newbie: PCB or panel mount parts??

[elemental]

Hi

I am still in research+design mode for my project.

I am not sure whether to buy parts listed as surface/panel mount or PCB  mount.

I was going to go for panel mount, so that all parts are secured to the front panel and wires are connected to the PIC circuit.

BUT after looking inside a couple of commercial controllers and thinking about it... I think PCB mount may be easier and definitly neater. Esp as a lot of push-switches and other parts can just click into a breadboard. So i guess the way to do it is arrange all the parts on a breadboard, and then solder everything to the appropriate modules connected to the core... Then screw the front panel on top of that with all the parts sticking out of pre-prepared holes.

Am I on the right track??

Thanks

Adam.

[Screaming_Rabbit]

... that's allright like this. Just remember, that parts have different hights, so you propably can't put all the controls on to the same breadboard.

Greets, Roger

[Jidis]

Adam,

I like the PCB's too. If you get a decent chunk of solid copper-clad off eBay, you won't worry about wasting it so much. I've been using it for everything, even simple test circuits that I may even need to re-do later.

If you do that, I'd say get something fairly thick, if it's single-sided (maybe .04" or above), and also use enough stand-off's from the panel so that it doesn't squish any when you push buttons or something (maybe one or two in the middle for added support).

I haven't bought any of that pre-drilled proto-breadboard stuff in a long while, and have little experience with it, but the lights, buttons,etc., usually have a nice parallel row or two of supply or ground rails, so if your i/o circuits are coming from separate MBHP boards, you should be able to easily draw many of the traces with a nice solid magic marker and a ruler or something, and just do sloppy single lines for most of the main pins (there's probably lots of space between items). You also may be able to do narrow strips of PCB for the parts, if they're in any sort of rows, to avoid the varying heights that Roger mentioned. Then either attach them all to something solid, or use separate screws/stand-off's to the panel if it isn't too many. The LED's can often sit in a small slice of tubing or rigid cable insulation to get them to the exact height you need. 

A small bottle of FeCl3 is only a few bucks, and should suffice for the nice thick lines you'll be using without over-etching, if you're using a shallow tray or something. You may want to draw over them a few times, letting them dry in-between, or use something stronger than a marker, since the heat and agitation may be sloppy and you may be trying to eat through a lot of wide unused space (unless you mask it off). It's a fun thing to learn about, if you haven't already done any. Just read up on it and be careful.

Good Luck,

George   

[elemental]

Thanks for the detailed info!!

Its starting to sound a little daunting... but I wanna do this properly. I have an engineer friend who's really up for helping with this and he's saying its not too hard. But preparing PCB's seems complicated!!

I will get onto eBay ... !

[elemental]

I've been looking at using Vero board for this project ... any one got experience with this?

Thanks

[illogik]

hil; yeah a lot of people use this, check the photos of TK's MBSID for instance;

http://www.midibox.org/midibox_sid_photos/

pcb/panel mount;

panel mount, puts less stress on your components; so if you want a vandal proof box use these

pcb mount; to me looks nicer too, but keep in mind especially when you want to drill your own frontpanel/have big pcb's with a lot of components, it's easy to make a few small mistakes so it won't fit.

[elemental]

Think I will go with the Veroboard path, as then I can play with the arrangement a bit before I commit to a front panel layout.

And it makes arranging parts nice and neat.

[Jidis]

when you want to drill your own frontpanel/have big pcb's with a lot of components, it's easy to make a few small mistakes so it won't fit.

When I've had to do that, I'll usually use some sort of layout template created from, or within, the same  program I do the board in. For instance, if you were to turn off everything in Eagle, but a "hole" layer or the drill marks, and make a print of that to tap your holes and stuff. Only variable I guess, is how good a job you do on the actual tapping, cutting and drilling. Pounding a "dent" directly in the center of a pair of crosshairs isn't always as easy as it sounds. ;)

I think it's come up in here before. Works pretty well if you can arrange to do it with what you're running.

Take Care,

George

PS- I've used spray adhesive to get my template sheets onto a panel. I think others here had also printed directly to adhesive-backed "sticker" or label paper. 

[illogik]

Pounding a "dent" directly in the center of a pair of crosshairs isn't always as easy as it sounds. 

my point exactly, and when you have to pound 50+ dents it's easy to fck it up... i'm still doing it this way though ;)

[elemental]

Thanks for the tips  :)

I think i'll make a prototype panel out of thick card or something, and then get a properly cut panel from Schaeffer.

I'm looking at one of the nice 10 degree sloped aluminium cases from Hammond for the final piece.

[Jidis]

I forgot another note:

I've found that it helps in some situations, if you can solder some of the larger parts while the board and panel are connected. When there's any minor misalignment, they seem to flex a little better before they get a bunch of solder blobs holding the legs down. It can also give you an opportunity to elongate a PCB hole or two as a last resort.

George

[elemental]

I am now thinking of taking the panel mount route... looks like it can save a lot of time, maybe just keep the buttons mounted on veroboard screwed to the panel. It means I just need to solder the modules, cut the panel, wire up the components, and secure the circuit boards.

Any opinions on this much appreciated!!

Thanks

Adam.