LM3916 bargraph driver board

[reagle]

Hi all, here is my attempt at making an LM391x breakout board that's usable in many different configurations.
Oddly enough I did not even know of these chip's existence until I saw Dave's battery monitoring video.
We, the youngsters..

Schematic is in http://kuzyatech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/DipTrace-Schematic-201305_LM3916_BargraphPreview.pdf
I've built the first prototype with sockets for the bargraph array and the driver for testing purposes. Eventually they'll just be soldered in.
Feeding it a ramp signal from my generator, I get a nice bouncing graph so it appears functional at the basic level.
A few pictures are attached.

Comments/suggestions/questions are welcome!

[mariush]

Why the mess with the DIP socket and having to take out the LM3916 to solder the part?

I'd get rid of that third hole, two holes should be enough to support such a light pcb. move led segments toward the top.

Then I'd take the three resistors and turn them 90 degrees and on the other side of the lm3916, same with that capacitor (i'd use 2 x 10uF if needed just to get small diameter to put in flat like a resistor)
turn r3 and the other 90 degrees , basically get all resistors nicely aligned there ...
put r5 there on board and maybe add a jumper shorting it when not needed (or disconnecting the trace etc) ...

All power and input-output pins should be towards the bottom where the screw holes are so that the weight of the cables won't bend it...