Toner Transfer Test
Ok i did a quick dirty test and love the results!
I made the above in eagle and used my methods to create a pcb and these are the results…
The only bad one is the 0.08mm spaced one 🙂
Toner Transfer Joy
Ok here is a shot of a pcb which has 0.01in traces aka 0.254mm or 10mil and the smalled spacing is 0.27mm aka 10.63mil. I feel like testing the limits soon and posting results.
I love my method and tools!
MC34063A PCB
Making a little Boost pcb for lcds, using the MC34063A. I used the TFM (toner transfer method). I was going to leave it bare copper but instead tried a HASL type thing. Where i simply solder everything and desolder the pads using a desoldering braid.
STM32F0-Discovery
While I might be a little late in getting it, I finally have it. The STM32F0-Discovery Kit. This little board is awesome! Besides having a ton of usable I/O pins, it has pads for your own crystal (PTH or SMT) and has a nice speed on it with no crystal. You can get 48Mhz with a internal 8MHz OSC. and a 6x PLL!
It sports the STM32F051R8, Here is what I think makes it stand out.
ARM 32-bit Cortex®-M0 CPU (48 MHz max)
64 Kbytes of Flash memory
8 Kbytes of SRAM with HW parity checking
Up to 55 fast I/Os (Up to 36 I/Os with 5 V tolerant capability)
Up to 11 timers
It also has 96-bit unique ID… perfect for security in reprogramming prevention.
5-channel DMA controller
1 Ă— 12-bit, 1.0 ÎĽs ADC (up to 16 channels)
One 12-bit D/A converter (yes! a DAC ) I can see composite video in the future 
As well as most other things you expect from a ARM type MCU. And its all packed on a nice PCB with a free Prototype PCB included! That should help a ton of people start off.
ST includes a on board programmer as usual. With the ability to use it as a standalone programmer. Which is awesome! Compared to the STM32F4-Discovery it’s a slight bit smaller but almost the same size.
PCB Creation
Hey everyone, i have been searching for a CHEAP PCB manufacture that will go down to 3 or 4 MIL spacing / trace but no luck. For that kind of specs your looking at $400+ for a small PCB…
So I took a wild shot and made a small MIL chart in eagle with 7 sizes:
16,12,10,7,5,3,1 (MIL)
To my surprise i can print 1 mil really well. Even tho you can not see it good in the picture i used a small 100x microscope and it looks nice! SOLID….
The 3MIL is even better and MORE SOLID so i am going to try and get into Photo Etching again ( it would be too hard to TONER TRANSFER 1MIL… Im off to ebay to search for some Negative Film to laminate onto a PCB and try out. Ill have to relearn the process but hopefully i will be able to do 3MIL!
If so then ill be in prototype heaven. I wouldnt mind doing a few vias by hand… If i can get 1MIL good then i can do way less vias!
But if anyone knows a PCB fab house that does BGA type PCBs cheap please do tell!
Upcoming Product…
Ok I have been sitting on some LPC1313 MCUs for about 2-3 months now with no use. I have only 3. So i plan to make only 2 PCBs for sale. 1 is for me for testing and such. I have a design already but need to get the silk screen finished and then ill order these. Might take some time to come in tho.
Here are some pictures of the prototype pcb so far. (3D Rendered Via Eagle3D & POV Ray)
It has a USB Connector… Can be used for Power… USB to UART…. which can also be used for a bootloader.
Also has a 1.27mm x 1.27mm pitch SWD (Serial Wire Debug) (2×5)
