OlyMEGA is proud to announce a new series of fund-raising classes and workshops on making printed circuit boards (PCB's) and soldering through-hole and surface mount (SMT) components. Donations given during these events will help OlyMEGA obtain funds needed to lease a permanent hackerspace to hold our future meetings, classes, workshops and other project activities while also helping the group as a whole grow into something greater than it is already. We hope this class and workshop series will give you the needed skills to propel your projects to a level you may have only dreamed of.
The classes will focus on how to use the popular printed circuit board creation software called EAGLE by Cadsoft (now Newark). EAGLE allows the design of printed circuit boards from simple to complex. The free version of the software is fully functional with limits on the size of the PCB allowed. The board size is limited to 100 x 80 mm (4 x 3.2 inches).
The workshops will show how to make printed circuit boards in your own kitchen or workshop. We will focus on the physical techniques of printing, masking and etching copper from a blank circuit board to produce your designs.
The schedule for this class and workshop series is still yet to be determined. Stay tuned for more information and class schedule announcements. The classes will likely be two-weeks apart. Those interested are encouraged to take the whole series to get the most out of it. Although, the PCB workshops may be taken without having taken the EAGLE classes.
Prerequisites for the EAGLE classes:
- You will need to have a laptop or net book with EAGLE installed and working. You will need to bring this computer to each class so that you can follow along with the exercises and experiments. The software is free and available from http://www.cadsoftusa.com/downloads/
- Have a small PCB project schematic or be willing to choose a small project from a list of schematics that we supply. A blank Arduino shield scaffold EAGLE project will be available for those who wish to make an Arduino shield (or an Arduino!)
- Some extra time to study and work on your design at home. The class time will be spent mainly on learning the EAGLE user interface and how to get your designs into the software. The work of actually making your PCB design will be largely performed outside of the class time. You are also encouraged to learn more functionality of EAGLE on your own from on-line resources.
- It really helps to have a three-button mouse with scroll wheel on your computer when working with the EAGLE user interface.
Prerequisites for the PCB workshops:
- You will need to have a small to medium PCB design project and PCB artwork in Gerber, Postscript or PDF format. We will not be designing PCB's in this class; we will be physically making them from designs already prepared. This PCB project and files can be derived from the earlier EAGLE classes project or you may pick from a small selection of fun designs supplied by us.
- You will need to bring safety glasses to prevent anything from entering your eyes during the workshop(s). Any cheap pair should be fine. Nothing fancy here. Make sure you can see well through them (you wont' want to miss anything!).
- You will also need a small, disposable plastic tray that is large enough to fit your PCB design (but not too much larger). Nothing fancy here either. Just save a plastic tray from some other product packaging. The tray must be water tight and not leak!
- Wear dark clothes or something that you don't care about too much so it won't matter if it gets stains on it. A full apron may be good to have. The chemical solutions we will be working with will stain your clothing, fingernails and skin. The stain is a dark, yellow changing to a brown, rust-color usually.
[_more soon_]