Considering the number of cards I need for my sim, I'm thinking about ordering a mess of just the PCB's, buy the components from Mouser, and get out the solder iron. Considering international shipping and the exchange rate, this would save me roughly $400. Has anyone done this before? OC doesn't give very detailed component BOM's...mfg part # would be ideal. Also I've never programmed IC's before, so don't know if I'd be getting in over my head. Many of the programs are available to download from their website, but I don't know if these are simple self installing or require some tweaking.
Just wondering if anyone's done this and if the extra complexity would be worth the cost savings.