i like that, but in need of one with 4 buttons straight across.. instead of diamond shaped
you can get blank PCB from radio shack, from there you have to mask them and etch them
masking can be anything from hand drawing crap with a sharpie, transferring laser printer toner via heat, to photo reactive chemicals.
once you have it masked you etch away anything not covered, radio shack sells ferric chloride echant, or you can mix your own using available chemicals varing from pool acid and hydrogen peroxide to drain cleaner. drill holes (dremel bits) and your good to go (second image)
otherwise you send off to have a board made(first image) , which can be expensive or sloooow
hmm.. ty for that..
i'm not good at that kind of thing..
i think the arduino is cool, pretty impressive actually.. however, i want to make things.. but spending over and over on arduino's for every project is gonna hurt my pockets.. lol
i currently have 3 projects and my son currently has 4 that we want to do.. but i certainly don't want to go out and buy 7 arduinos.. there's got to be a better way of making things..
Osgeld:
you can get blank PCB from radio shack, from there you have to mask them and etch them
Or you can just use perf board...pick one that's about the right size.
I do everything on boards like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Prototype-Universal-Perfboard-76x101mm-1200hole/dp/B0073XD90K
You don't need Arduinos to use the entire Arduino environment, but it does make it easier. The processor on the Arduino is very inexpensive and you can use the Arduino as a programmer for a chip on a board. This shows the setup on a breadboard but you can as easily solder it to a perfboard:
Crystals, sockets, pullup resistors, decoupling caps, even cheaper breadboards, pushbuttons, etc can be had here:
http://www.taydaelectronics.com/
Specifically:
http://www.taydaelectronics.com/capacitors/ceramic-disc-capacitors.html
http://www.taydaelectronics.com/electromechanical/switches-key-pad/tact-switch/tact-switch-6x6mm-5mm-through-hole-spst-no.html
http://www.taydaelectronics.com/prototyping-board-142x74mm.html
You can set yourself up real nice from these guys. Get some LEDs, 200 ohm, 300 ohm, 1K ohm resistors too, they come in useful all the time.
Build the Arduino on the board with exactly the components you want, laid out exactly how you would like. Make connections with 22-26 gauge solid wire and solder. You might want some 5V voltage regulators too and a 7V or so external wall wart power supply.
now i wanna buy that stupid thing and i can't find it.. i swear i found it on ebay
i currently have 3 projects and my son currently has 4 that we want to do.. but i certainly don't want to go out and buy 7 arduinos.. there's got to be a better way of making things..
OMG! You are headed into the money pit...
If you do not object to waiting a few weeks, I have used there:
New Pro Mini atmega328 5V 16M Replace ATmega128 Arduino Compatible Nano | eBay. Buy in qty of 5 for free shipping! I'm up to over 30 purchased and not a dead one yet.
Of,
Learn to build your own Arduino from the naked 328P-PU. In qty of 25, the uC (I use Newark) is about $2.10 and the 16MHz crystal under $0.50 and the caps under a nickel each in quantity. You are getting close to the Chinese price, but there is a certain fascination about building your own. If you can run on 8MHz, you can even lose the Xtal by using the internal RC osc.
Ray
Ruffsta:
.......
i currently have 3 projects and my son currently has 4 that we want to do.. but i certainly don't want to go out and buy 7 arduinos.. there's got to be a better way of making things..
There is!
I use the Arduino for developing, testing and debugging.
It is really nice for that purpose, and the serial monitor can tell me what is wrong most of the time.
Once I have it working like I want it to, I program an ATtiny with the sketch. Then it can do the dirty work, and my Arduino is freed for other projects.
(ATtiny85 has been fine so far for all my needs)
The tinies are cheap, rugged and far smaller than a "full Arduino", and I simply stick them in a socket on a piece of vero-board.
Below is a picture of my "programming shield" that plugs into the Arduino, and the Tiny controlling my experimental laser rifle ( for target shooting, not for burning things).
The first couple of times it is a bit complicated to program the tinies using an Arduino as ISP, but after that it is easy.
Once I have it working like I want it to, I program an ATtiny with the sketch. Then it can do the dirty work, and my Arduino is freed for other projects.
(ATtiny85 has been fine so far for all my needs)The tinies are cheap, rugged and far smaller than a "full Arduino", and I simply stick them in a socket on a piece of vero-board.
And right you are, Peter_I. But the attiny85 and the like are a weebit challenged with I/O and SRAM and Flash. Many Arduino projects will scale-down to a tiny, but the programmer needs to keep the "tiny" in mind through the entire design and coding session. My last shipment qty25 of ATtiny85-PU cost me $0.89 each + shipping. (just checked and they are $0.85 U.S. from Newark.)
But, when consigned to a perfboard design, the per-unit cost of the tiny vs the full mega328 is a small difference: $2.08 - 0.85 or $1.23 or 145% more... but, you are almost certainly assured that the perfboard will work identically (sans USB) to the UNO you used for development. It really comes down to the number of non-reclaimable projects you build. I built many, many tiny85 projects before I finally decided to just standardize on the Atmega328P-PU microcontroller. Therefore, I buy more of the same chip and get a less expensive price. And, more of my code is reusable! And, it is very rare that I include an IC socket, so that cost-savings defers a bit more of the 328 expense. If the project is going to be permanent, the need for a socket is one of "insurance" and in some cases such as vibration, the socket is really a "downer."
My FLAT-duino design:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-A-FLAT-duino/
In the case of the SD-Card logger, the SD card has a 3.3V regulator that powers the ATmega328. So a significant economy is achieved by not having to worry about the 5V to 3.3V requirements of signaling.
I still use the "tiny" when I need something physically small... often "dead bug" design 
Ray