Factor of Matt's PCBWay Shared Projects
I'm not a YouTuber...
...but PCBWay has offered to sponsor a project or two of mine and you bet I'm taking them up on the offer.
Just visit PCBWay via the links in the projects below, place an order and in a week or two you'll receive a batch of shiny, new PCBs to begin your next project. If you're not in the mood to solder, why not see if you can have them assemble your PCB for you.
Shared Project: DesTest MAX-Switch
These new DesTest MAX-Switch PCBs (or just 'Switch) are only 58mm wide by 49mm deep - but I didn't really have to know that. I navigated to the QuickOrder page and uploaded my gerber zip file with the Add Gerber File button and within moments a picture of the PCB appeared and the dimensions were automatically filled in. I picked the quantity of PCBs I wanted, selected ENIG (which is a good idea for cartridge edge connectors) surface-finish and chose my favourite red solder-mask. I paid for my order and a little over a week later ten shiny new boards arrived at my door ready for assembly.
The boards came vacuum sealed with a silica gel packet all well protected in their box with white foam.
Aside from ordering ENIG finishing, there is nothing particularly special about these boards but from the quality of the manufacturing you wouldn't know that. The traces are all straight and crisp, the exposed pads are consistent and flat, the solder-mask is bright and vibrant with an even hue and the silkscreen printing is sharp and easily legible. It is a shame that many of these (and your) 'Switch PCBs will end up inside cartridge cases hidden away from the world.
Fresh from PCBWay
While these boards look great fresh from PCBWay, they look absolutely fantastic when fully populated. All the pads, including ground-pins, took solder extremely well and completely filled the holes as soon as the solder was introduced. As fantastic as my hand-built assembly looks, I can only imagine how amazing they would look if they were assembled using PCBWay's assembly service.
You may order your DesTest MAX-Switch PCBs from PCBWay here: DesTest MAX Switch Cartridge v2, 2026 or click the "Support me on PCBWay" icon below.
If you have some PCB's built, why not submit a review or comment with pictures of your build to the Shared Projects page.
All components installed.
Shared Project: DesTest MAX-Switch-Select
This board is the bigger-brother to the DesTest MAX-Switch PCB above. This design adds two slide switches and a little extra logic to allow easy switching between any of up to six program images (diagnostics programs). Two of the images may be 16K 'Switch binaries, two may be 8K /GAME (max) binaries and two may be 8K /EXROM binaries.
Ordering these boards followed the same process as for the 'Switch boards and as you can see the quality is excellent as is expected from a professional PCB fabricator such as PCBWay.
PCBWay makes the PCB you want. They will sometimes suggest ways to enhance your design and make it the PCB you need.
This design includes board cutouts for the slide-switches. I wouldn't usually think about embellishing those cuts with slight mitres to ease the edges but since somebody else is manufacturing the boards, why not go for it? Small things like this aren't a fuss or a luxury and they don't cost more: PCBWay makes the PCB you want.
You will notice that the edge-connector has no solder-mask. A year or so ago, an engineer at PCBWay suggested that an edge connector on a different board would likely benefit from having no solder-mask: repeated insertion of the board can cause the solder-mask to rub-off and lead the conductors to get dirty and wear out prematurely. I've been doing it ever since! PCBWay can help make the PCB you need.
A fresh DesTest MAX-Switch Select board enters the chat.
These boards have been built using ENIG surface finishing. A thin layer of gold has been plated on the otherwise exposed copper. The gold finish not only looks fantastic but resists corrosion and tarnishing that plain copper or solder cannot hope to match. The edge connector, traditionally a problem area for cartridges will stand the test of time and give years of perfect service.
Should you opt to buy the regular HASL surface finishing instead you will still get an excellent, durable PCB, but you might have to clean the edge connector with IPA once in a while to maintain full conductivity - and it might not look quite as snazzy. You do you.
You may order your DesTest MAX-Switch-Select PCBs from PCBWay here: DesTest MAX Switch Select Cartridge or click the "Support me on PCBWay" icon below.
If you have some PCB's built, why not submit a review or comment with pictures of your build to the Shared Projects page.
Fully populated and ready to help save some more C64s.