The Problem With Using Excel Templates For Your Bill of Materials Let’s give credit where credit is due: templates can be very useful tools. I’m not really the artistic type, and artistic templates have really helped enhance my documents and presentations. Templates are useful for certain tasks, but using a bill of materials template for a new electronic device is not one of them. Moving from a finished design to the assembly stage for a new product is no simple task. Your manufacturer needs detailed Read Article Creating Library Parts and Attaching 3D Models Enables Clearer Designs Between custom and standard components, your component helps you keep track of everything from SPICE models to basic 2D footprints for use during layout. As PCB design leaves the two dimensions and enters three dimensions, modern component libraries now come packaged with 3D models. Building a 3D model for your proprietary components is also a good idea if you ever plan to check mechanical clearances. But most PCB design software platforms don’t Read Article Helpful Tips for Interactive Routing in Altium Designer I haven’t met a PCB designer yet who doesn’t like to route tracks on their design manually. It can be therapeutic, cathartic, relaxing, and (if you aren’t under a lot of pressure to complete your design), downright fun. On the flip side, though is the frustration that you can feel when you can’t get the PCB design tools to work the way you know that they should. You’re trying to route some tracks in, and you need to change a trace width, but you Read Article Seamless Global Transfer with Julie Ellis from TTM In this week's OnTrack Podcast episode learn how to avoid excessive technical queries and how to migrate from prototype to production seamlessly while optimizing global processes. Watch or Listen now! Read Article Termination Methods in High Speed and High Frequency PCBs The topic of termination will inevitably come up when dealing with high-speed digital systems. Most digital systems have at least one standardized high-speed interface, or possibly fast GPIOs that produce fast edge rate signals. Advanced systems will have many standardized interfaces which also have termination applied, normally on the semiconductor die. If you determine that you actually need termination, what method should be used? As it turns Read Article Are Engineers and PCB Technologists Homegrown? Mihir and Milan Shah Over the past year, I’ve noticed a subtle trend in the designers and technologists we’ve interviewed for this newsletter. Have you noticed it? There have been several times people cited their parents as the ones who inspired them to pursue an electronics career. (Think...Rick Hartley, Nicole Creeden, Bill Brooks, Charles Pfeil, Mary Elizabeth McCulloch, etc.). This is especially true at Royal Circuit Solutions, which is Read Article Quick Turn Circuit Board Fabrication with Royal Circuits Get tips to design for quick turn circuit boards and design for fabrication. Learn how same-day turn times on printed circuit boards is possible at high quality board shops like Royal Circuits. Read Article Differences Between Hardware Design for Hobbyists and Commercial Applications Although hobbyist and professional hardware may seem similar in terms of function, professional designs must abide by broader considerations. Read Article How to Optimize HDI Design in Electronics Neutron stars seem like the stuff of science fiction. Imagine stars as large as the sun exploding in a blinding supernova. Better yet, consider how the spectacular explosion peels the outer layers of the star away and leaves a small, continually collapsing dense core. Gravity pushes the dense matter together to the point of protons and electrons combining into neutrons. As the star’s gravity becomes 200 billion times stronger than the Earth’s Read Article Board Shape Management in 3D Modeling Software Rectangular PCBs are old-school. Newer devices are more likely to use an odd-shaped PCB that closely conforms to its packaging or a rigid-flex board that moves with the device. 3D visualization tools have become essential for PCB designers, especially when designing rigid-flex boards with unique shapes. Using CAD software, you’ll want to have a Sketchup that ensures printing is easy to achieve. Managing board shapes for use in rigid and rigid Read Article An Introduction to Multi-board Design in Altium Designer Brain games are a good way to stay sharp. One of my favorite ways to implement this is by doing daily puzzles. Although I love the crossword puzzles where you complete the words from a given clue, I think puzzles that require you to put the pieces together can be the most challenging, especially when it is a group activity. It reminds me of one of the more daunting problems for engineers and PCB designers, which is multi-board design. Not only Read Article Excel Versus BOM Software: When Your Data Management Tool Needs an Upgrade At our house, creating a grocery shopping list can become a multi-day event. Stage 1 of the extravaganza involves a careful but not well-planned review of all available grocery store ads. Stage 2 moves on to the analysis of those advertisements. One never knows where bargains may lurk. Then, Stage 3 takes us to the pantry for a study of our available resources while Stage 4 measures our budget against our needs. When we eventually stroll through Read Article Ceramic vs. FR4 Multilayer PCBs: When to Use Either and How Ceramic materials electronics are specialty materials used as PCB insulators and as substrates for IC packages. Today, ceramic production capacity for PCBs is easy to access from overseas vendors, and these materials see significant use in aerospace and automotive industries. Ceramic PCBs offer particular advantages over FR4 boards, although there is no single “ceramic” material. The current set of commercialized ceramic materials for PCBs are Read Article Multi-Directional Communication for Easy Mechanical and Electrical Collaboration My neighbor and I were sitting on the patio one summer dreaming up a Christmas display that would span both our yards. Engineers, right? Ambitious project, for sure, but we had fun visualizing Santa and his reindeer flying across our two roofs. We’d use LED light strings to span the rooflines and we’d incorporate controllers to synchronize Christmas music. Several months later after summer had turned to Fall, in comes the neighbor with a CAD Read Article 18:44 Exploring Altium Designer's Project Releaser Webinar What is the Altium Project Releaser? The Project Releaser is a single-click automation of manufacturing output generation built on top Watch Video Hybrid Construction Trends in the Marketplace Hybrid construction is a huge growth area with a lot of opportunity for PCB designers. In this episode Chris Hunrath, VP of Technology at Insulectro, shares valuable insights about the latest trends. Read Article Overview of PCB Development Process I have a friend who forgets that the rest of us can’t read his mind. He often starts a conversation without any sort of introduction or context. There have been many times where after several minutes of dialog I have had to hold up my hands and simply ask; “what are you talking about?” Once he backs up and gives me an overview, then I am ready for the details. Although this had made for some amusing moments, it isn’t nearly so funny when it Read Article Pagination First page « First Previous page ‹‹ Page135 Current page136 Page137 Page138 Page139 Page140 Next page ›› Last page Last » Load More
