My small order for a single PCB, required the manufacture of at least 5 PCBs of the same type. The boards were shipped with DHL direct to my home from PCBWay in China. Quality and value are what arrived in well-packaged box on my front porch.
Arrival
The boards arrived exactly as notified. I was impressed with the care taken in packaging—the box was well protected, and the PCBs were sealed in PCBWay’s packaging with desiccant included for moisture control. All five boards were clean, flat, and well protected.
I inspected the boards for any visible manufacturing defects and found none. The finished PCBs accurately reflected the Gerber and drill files I provided to PCBWay.
Inspection
This PCB design had pads I designed to provide a mounting for Harwin RFI enclosure clips. I realized during assembly that the surface tension at solder melt would perfectly align these clips. PCBWay oriented them 90 degrees to how they should have been, again exactly as I specified in the Gerber files. I measured these pad coordinates relative to the edge references and they were perfect! We’ll fix that final version.
I am constantly aware of the heat being applied to the SMD components. I was closely paying attention to the PCB as items were individually being soldered. I.e. I was looking for any defect in the printed circuit board (PCB) from the high temperature being used with the liquid solder (285 C). Everything held together for the entire assembly.
Because this design uses surface-mount components, I paid close attention to how the board handled heat during soldering. Each component was soldered individually at approximately 285 °C, and I carefully watched for any signs of delamination, pad lifting, or trace damage. The PCB remained mechanically and electrically sound throughout the entire assembly process.
The product was solid.
I did not individually probe every trace. For a large or densely populated board, I likely would have. This design is intentionally simple—three inductors and five capacitors forming an RF filter—so functional testing after assembly was the most practical and meaningful validation.
To complete the RF shielding, I fabricated a cover using 0.2 mm sheet aluminum. This enclosure, open on the bottom, mates with the Harwin clips and fully shields the passive RF components.
Testing
Final testing was performed using a NanoVNA. The results exceeded my expectations, with an insertion loss of just –0.84 dB. Yes—very pleased with that result.
Final Review
Overall, I was extremely satisfied with the entire PCB manufacturing experience, from the initial order process through final testing. Every stage—shipping updates, production notifications, delivery timing, arrival condition, physical inspection, verification against design files, hands-on assembly, and final RF performance testing—met or exceeded my expectations for a professionally manufactured printed circuit board.
I am not a salesperson or affiliate. I approach this strictly as a designer and engineer who cares deeply about accuracy, repeatability, and real-world performance. From that perspective, PCBWay delivered exactly what was promised. The finished boards matched my Gerber and drill files precisely, arrived well-packaged and protected, and withstood both mechanical handling and high-temperature soldering without issue.
What stood out most was the overall workmanship-to-price ratio. For a technically demanding RF project—specifically a 20-meter band-pass filter PCB—the manufacturing quality, dimensional accuracy, and electrical reliability were excellent, especially given the cost. The boards performed as designed once assembled, and the measured RF results confirmed that the PCB fabrication did not introduce unexpected losses or defects.
Based on this experience, I can confidently recommend PCBWay to other engineers, designers, and amateur radio builders who are looking for reliable PCB manufacturing services at a competitive price. The combination of order creation, build workmanship, general communication, shipping notifications, and product value makes PCBWay a strong choice for both prototype and small-batch production work.
I’ll also refer this posting mentioning PCBWay ‘s suite of other services.
My About page provides the background of my project, the Freedom7 HF Transceiver.
If this story resonates, comments are welcome. You can also reach me at david [at] kr4bad-dot-communications. no com
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73 KR4BAD David
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