Let's talk about costs - because when you buy parts in the quantities I am, it's hard to determine exactly what the cost per board is (although we can try).
Part Name | #/Board | Cost/Part | Cost/Board | Quantity Purchased | Where? | Part Number |
ATTiny 2313a | 1 | 1.11 | 1.11 | 10 | Newark | 68T3554 |
Bourns PTC Reset Fuse | 1 | 0.134 | 0.134 | 10 | Newark | 83K0399 |
47uF Tantalum | 1 | 0.4029 | 0.4029 | 10 | Newark | 60R5862 |
LTC6903 | 1 | 3.33 | 3.33 | 5 | Newark | 57M0173 |
10uF Tantalum | 2 | 0.168 | 0.336 | 20 | Newark | 01M8216 |
USB B Connector | 1 | 0.646 | 0.646 | 5 | Newark | 14N8154 |
RCA Connector | 1 | 0.7582 | 0.7582 | 5 | Newark | 89K7618 |
VGA Connector | 1 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 5 | Newark | 54M6031 |
NCP1117ST33T3G | 1 | 0.387 | 0.387 | 10 | Newark | 67H7013 |
3 Bit DIP Switch | 1 | 0.22 | 0.22 | 10 | eBay | |
XC95144XL | 1 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5 | Digikey | 122-1372-ND |
IS61LV5128AL-10TLI | 1 | 4.39 | 4.39 | 10 | Jameco | |
.1uF Ceramic X7R | 11 | 0.008 | 0.088 | 4000 | Jameco | |
PCB Service | 1 | 1.19 | 1.19 | 10 | Elecrow | PCB |
1uF Ceramic | 1 | 0.008 | 0.008 | Owned | ||
Male Headers | 18 | 0.001 | 0.018 | Owned | ||
10k 0805 1% Resistor | 6 | 0.008 | 0.048 | Owned | ||
4.7k 0805 1% Resistor | 1 | 0.008 | 0.008 | Owned | ||
510 0805 1% Resistor | 4 | 0.008 | 0.032 | Owned | ||
1k 0805 1% Resistor | 5 | 0.008 | 0.04 | Owned | ||
2k 0805 1% Resistor | 4 | 0.008 | 0.032 | Owned | ||
4k 0805 1% Resistor | 1 | 0.008 | 0.008 | Owned | ||
Shipping | 1 | 3.079 | 3.079 | 10 | Various |
A lot of the 'Owned' stuff is eBay specials. The resistors mostly came from a single resistor sample pack and were, surprisingly, in spec (at least when I pulled them off the strips).
My guess: with zero wastage, $23.37 a board. I'll be soldering manually, so there are some hidden costs:
- I'm going to destroy something, probably some XC95144XLs and IS61LV5128ALs because Murphy's Law. Capitalized, let's call it $32.50 a board with part destruction to be conservative.
- Again, I'm hand soldering - I'm not the best solderer in the world, so the fact that we've got a .5mm pitch 100 pin part means my estimate is around an hour a board. I've got to roll out my kit, gather my supplies, use my paint stripper to recover mistakes, etc.
- I'm not making 10 boards... so I'll have extra parts. You decide whether this matters to you, your spouse, your kids, etc. I'm not counting it because I value the well-stocked parts drawer.
So: $23.37 - $32.50 a board in small quantities, depending on your level of soldering competency. Plus that hour of your time - you'll have to value it yourself (I run a finance web site, and we've discussed that exact topic - you can't use what you make at your day job). In short, if I was selling these and soldering manually, I'd be charging a bit more than $0.
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