Manu was hard at work again, building Blinkenspiel, the version two of last year’s blinken35 for this year’s soldering workshop at the Hobby & Elektronik fair this week in Stuttgart.
What’s different this time from last year is quite visible: no more perf-board, it’s a professionally manufactured PCB!

If there’s the urgent need for a prototype PCB that we cannot build ourselves (eg. tricky multi-layer boards or wanting more than a very few pieces) we call upon our trusted friends over at Beta Layout.
One of the very nice features they have is the automatic progress update, complete with photos!

Now come along this little ride and watch a PCB being made:

1. The layout done in Eagle. This is where it all started.
2. Here we go with step one: drilling the holes
3. Next up is exposing the top and bottom masks.
4. Magic happens and there’s traces on top and on the bottom side.
5. After the silkscreen and solder mask is applied, everything is hardened under UV light: top, bottom.
6. And we’re done! Top, bottom.
   The next steps are up to you: assembly, soldering, playing! If you want to build one, make sure to drop by our booth at the Hobby & Elektronik fair at the Stuttgart Fair right at the airport.