electroniceel
FR: More IC package adapters
Hi! So my package from China has arrived and I've been playing with the boards a little. Somehow I managed to solder a couple of things onto them with an old, huge ERSA MultiTip C15 without making any unwanted connections. Nice. The IC adapters are a little finnicky but can also be made to work with a bit of practice.
One thing that makes me a little sad though: no SSOP (up to 28 pins, i.e. FTDI232), nor QFP (also up to 28 pins, i.e. CP2102 or even up to 64 pins, i.e. ADS1296), nor SON (i.e. the 10-pin TPS63031 or the wide 12-pin LM27762 which are both pretty cool), nor BGA (another nice TI chip as an example, the 12-pin LM3686).
I realize there's a myriad of packages out there and each takes a lot of work, but perhaps at some point there'll be enough interest that an adapter-only board variant might be warranted... :)
For more complex stuff like microcontrollers or FTDI232 I prefer small breakout boards which already have the important footprints, like capacitors, crystals,... on them. But if you are using a part the first time and want to test it out, a footprint-only adapter might make sense.
Feel free to create some footprints and send pull requests.
That works fine unless you're pressured for space. For now I'm going with the isolation-tape-power-glue-enameled-wire technique. If at some point I get around to learning KiCad I'll gladly give it a shot.