Thanks for the compliment Mr B - I've never lost my enthusiasm for homebrew and designing and making simple PCBs. For me, though messy, tedious and time consuming it can be, it isn't a chore or an obstacle or I'd find something else to do!
Well done on your 'parcel tape' PCB - it looks excellent.
For many years I used to use 'Fablon' sticky backed plastic onto which I traced PCBs from magazine layouts using carbon paper, occasionally using modelling paints or rub down transfers for such things are IC pads. Back when Practical Wireless really was 'practical' and was full of constructional articles, PCB layouts pre-date CAD design packages and seemed to favour 'Fablon' style PCB layouts.
My first big project was the PW 'Purbeck' oscilloscope in which the raw and stabilised power supply PCBs were designed so that they could be made using cut out Fablon, as can be seen on pages 26 & 29 of the May 1978 PW. The scope worked a treat and I still have it, though haven't used it for many years:
https://www.americanradiohistory.com...PW-1978-05.pdf
The June 1978 PW featured part 2 of an Audio Distortion meter, for which there were four PCBs, the artwork for which is on pages 22 & 24. Again, the PCB designs lent themselves to the Fablon/parcel tape technique:
https://www.americanradiohistory.com...PW-1978-06.pdf
Back when Radio & Electronics World was in print, it featured a design for a 15 Watt HF PA, which used four CB transceiver PA transistors. The PCB for that design was a 'Fablon inspired' one. I built to use for a homebrew G-QRP 'Epiphyte' 5 Watt SSB transceiver.
For some time now I've tended to design layouts which leave as much copper on the board as possible, by creating blocks which hark back to 'Fablon days' rather than pad and track layouts. I've never bothered with CAD PCB packages, which really, aren't meant for homebrew PCBs. I see lots of designs created with software such as Express PCB, with needlessly narrow tracks and small pads. Fine if the PCB is professionally made and CNC drilled, but for DIY techniques? I don't think so. It takes far longer to etch such layouts, with the risk of 'undercutting' tracks, and calls for very accurate drilling of pads.
I sometimes amend published designs to add more copper.
We each come at this from different angles and so long as we enjoy it, that's all that matters. I dislike stripboard, Manhattan and 'dead bug' construction - I know the electrons don't care one way or the other, but if I can't make things neatly, I don't bother. Of course, nowadays, the laser print/iron on technique, which I've never tried, obviates the need for a UV light box, a UV mask and getting the exposure time and developer strength just right.
A few pics below of PCBs that have lent themselves to 'Fablon'/parcel tape:
Pic 1: The 15 Watt HF PA from R&EW.
Pic 2: A regulated PSU PCB
Pic 3: My amended version of that PCB to the same layout , but leaving more copper in place, lessening the etching time.
Pic 4: Etched and drilled PCB I designed for the two transistor Gary Tempest amplified loop antenna.
Pic 5: Etched and drilled PCB I designed for the Gary Tempest 'Wellgood' clone amplified loop antenna.
(The latter two designs featured in BVWS Bulletins, using 'Manhattan' construction).
The PCBs in pics 4, & 5 were made using negative UV dry film, which requires a negative rather than positive UV mask. Using that technique, any transparent areas of the mask remain after etching, and any opaque areas are dissolved when the PCB is developed, and etched away in the etching process. I can see the appeal of parcel tape!
“I suppose you'd have to say that my interest in the subject fell somewhere between the Land of Hobbies and the Kingdom of Obsession.”
― Stephen King, Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales.
Errrm yes, I guess so!