Cheap XO PC Boards

[AudioFreakca]

Does anyone know where i can find some cheap pc boards im thinking of building the Dayton 3 MTM crossovers.


Thanks

[Dan Mattis]

I have used both of these pc board fabricators:

http://www.4pcb.com/

http://www.expresspcb.com/

They both have free software that you can download. They will make double sided prototype boards for around $50. After desiging the board, the software uploads the design to thier servers and they fabricate the boards from the files. A credit card is required to pay when ordering.

Dan

[Hal H]

I have some 4 mm marine plywood leftover from a project. CHEAP!

If you arrange your components strategically component leads can be directly soldered together through holes drilled in the board. Minimal jumpers are required.

Unless the XOs are visible, I don't see any reason to make them too pretty

Hal H

[terryo]

Plywood works, although I tend to use 1/8 inch perforated masonite (peg board) if it's available. You can use hot glue and wire ties for holding things in place, with heavy gauge solid copper wire or tinned stranded wire for "Bus Bars."
Point-to-point wiring is not only the mark of a Custom/High-End product, but allows for easy upgrades and modifications with minimum downtime. Let's face it, PC Boards are for mass produced products and other than an active crossover, are really of very little utility. PC boards encourage compact grouping of components, which in the case of inductors is not the ideal situation in any case.

If you are using a two way parallel crossover you might want to use two separate boards, with one for the treble and the other for your mid/bass drivers and mount them some distance apart. Series crossovers are a bit different, but that's probably not what you're planning on using anyway.

Best Regards,
TerryO

[Wolf]

Does anyone know where i can find some cheap pc boards im thinking of building the Dayton 3 MTM crossovers.


Thanks

Here's an example:




and the thread with lots of pictures for inspiration:

http://techtalk.parts-express.com/sh...physical+xover

Have fun!
Wolf

[lunchmoney]

If you really want to keep it simple, there's nothing wrong with good old cardboard and hot glue... electrons aren't too picky about aesthetics.

[Paul Carmody]

Plywood works, although I tend to use 1/8 inch perforated masonite (peg board) if it's available. You can use hot glue and wire ties for holding things in place, with heavy gauge solid copper wire or tinned stranded wire for "Bus Bars."
Point-to-point wiring is not only the mark of a Custom/High-End product, but allows for easy upgrades and modifications with minimum downtime. Let's face it, PC Boards are for mass produced products and other than an active crossover, are really of very little utility. PC boards encourage compact grouping of components, which in the case of inductors is not the ideal situation in any case.

+1

Pegboard + zip ties and you're good to go! Honestly, building a XO is not nearly as difficult as it seems. In fact, it's one of the most enjoyable parts of the build--for me anyway. For understanding how to read a schematic, there's no beating Curt's nodal analysis, and for the actual construction, Wayne's guidelines are great.

[djarchow]

I etch my own. It is fairly easy and cheaper than the online services.

madisound also sells a couple different generic XO boards including a matrix type that can be adapted for almost any layout.

Regards,

Dennis

[the kid]

Go to THE SHACK! They have a couple different sizes. A few bucks.

[AudioFreakca]

I just found some at radio shack (thanks Kid) http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2102862 would these work?

[Ludo]

I just found some at radio shack (thanks Kid) http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2102862 would these work?

That's what I use. The ones with the 0.062# holes are the best - will fit even the larger inductor leads without any drilling. Push all the component leads through the holes, wire up on the backside, solder, add tie wraps to the heavy components, test, and finally hot glue.

Louis

[Face]

For inside, I use spare pieces of MDF. Drill holes and glue where appropriate.

[rogoll]

Here are some pretty reasonably priced generic XO boards. Pretty good variety of sizes, too.

[quadtech]

An alternative is island pad style PCB. For a small run,
you could use wood paddle hole drill bits instead
of the diamond bit mentioned in the link below.

http://www.cliftonlaboratories.com/P...ad_Prototyping

[maynardg]

Why the ceramic cap Wolf?

Here's an example:




and the thread with lots of pictures for inspiration:

http://techtalk.parts-express.com/sh...physical+xover

Have fun!
Wolf

[rone]

My last crossover used no board at all. I made separate units for the woofers and tweeter. I attached the caps and resistors to the inductor, then velcroed the inductors to the cabinet walls. This required two separate runs from the terminal cups, but the crossovers are easily removed and modified. Obviously this only works for relatively simple crossovers....

[mattk]

cardboard and a hot glue gun

[Wolf]

Why the ceramic cap Wolf?

What ceramic cap? The little part you are referring to is a polyswitch protection device for the tweeter.
Later,
Wolf