Check my layout please? ( etching twice sucks ).

deadastronaut · August 23, 2011, 05:36:40 PM

^ can you have stuff sent to area 51?...

askwho69 · August 24, 2011, 11:58:49 AM

Money for nothing chicks for free!!

What's wrong on labeling the layout with components? are you afraid someone will copy your layout ?

slacker · August 24, 2011, 02:57:59 PM

Like he said, at this stage you don't need the component values to see that the layout is wrong. Obviously once the basic layout looks correct we'd need the component values to make sure he's put everything in the right place. Then there's still the issue of the invisible ground plane.

askwho69 · August 24, 2011, 09:16:33 PM

ohh ok.. so its up to the checker to see if it's correct or not? for me the components can help to verify it easily... that's all

NOW IS SEE THE PROBLEM < 1. The transistors are inverted try to reverse the trannies! 2. The q2 you need to connect the components from Base to C.. i dont see the connection, also in q3. 3) is the C1 you didnt connected it to 100k you connected it to the ground...

teemuk · August 25, 2011, 08:48:41 AM

Ok, I read to about half way of this thread and let me just say first that I don't really bother to care too much about the "ethics" of this entire discussion. Not one bit. With that on the mind you might have the right bias for this critique:

To be honest, that layout is just totally atrocious. For something that's supposed to be a dual layer board, one layer being at least a ground plane it's just weak: connectors are scattered here and there, the track runs are unnecessarily long and those parallel tracks just reek of terms like "crosstalk", no holes to mount the board, etc. Honestly, just copying the layout of how the schematic is drawn would likely result into a better component layout as well.

I'd honestly just call this attempt the first –practice- version and start from scratch and clean table again.

Secondly, it's a lot more easier for us to help to verify the layout if you at least label the components. I don't really need to see the actual values, whether they work or not does not concern me (that's your problem, you asked for help verifying layout not designing the thing), but labels like R1, R2, R3, C1, C2, C3... and so on, in both schematic and the board, would tremendously help in following through the layout and comparing it to what the schematic is depicting.

It can be done without but its at least twice as much the work and introduces about twice as much chances to make errors. ...and that we do not want, right?

askwho69 · August 25, 2011, 12:27:15 PM

Nice teemuk i like what you said

artifus · August 25, 2011, 12:36:56 PM

i fear we may have scared off our little builder buddy... which is a shame as i had hoped that we could keep him as a pet.

slacker · August 25, 2011, 12:51:34 PM

Not aimed at anyone in particular, but I think people should layoff the guy, all this blooming flower bullsh1t is boring. He hasn't actually done anything wrong, he laid out right from the start that he wants to sell these things, if you don't want to do someone's R & D for them then fair enough just stay away from the thread, that's what I normally do. Taking the piss out of the guy just makes us look like a bunch of dicks.

Other opinions are available of course.

artifus · August 25, 2011, 12:58:50 PM

*edit* i meant no harm, just trying to raise a smile

deadastronaut · August 25, 2011, 01:01:24 PM

Quote from: frequencycentral on August 23, 2011, 07:03:04 AM

i think rick nailed it.......

oskar · August 25, 2011, 01:18:13 PM

I think Ian, apart from enriching my english vocabulary, has bigger nails than rick...

There are a lot of people around here who make an extra buck out of pedalbuilding, modding and repairjobs.

frequencycentral · August 25, 2011, 01:23:27 PM

I'm really careful not to cause any offense to anyone on the interweb (I hope). This thread was always going to end up this way. People here are really averse to crowd sourcing when it's obvious the topic starter has commercial ambitions.

teemuk · August 25, 2011, 01:58:50 PM

Quote from: slacker on August 25, 2011, 12:51:34 PMTaking the piss out of the guy just makes us look like a bunch of dicks.

Couldn't be said better. And though my comments may seem a little harsh I personally didn't intent them to furtherly strike down the guy or as a personal attack, just as critique of his layout. It was basically something I was planning to write after just seeing the layout in the first post without even reading the thread furtherly.

Yep, it may come down as harsh but I think it's just healthy for each and everyone of us to sometimes stop and critically look our own work and arrive to conclusion of "I definitely can do this better if I try again". That's how we improve and learn.

This stuff can make a nice and fun project; commercial ventures might be a bit optimistic but who never knows...

Govmnt_Lacky · August 25, 2011, 02:09:03 PM

Do I think people are being a bit harsh? YES

Do I think some of the comments were deserved? YES

I think Mike summarized the whole thing perfectly in Reply #18

R.G. · August 25, 2011, 03:23:40 PM

I have provided consulting to commercial builders. Some for a fee where it's extensive, much of it free for the asking and done privately and no details disclosed. And I'm aware that much of what I type here is going into the next generation of boutique pedals. It's the nature of the beast.

What makes posts like the ones that started this whole thread different from the free consulting is that the OP (1) is clearly ill informed and has not done his homework, (2) he wanted the forum to do the work for him so he could make a quick buck without knowing much about either the technology or the business, and (3) he was offended when 1 and 2 were pointed out.

How would this have been different if the OP had said "I'm a beginner, and I want very much to learn what I need to do to get into building and selling pedals. Can you point me to what I need to learn? Here's one I've been working on. Could I get a critique and some pointers?"

It's a valuable life lesson to learn that it helps to be polite to people you're asking for help, even if you're cynical enough to only be polite for that reason. What he did was not unethical - it was at least thoughtless if not outright rude. Maybe this thread helped him with that.

Mike Burgundy · August 26, 2011, 06:11:43 PM

Well said.

buildafriend · August 26, 2011, 08:28:01 PM

Oh man, I am so happy ration finally kicked in! I have to run home due to the hurricane hitting the east coast. I will make major revisions and read all of this much much more precisely. until then I will just make a few jumps or cuts in the paths.

photos of the proto tonight or tomorrow.

askwho69 · August 26, 2011, 11:51:36 PM

Nice now you're in good mood

buildafriend · August 27, 2011, 02:04:35 AM

Quote from: jrod on August 23, 2011, 05:17:32 PM
Hey buildafriend,

What's up man? Hey, listen, I am a poor musician and have been all my life. I am unable to gig right now because I don't have a fuzz box. When you get your pedals built will you send me one for free? I'd really appreciate it, man. I mean you don't think you are entitled to anything for building these do you?

I am going to take advantage of all the free sh*t I can get. I am really looking forward to my new free fuzz box from you, buildafriend.

Thanks bro!

lets work on staying on topic.

buildafriend · August 27, 2011, 02:08:07 AM

Quote from: askwho69 on August 26, 2011, 11:51:36 PM
Nice now you're in good mood

thanks to everyone who brought the good vibes back!

News:

Check my layout please? ( etching twice sucks ).