I absolutely agree that this is a scheme by DHL (and other shipping companies) to generate outsize revenue relative to the effort involved. As soon as you call them on it, the cost to them skyrockets, so they just give you the money back. (I know UPS is quite firm on their fees though.)
I live less than an hour from Niagara Falls, and use a package-receiving service to receive packages from the US and import them myself to avoid these bogus fees from UPS and others. UPS once wanted $100 in handling fees (not tax/duty) for a power supply I bought from TEquipment. No thanks. The free shipping within the US made it even cheaper. Obviously you have to consider the value of your time, etc, but I can usually justify the occasional trip there for reasons other than cost savings.
I live fairly close to Pearson Airport, but I think the effort involved in self-clearing is probably not worth it. I should probably try it once though before passing judgment.
Just a heads-up to anyone using DHL to ship their DirtyPCBs.
My 10x10 PCBs were USD$17 + USD$19 shipping to Canada via DHL China (2-5 days). Value for duty was USD$17 == CAD 23.02. Import Tax (HST @ 13%) = CAD 2.99
DHL then added a "Processing Fee" and "Transaction Fee" of CAD 10.50 and CAD 4.25, plus HST on both: CAD 1.37 and .55 respectively.
So I had to pay an additional CAD $19.66 (USD $14.50) on delivery, making the total cost of my PCBs CAD $68.56 (USD $50.79). The total cost using the slow boat from China shipping would have been just USD 17 + 8 shipping == USD 25.
I'm very happy I got my boards (11 of them!) 9 days after submitting the gerbers, but that fast shipping effectively doubles the cost.
Ikea Knubbig ESP8266 SK6812 RGBW LED Base PCB - Board is intended to replace the existing electronics in both the large and small Ikea Knubbig lamps. (The outer ring is cut off for the smaller lamp). - Designed using Eagle CAD. Produced at DirtyPCBs.com - ~100mm round PCB with white soldermask, black silkscreen, and HASL pads.
Board contains footprints for: - USB micro-B (power and serial data) - AP2112 3.3V regulator - CH340g usb-serial interface - ESP8266 (ESP-12E) main microcontroller + Wifi - 24 + 16 SK6812 RGBW LEDs - DS3231 real-time clock - Buzzer, IR Receiver, IR LED, rubber feet
I've noticed an issue with the DHL tracking info provided by the new DirtyPCBs site. In my last two orders, the tracking link provided never worked, even post-delivery.
However, I have figured out the issue... DP is using a (partial) Shipper's Reference Code instead of the Air Waybill (AWB) Number in it's link to DHL's website (where you are supposed to use an AWB number).
You actually can track packages at DHL's website using the Shipper's Reference Code, however you will need to guess the first character, since DP's email link doesn't contain it. Mine was a 'B', followed by what DP incorrectly identified as the AWB number.
I hope DP fixes this soon, as it's pretty frustrating to get that "trackable" link, but have it not work.
Love the boards. Love the service. Regards, HipFan75
[quote author="electroniceel"]Thanks for posting your files. . . . Just to make sure: you uploaded the gerbers to DirtyPCBs, not the Eagle files and let them create the gerbers?[/quote]
Yes, I sent in gerbers I generated with Eagle 7.5 and the cam file in the previously attached zip.
[quote author="electroniceel"]Now that I know that NPTH is possible somehow, I think I'll add some experimental holes in my next orders and see what works and what not.[/quote]
So, I did nothing special to get non-plated holes. The holes were generated in Eagle 7.5 using the 'hole' tool. The non-plated holes in my board were part of custom parts, which I have extracted and attached. I processed them with the DirtyPCBs cam file, which I've slightly modified to work with Eagle 7 (to get the holes to line up properly), also attached.
I've attached the relevant gerber files, if you'd like to investigate yourself.
My suspicion is that they are using a different board house (from the standard DirtyPCBs site), which interprets a drill with no copper around it as a non-plated hole.
It would be nice to get some clarification of whether this is something we can depend on.
I just got my first batch of boards back after using the new DirtyPCBs Prototype and wanted to share my experiences to help improve the service.
Comments on the Boards: - The boards themselves look great. Excellent value at $20 shipped for 10x10. - There was a milling error, but nothing that impacts the use of the boards. It would be nice to know the cause (if only so I can avoid making the mistake again, assuming it was me). - It seems that my non-plated holes actually came out non-plated. (It was my understanding that non-plated holes were not possible with DirtyPCBs production site.) - The ability to panelize is fantastic. This panel has 8 sub-boards.
I've posted some pictures here, including pics of the defect, and PNGs of the gerbers: http://imgur.com/a/zlJjS
Comments on the Ordering Process: - Ideally the board preview should be clickable to a larger image of both sides, and preferably with the back side mirrored (like OshPark) - The shipping dropdown list should be more informative. It should say more than "DHL Next Day (1-2 days)" and a price (7 times). Some explanation of the different price levels would be helpful. A general blurb on the various shipping options would be nice. eg: "DHL China is probably the best bet for reasons x, y, z." - Clicking my order number on the History/Status page does not take me to my order - The "Trackable" email had "localhost" in the order number link - The DHL waybill number (sent in email and on the site) linked to some shipment that was going to my city, but was never updated by DHL. This caused me to think the package was lost in China somewhere. - The package actually arrived 2-3 days after it was marked shipped as expected, however, it had a different waybill number. The original number sent by DirtyPCBs was not on the package anywhere nor in the documentation. The tracking history for the actual waybill number was very active. Not sure what happened here.
Overall I'm very satisfied, and will definitely use the prototype DirtyPCBs service again.
