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Explore content from blog posts to technical white papers gathered together for your convenience. All written by Altium's community of PCB design experts.

OnTrack Newsletter: Microvia Reliability, Ben Jordan Whiteboard, Tech Articles - June 2020 OnTrack Newsletter June 2020 VOL. 3 No 13 Microvia Reliability in Ultra-High Density Interconnect Designs. Earlier this year, while attending the IPC Apex Expo in San Diego, we met with Jim Brown of GreenSource Fabrication. He shared with us how the GreenSource team has been on the frontlines of facing down the highly problematic and pervasive issue of microvia reliability. Through their involvement with tier one companies, IPC, and building out Read Article
How to Approach Microvia Reliability Issues With Jim Brown of GreenSource Many people struggle with microvia reliability issues. Listen to Jim Brown discuss how GreenSource has handled many of these problems allowing them to make great strides! Listen to the Podcast: Download this episode (right click and save) Watch the video: {"preview_thumbnail":"/sites/default/files/styles/video_embed_wysiwyg_preview/public/video_thumbnails/TdakhkfOlVk.jpg?itok=jCRmTeix","video_url":"https://youtu.be/TdakhkfOlVk","settings":{ Read Article
Why Altium Designer 20 is Different Altium Designer 20 is a culmination of three initiatives that elevate it to an entirely new level. Here is what makes it so special. Download PDF
22:14 8 Reasons to Store Your Components in Altium 365 Working with local libraries seems like a simple solution, but we often don’t take into account the added time spent Watch Video
From Idea to Orbit with Altium, TE Connectivity, and Astranis Internet connectivity is so central to everyday life that it is easy to assume that everyone, everywhere is online. From eCommerce and social media to streaming video, our quality of life has become inextricably linked with our bandwidth capabilities. The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 made our reliance on internet technology even more salient. Yet, throughout the world internet coverage is unreliable. In many areas, including more rural parts of Read Article
How to Transition Your Global Team to Altium 365 Jeremie Waller, Sr. Electrical Engineer at Quantel Laser, visits the OnTrack podcast to talk about infrared lasers, microplasma bursts, transitioning to Altium 365, and setting up user groups. Listen to the Podcast: Download this episode (right click and save) Watch the video: {"preview_thumbnail":"/sites/default/files/styles/video_embed_wysiwyg_preview/public/video_thumbnails/RkwYRCM3pPc.jpg?itok=xjuM7uMX","video_url":"https://youtu.be Read Article
How to Create a PCB Manufacturing Cost Estimation Unless I receive a layout job directly from a manufacturer, my clients will usually ask if I’m a manufacturer. My company doesn’t manufacture boards, but I think it’s important to keep clients informed of the manufacturing costs for new PCBs. Once I started gathering estimates for some of my first projects, I started to better understand the primary cost drivers of PCB manufacturing and how to properly structure a comprehensive estimate for my Read Article
What is a Schematic Netlist for Your PCB? If you’ve created your next great schematic, there is a lot going on behind the scenes in your design software. The connectivity between components in your schematic can be reduced to a small number of logical and electrical identifiers. The schematic may provide a graphical picture showing connections between different components and pins, but to really understand everything about your design, you’ll need an important document. A schematic Read Article
Bridging the Gap Between Designers and Customers Discover how Altium 365 can help even small companies create big projects with ease. Read Article
Altium Launches “Refer-a-Friend” and Special Pricing Altium is proud to announce our latest initiative to arm even more PCB designers with the power of Altium Designer and Altium 365. Most new Altium customers have someone from the industry who's told them about us, so in appreciation for your help in making Altium Designer the world's #1 PCB design tool, we've created a program to reward referrals with cash. How does it work? Visit the Refer-a-Friend program page on our website, or simply launch Read Article
Altium Designer 20 Changed My PCB Routing Techniques I just finalized my first PCB design using Altium Designer 20®. At the same time, I tested some new AD20 features, and in this article, I’ll share my thoughts about new PCB routing tools which had the biggest impression on me: sliding, and any-angle routing. Having read about and watched videos on these PCB routing tools beforehand, I was eager to try them out. These new features have given me more options for my PCB routing techniques. New PCB Read Article
Current Monitor and Controller Project in Altium Designer In a previous project, I discussed options for using Current Transformers, and built a single channel amplifier/precision rectifier for one. In this project, we’re taking that idea to new levels. The house I rent has only 240V/16A to the garage. This is unfortunate, because as a Maker, I have some pretty fun toys in my garage, such as a CNC router and laser cutter. I have some moulds to machine for an upcoming big project in which I’ll be Read Article
Stealth Aircraft, Meet Quantum Radar If you read Max Clivefield's recent article on quantum computing and quantum communication, then you've got a head start on most when it comes to understanding entanglement. These esoteric areas of technology are likely to become more common in the coming decades, and could revolutionize modern technology. I don't think we'll ever have desktop quantum computers or quantum cell phones, but development of these new technologies has the potential to Read Article
Modeling Copper Foil Roughness in Altium Designer's Impedance Profiler Advanced transmission line models for long interconnects require that designers include copper foil roughness calculations in order to determine accurate impedance. Without the right models or design software, you’ll be left to estimate the skin effect impedance, dispersion, and parasitics in your PCB. These models can be difficult to work with by hand if you’re not mathematically inclined, but the right design tools can be used to quickly Read Article
Microvia Reliability in Ultra-High Density Interconnect Designs Judy Warner: Early this year, we had the opportunity to meet at IPC Apex in California. In our conversation, you talked about the pervasive issue of microvia reliability. Will you please describe the issue for our readers? Jim Brown: Judy, as the demand for technology has increased, it has trickled down to PCB density. The result is Ultra-HDI, stacked microvias, and sub-75-micron lines. Microvias have been in use for well over a decade but Read Article
High Density PCB Design Game Changer: 25 Micron Trace and Space ‌ Have you heard the latest development in PCB fabrication processes? High density PCB design follows the same trend seen in integrated circuits, where more functionality is packed into a smaller space. The smaller spacing in these boards makes precise manufacturing more difficult, which places important DFM rules on your high density PCB design. Now with the A-SAP™ process, you can place trace widths and spacing down to 1 mil, allowing tight Read Article
Getting Through a PCB DFM Check If you’re reading an Altium Blog, it’s probably safe to say that you’ve either designed or fabricated printed circuit boards. If you’re like me, sending a design to fab is a bittersweet experience. On the one hand, you’ll soon have your hands on the hardware you’ve been working hard to design. But on the other hand, you know the fabrication site is going to send a list of PCB DFM requests, and that’s never fun. In this article, we’ll discuss the Read Article