Hello Everyone and Happy Holidays.  As some of you might or may not know, every year around this time our manufacturer in China shuts down.  Along with these listed shut down dates, BatchPCB.com will be shut down and not panelizing orders on December 26th, 2011 and January 2nd, 2012.  Although the manufacturer will be shutdown for these two brief periods, we will still be accepting orders.   With the New Year, comes a new webstie as well.  Hopefully by February we will have a new site that will a nice upgrade from what we have as of today. 

Here are the expected manufacturing shut down periods.

December 23, 2011 - January 9, 2012

January 20, 2012 - January 30, 2012.

If you have any questions on how these dates will effect you or anything else for that mattter, email us  at Support@batchpcb.com with your questions.

-BatchPCB Support

Today we are rolling out a new function for BatchPCB customers.  Now you can have your order expedited, changing the lead time from 2-3 weeks to 1 to 1 1/2 weeks or less.  There are a few steps that need to take place in order for you to get your BatchPCB order expedited.  Once you have made the order, email Support@batchpcb.com immediately with your Order # and a message telling us that you would like to have your order expedited. (DO NOT PUT THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE ORDER NOTES, YOU MUST EMAIL US).  We will then make the adjusted charge via the payment method you chose for the order.  Depending on the initial volume of expedited orders, we expect the expedited panels to get sent out for processing  1 to 2 times a week, Monday through Friday.  Either way an expedited panel will go out once a week guarunteed.  Below are the details of the costs of getting your order expedited.  Hopefully we can start rolling out expedited panels everyday!

Order Size (Square Inches)       Expedited Price

15 "  or less                               $10.00

30"   or less                               $20.00

45"   or less                               $30.00

60"   or less                               $40.00

75"   or less                               $50.00

90"   or less                               $60.00

100" or more                              $85.00

It is the Holiday season again and also  that time of year  when our manufacturer shuts down for a month.  The dreaded Gold Phoenix shutdown starts December 23, 2010 and ends January 17, 2011.  We will still be accepting orders and submitting them to the manufacturer, but lead times will be longer.  The manufacturer will  be taking orders 4 hrs a day, during the dates of  Jan 3 - 14th 2011.  During these dates, panels will be submitted for production.  There is good news as well.  Currently we are working on finding an alternative manufacturer for this shut down period. When an alternative is found the lead times will stay the same as normal..  Check the news blog here in the next week for an update about what the production schedule will be.

-BatchPCB Support.

We are back up and running folks.  Sorry about the delay.  Please send any issues to support@batchpcb.com

Thanks,

BatchPCB Support

Hey all,

We have upgraded to PHP 5.3, and BatchPCB does not like that. I am working hard to get that fixed, so please be aware a lot of stuff is broken. I will keep you guys posted as we continue to fix the problem

Thanks for your patience,

BatchPCB Support

We are no longer accepting any floating files during the upload process.  Please take a look at the list below.

We are only accepting the following file extensions:

• TopCopper - ".gtl" , ".cmp", ".top"
• BottomCopper - ".gbl", ".sol", ".bot"
• TopSolderMask - ".gts", ".stc", ".smt", ".stoptop", ".tsm"
• BottomSolderMask - ".gbs", ".sts", ".smb", ".stopbot", ".bsm"
• TopSilk - ".gto", ".plc", ".sst", ".positop", ".leg", ".slk"
• BottomSilk - ".gbo", ".pls", ".ssb", ".posibot", ".bsk"
• Drill - ".drl", ".txt", ".tap", ".drill", ".gdd", ".drd", ".cnc", ".exl"
• KeepOut - ".gko"
• MiddleCopper1 - ".g2"
• MiddleCopper2 - ".g3"
• BottomStencil - ".gbp"
• TopStencil - ".gtp"
• Outline - ".outline", ".oln"

Please ensure that you include files that are necessary for manufacturing.

Thanks,

BatchPCB Support

If you are having trouble with the Drcbot and it is not rendering images, delete the original and try re-uploading the design again.  If this is still not working, send us an email  support@batchpcb.com. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Also we have added a new search feature for designs.  You can now search by name and email.

Thanks!

Patrick

Batch PCB has been down for a while now due to the DRCbot having issues with improperly formatted drill files.  We have instituted some checks to avoid this problem in the future.  If you have any questions about your drill file or any files in general please email us at support@batchpcb.com.

Thanks,

BatchPCB Support

Since we launched the newly updated BatchPCB Marketplace, there have been a few popular questions.  If you have any further questions feel free to email us at Support@batchpcb.com.

Q:  Can designs be rated?

A:  Yes, designs can be rated but you must be logged in to rate the designs.  There are two arrows above and below the number "0" on the design, click up or down on the arrows to rate the design. The ratings will help you filter through bad designs and save you time and money.

Q:  Can I *flag* bad designs?

A:  Yes,  the red flag in the product box lets you *flag* designs that don't work and violate copyright laws.  Also feel free to flag designs that don't properly follow the open-source liscence.  We will receive and email once a design has been flagged and take action to handle the situation.

Q:  How do I get the best results for selling my design?

A:  Provide as much information about the design as possible.  Provide links to a schematic as well as a parts list to maximize potential for a positive sale.

Q;  How will I get paid?

A; Royalties will be paid on a monthly basis and must meet a minimum amount of $10. In your monthly check, you will receive the earnings in the reporting period (the previous month), plus any royalties earned in previous pay periods that did not meet the minimum. For example, if you earned $2.75 in January, $5 in February, and $20 in March, you would get a check (or PayPal transfer) at the beginning of April for $27.75.

Q:  What is BatchPCB's return policy?

A;  All sales are final.

So you made a PCB design? Think others might benefit from it? Sell it! You can sell as many (or as few) designs as you want and can receive payment via check or paypal. *Available only to residents in the United States.  This is our new exciting feature for Batchpcb.com!  You can only sell your own designs (or open-source designs if you properly follow the license.  Royalties will be paid on a monthly basis and must meet a minimum amount of $10. In your monthly check, you will receive the earnings in the reporting period (the previous month), plus any royalties earned in previous pay periods that did not meet the minimum. For example, if you earned $2.75 in January, $5 in February, and $20 in March, you would get a check (or PayPal transfer) at the beginning of April for $27.75.  All sales are final with this new addition.  Before becoming a reseller in the BatchPcb.com marketplace you need to fill out a W-9 form here http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf?portlet=3, scan it and email it to forms@batchpcb.com.   We are also taking another proactive measure to keep you informed about the panelization process, by introducing our own Twitter account, www.twitter.com/batchPCB.  Find out how full the panel is and when panelization will be done for the day.  Feel free to use the Twitter page to promote your products as well as general feedback.  Although Twitter is awesome, for questions about orders continue to email support@batchpcb.com. We hope you enjoy these new features!

-Patrick