and two passes: one to "etch" the resist, another to actually etch the copper).
