Bare PCB availability in UK

Do any of the UK sellers sell just bare PCBs for prototype shields?

I can buy them as kits and then put the spare bits into my components tray, but it seems a waste somehow. Don't really want to start importing stuff myself...

On a similar line does anyone know if Farnell or RS carry the extended shield socket headers (and if so, part codes would be great) I prefer my shields with those, makes 'em easy to stack. I have looked via their web sites, but can't find them. Doesn't mean they aren't there, just that I don't know the right search terms.

Alternatively, is there another UK supplier who can do 6x and 8x ways at a reasonable price. I have been buying from a reseller, but it adds between 1.50 and 2 GBP per set to my costs. For one or two boards it's not too bad, but if I buy 10+ at a time, it seems to mount up quite quickly.

Simlarly, does anyone in the UK supply bare PCBs for Boarduino? I have a couple of projects where the form factor is ideal, with the board fitting just behind some other h/w, and that way I don't have to mess too much with stripboard, since instead of putting headers/pins in I just wire it to the other board :o No doubt someone will tell me how wrong that is any day now.

I'm in the USA I get mine from a seller name pcbfab (I believe) he's in the USA and sells copper clad at excellent prices...

I don't know of any UK suppler who just sells a prototype PCB as a board and not as a kit of parts, but you can buy the Arduino shield socket header connectors from these UK stockist:

http://www.earthshineelectronics.com

there are probably a lot more than these.

You could always try ebay, I have seen in the past sellers who sell just Arduino PCB's

Thanks Tony.
I buy from at least three on that list, but it's good to know about the others.

I hadn't thought of eBay as a source, since I'm specifically wanting to avoid importing directly.
In the past I've had some bad experiences with HM C&E (or HMRC as they are now).

Looks like I might have to bite that particular bullet;
Adafruit do what I want, but no one seems to supply their unpopulated PCBs here in the UK :-?

You mean a blank prototyping board in shield format for the arduino I presume.

I have never had any issues ordering from abroad. If you keep orders low then you don't pay customs etc on any of it.

Mowcius

I make my own, but some people don't like the drilling:-
http://www.thebox.myzen.co.uk/Hardware/Arduino_Sheld.html

Thanks, Mike.

I assume you have a drill press then :), or much steadier hands than mine.
I'm sure I've seen some offset headers that would do a similar thing but avoid the gruntwork of the drilling, which would be a reasonable compromise, I suppose.

I'm sure I've seen some offset headers that would do a similar thing but avoid the gruntwork of the drilling, which would be a reasonable compromise, I suppose.

Bending normal headers is not too tricky and much cheaper.

As far as I remember, the offset headers are just normal headers that have been bent.

Mowcius

RS stocks the bare protoshield.

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/searchBrowseAction.html?method=getProduct&R=6961673

Yeah but they're £10 EACH!

:slight_smile:

You see the issue there?

Mowcius

There are some techniques for creating PCBs that don't requiring drilling. Would that be worth doing to a single-sided serial Arduino clone even if it made the board significantly bigger? You're essentially mounting normal components in a surface-mount way, which can be awkward and is usually awfully ugly...

That is rather expensive.

Maybe that is for the whole kit.

On the South African RS site (and they get all their Arduino stuff direct from the UK), it is only R42, which is less than 4 GBP.

PS: Just change the uk. part of the url to za. . I would call them up and ask to verify the price. It does not look correct.

Update:

There is something wrong there, the kit is 'only' 8 GBP. http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/searchBrowseAction.html?method=getProduct&R=6961677

Something isn't right. They tell me the prices are correct, which clearly makes no sense. Still, 8GBP for a kit isn't too bad, in the UK, at least, although they don't appear to be the type that have a 20w DIL in the centre of the board.

I did order some of these, but not sure if and when I will get them due to stock issues.

Locally, these are the same price as the protoshield. So something must be wrong there.

yeap, something isn't right at RS as a blank mega prototype PCB is only £3.52 (see http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/searchBrowseAction.html?method=getProduct&R=6961683)

Have you tried Watterott (a German seller) they have a standard proto shield for 5-EURO ~ £4.50 (see http://www.watterott.com/de/Arduino-Proto-Shield-PCB)

That mega protoshield should fit a normal arduino, and it looks rather nice (place for DIP and SOIC).

leppie, the rs item (the Roth Elektronik) is what I'm looking for when putting permanent projects on to, thanks for that.
They do an FR4 epoxy variant as well.
Even better, they are big enough to accomodate 40pin DIP devices (like the Mega1284P).

For prototyping I might stick with breadboards, and occasionally use a shield for the less transient stuff.
This looks right for putting the whole system onto a single board.
I certainly have enough bits and pieces kicking around to build about 8 or so 328 based systems, and about 20 or so 168 based ones. Stripboard is not as clean looking as a manufactured board, but is still worth it's weight in copper...