[Avro_Arrow]

The question I have is "when is a project DIY and when is it something else"?

 
For me, I start from scratch and design/build everything myself (even if I get boards
done at a board house now instead of etching them myself). I do true DIY.

 
Is getting a empty board, a bag of parts and a case DIY?

 
Is getting a fully populated board and stringing it together with some
other fully populated boards and making a case DIY?

 
How about buying a fully finished product and modifying the !&#* out of it?

 
There are already loads of projects out there to build and with the Chinese flooding
the market with every conceivable combination of chips (even stupid combinations),
often stolen firmware and IP, it's hard to bring out a new design at a descent price
without someone saying " I can get something like that from (insert Chinese website here)
for a fraction of what you are charging".
 
/end rant (before I get myself in trouble...)
 

 

[Mullet]

@Avro_Arrow I think what you are talking about are varying levels of DIY. I don't think one diminishes the other. It's a matter of what level you are at in terms of scope of knowledge and what you're willing to do. A lot of guys (and a few girls) don't want to take on SMD soldering.
 
I'm currently in the camp that can populate boards and string them together. I can read a schematic for trouble shooting purposes, but I haven't delved into using a schematic for perf board or point-to-point layout. I also have used a completed board -- the Amanero USB to I2S transport and strung it together with boards I've completed myself. If I could I'd prefer to build most of the board myself, but this won't ever be a reality. I think the next step is to try point-to-point or perf board layouts. At this point, design is out the question. I lack the depth of knowledge to do so.
 
With regard to releasing projects and what not... the better the quality of your project... the more likely someone will pass on the Chinese version that is half-a$$ed. For example, I will pass on the Chinese ES9018 based DACs for either Acko's version or Twisted Pear's version. Personally, I'd rather have one of their boards with just the ES9018 soldered and I'll handle the rest. C'est la vie.

 

[COOKIESnPIE]

Post deleted by user.
 
 

 

[Suisou]

  Unfortunately, our world is SMD - based now. I'm now finding that even some hand-solderable parts such as SOT-5, etc. are now being replaced by DSBGA chips that are downright impossible to DIY without professional tools.

 
AFAIK, those DSBGA chips can be soldered to contact pads using the dead bug method, but I myself haven't attempted it. 

 

[Avro_Arrow]

  Unfortunately, our world is SMD - based now. I'm now finding that even some hand-solderable parts such as SOT-5, etc. are now being replaced by DSBGA chips that are downright impossible to DIY without professional tools.

Home made re-flow oven.
You can even use an Arduino to control the curve.

 

[jgazal]

The design of custom enclosures is just becoming accessible, via CNC routing or 3D printing.

 

 

3D printing trials of unmanned aircraft at the University of Sheffield broaden the possibilities for this emergent technology

1. Engineers at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre at the University of Sheffield work on prototype of a 3D-printed unmanned aerial vehicle.
2. Low production costs might lead to the printing of 3D unmanned aircraft that could be disposable and sent on one-way flights for delivery, search or reconnaissance purposes.

http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/news/nr/3d-printing-trials-of-unmanned-aircraft-1.364084

 
I hope they use a biodegradable polymer... Now we need reverse logistics of drones...