Now that the PCB layout is finished, I need to get it fabricated as well as get components for the first build. This means I need a bill of materials(BOM).  In PCBnew, I selected the fabrication outputs from the file menu then BOM file.  This creates a CSV file that I can import into LibreOffice Calc.  Once imported I saw that several capacitors were assigned a value of C…I forgot to change them to actual values.  I went back to eescheema fixed all those values, ran a new netlist, then back into PCBnew and imported the netlist again.

This time when I imported the file, everything looked great except C16 wasn’t sorted in it’s line properly.  I don’t know if this is a bug in PCBnew, or if I somehow typed a bad(nonprintable) character into the reference designator.

I will use this BOM to order the parts for the first build.  I want to verify I can get the correct footprint components before I order the PCBs.  I will use Digikey, Newark, and or Mouser to get the parts I need to build these PCBs.  As I put the parts into my shopping cart I back filled the price and supplier into the spreadsheet. At D1 I discovered I had to change the footprint to SOD-323.

The connector P3 was going to cost $2.57 a piece in low quantities, so I went looking for a lower cost alternative.  I found a 2mm pitch header for $0.27 a piece.  A much better price.  So I chose to go back to the PCB design to change it. I created a new 2mm header footprint and replaced the footprint in my layout. The low quantity cost is now 29.13 per board. I managed to get all the parts except the radio and PCB from one supplier — Digikey.  This simplifies tracking of expenses. I ran the fabrication outputs from PCBnew, and ordered the PCB and electronic components.