Alexander

no no_std?

This is a fine approach too. Just be aware that most modern mcu would be a hell to mount on DIY. Also, this works on literally any paper with super bold print setting.

I would recommend trying copper-based etch, it’s easier to work with than FeCl3 (it’s transparent, to begin with, and not as corrosive to other stuff). Edit: remember to wear goggles, all these things really destroy eyes on splash. Wash eyes for at least 15 minutes with running water if got it there.

Also, I’ve heard some dudes made really nice stencils for paste with some cheap hobby blade CNC tools on cardboard, there are models that have orders of mad higher precision than advertized. Never tried this myself though, lazer cut stainless steel plates from factory are just soooo good (and also a source of high quality steel in a workshop when you don’t need them anymore, they make perfect wood scrapers and such)

oh, and do not be afraid of surface mount. It’s actually easier than it looks, especially if you were smart and did order a stencil (otherwise it’s a toothpick and paste, nothing too hard, just… so slow that paste will dry out).

paste recommendation: ChipQuick. Surprisingly, stuff from hobby shop works better than many professional products, even in professional settings. I had my team leaving spatula on stencil printer for months, just warm it up a but and it’s like new. Magic.

Eagle is dead. KiCAD is certainly the choice, both from starting hobbyists and for high level professionals. Order you PCBs somewhere, order stencil. Buy components yourself, solder yourself, make stencil holder from cardboard. Do not mess with assembly orders unless you’ve learned how it works at home. Get a fan and soldering iron, relly good tweezers (I recommend Tweezerman not made in China, absolutely best gear even though it’s made for other purpose, works for electronics and electron microscopy sample handling).

Really weird fact: AI is useful for converting datasheets into kicad models, sometimes even 3D. Finally some dumb menial task worth of AI - format conversion. That’s that those damn things should be used for.

Altium is nonfree shittyalternative for kicad by now. Don’t. Especially for hobby.

This is so true! Tried “nice crossplatform WASM” multiple times - every time you need a system call, drawing single pixel, networking, or catching input - you just start debugging JS. If the logic is simple, whole code ends up being JS mess with small inclusions of Rust. Very unpleasant experience, even with all the modern frontend code generator tools.

I ended up deciding that making custom bindings instead (edit: mention uniffi here) and building frontend in native (Qt/Kotlin/Swift) ends up being simpler, more pleasant, and the end result is faster and prettier (and no wasm limitations). The downside is having to actually use XCode if you do want iOS app to work (which is quite simple but unpleasant and requires you to have Apple hardware or suffer a lot), but if not and you don’t care for Apple worshipers - it’s pure win.

Even 2 years ago, yew was way way worse than actually writing js by hand.