• New PCB and PCBWay review

    Johan Westlund • 01/03/2019 at 11:21 • 0 comments

    Due to a mistake by me the board was 0.1" to wide:

    Got an offer for free PCBs to test and review PCBWay service for the new PCB so here is that with a redesigned board 0.1" smaller:

    I sent the design to the one offering me the deal, but was told to create an account. Here is what I was getting when creating the account...

    Create Acccount:

    It complains about the password before I type it in. Pleases be patience computer.

    Their page look nice.

    I'm on the upload and setting page. All other cheap PCB manufacturer has the option to upload and auto fill the dimension and those stuff. That's something they are working on I was told.
    Have to open KiCad again to check the dimension because they are not in my head.

    Settings: Panels by PCBWay, black mate soldermask, 10 boards 27x58 mm

    $42 probably the mate black. Would be good to mention what is extra and what is included in the base price. +$20 shipping is reasonable for 3-4 days shipping.

    Got a mail asking for amount of boards and panel. Not really clear in their interface on this point. I believed that it was 10 panels. But in the end I got 10 boards on 5 panels, 2 on each panel.

                                                  OLD                                                NEW

    Time to solder

    PCBs from PCBWay and components bought from Digi-key.

    Testing how easy they are to solder on here:

    As seen there are more residue visible on the PCBWay board. It might be the matt black. The ease of soldering was about the same.

    A scratch test:


    About the same resistance to scratching.

    Time to assemble.


    Done. The dimension are fits the DevKit C dev board exactly like I wanted it to do. Everything was easy to solder except the SD card holder. It might have been both the solder mask on the board and my technic that didn't prevent the pins from shorting.

    Can't complain on the PCB quality it's the same as all other big names in the PCB industry.

    Next up. Testing. :)

  • PCB prototype ordered

    Johan Westlund • 08/07/2018 at 20:15 • 0 comments

    Decided to go with the devkitC pinout but might change in the future if there is another board that seams more popular.

    Included a 3.3V regulator that is optional if you use just a esp32-wroom module and need 3.3V

    All files can be found in the Files section.

    (going to add 3D model for missing parts in the final design :) )

  • Schematic draft

    Johan Westlund • 07/22/2018 at 18:50 • 0 comments

    A not completed schematic, but the essentials are there.

    Seams like devkitC is a popular devboard but have to continue to look.

    SD-card connection from this example: https://github.com/espressif/esp-idf/tree/master/examples/storage/sd_card#hardware
    Have to check other sources as well.

    Will change the input connector to a green screw or snap-in connector with a low profile.

    Next update with a draft PCB

  • First idea on PCB layout

    Johan Westlund • 07/21/2018 at 16:33 • 0 comments

    A ruff idea on the layout and components. Have to find which devboard to use, but I have decided to use one of the nodeMCU like boards.

    Next update will be a schematic and hopefully a decision on devboard.

    (The 3.3V regulator is for the case where the devboard doens't have it on it)