Only a month and a half behind what I'd figured the schedule was... I just finished uploading the Gerbers for the designs that came out of my May brain fizz to BatchPCB. Two of them - the ones with tiny AVRs on them - failed DRC and needed corrections: specifically, the DRC Bot doesn't like the rounded corners of the pads on the MLF20 package, so I had to de-round the pads and resubmit.
I note an oddity: looks like board size is defined by the outside edge of the outline, rather than the centerline. This makes all my boards come out a few mils over the size I'd intended. Not important on these prototypes, so I'll let it slide for now - if they were still using "next full inch" pricing, I'd have gone back and done something about it. For a few cents per board, not worth the fiddling.
Anyway, looks like Release To Fab happens tomorrow, after I look at the prices and decide just which ones I'm really going to build in the first round, and how many of each. Nice thing about BatchPCB: I can get one each of several designs fabbed for the price of a minimal run of a single design at a local quick-turn house.
One new design is completely missing this round; I had a new inspiration a couple of weeks ago, but the gadget turns out to need a fair amount of research on suitable components, creation of new footprints, and so on. Pity, 'cause it's something I think would sell more or less right away (though for best effect it needs a collection of sample programs and an instruction booklet, which I'd need time to write). Oh, well: that can happen during the rainy season, along with a couple of other fine designs that are in the works but don't fit the summer prototyping budget.
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