Why is Spread Glass popular? Chris Hunrath from Insulectro Why is spread glass so popular and what material sets are best for different PCB designs? Listen to this Ontrack Podcast episode & get expert insights and learn about new materials from Chris Hunrath. Read Article Obsolescence Management of Electronic Components Throughout Product Lifetime I know what you’re thinking. Why can’t my manager automate a process for obsolescence management of electronic components? It would be nice to have one database compatible with each user’s software. Until then, I’ve set up weekly meetings so stakeholders can collect germane information about components into a common spreadsheet. It has been working but I would like to automate with software that all departments can use effectively. Let’s face it Read Article Keep the Petals on: Optimizing Daisy Chain Wired Communication As a child, I was fascinated by trains. I remember staring down an empty railway for hours, simply waiting for a train to pass by. From my youthful perspective at the time, it was magical how the train never fell off the track despite essentially being a moving chain consisting of many . Although I eventually outgrew my obsession with trains, I became enamored by the daisy chain style of wiring for communication in electronics. As my career as an Read Article DC Power Supply Protection from Unexpected Damage and Inconvenience When it comes to parenting, I might not be the best role model. This isn’t because I don’t take good care of my only son; it’s because I’m the stereotypical overprotective dad. I fuss over tiny bruises and rush for a digital thermometer at the slightest hint of a fever. Unable to stop worrying about how my son will adapt and get along with other preschoolers, I even become an occasional nuisance at his nursery. Over time, I’m starting to realize Read Article Collaborative Design Software: Create PCB Schematic Symbols for any Component We’ve all been knee deep in a schematic capture session when we are suddenly hard-walled by a missing component in our project library. You check other libraries to see if the part exists but find everything except success. What do you do? Thankfully, these situations are mitigated by Altium Designer’s software solutions. With tools designed for you to work as intuitively and efficiently as you can, you will be cruising in no time. Creating your Read Article How to Use Altium Designer for Quick PCB Component Placement “A place for everything, everything in its place” are profound words by the incomparable Benjamin Franklin that are especially applicable when applied to component placement on PCBs and in your Altium library loader. Let’s see how to use Altium Designer to put these words into action for your PCB design Placing Components Directly with no Schematic Whether you are creating a relatively simple printed circuit board or adding to an existing design Read Article PCB Design Applications Thanks to advanced PCB design tool technology, designers are able to save both time and money. Benefits to the Unified Data Model Approach include not just time savings, but the potential of an evolving suite of PCB design tools. Use that time to explore new tips and techniques. Click on the presentation PDF above to read more about PCB Design Applications in this Altium Ebook Bundle. Or read the original, full-length content here: Untangle Read Article The Anniversary Edition OnTrack Newsletter April 2018 OnTrack Newsletter April 2018 VOL. 2 No 1 Welcome to the one-year anniversary edition of the Altium® OnTrack newsletter! In celebration, our team decided to make this the reader’s choice edition by sharing the top three most read articles from Rock Stars and Superheroes and Makerspace for this past year. We also have a brand new video by Ben Jordan on Multi-board: Partitioning and Planning, and a fresh batch of Brain Food and Regional News below Read Article Using Platform Unification Removes Need for BOM Analysis One of my friends laments that her husband has three versions of the same flat-head screwdriver. He doesn’t put his tools away so when he goes looking for a flat-head screwdriver, he can’t find one let alone three. Rather than spend his day looking for the lost tool, he conveniently drives to the hardware store and buys another. Enterprise databases are prone to the same redundancies, that’s why BOM analysis is important. Over time, designers Read Article How to Interface an LED With an 8051 Microcontroller: Processes and Applications When my professors saw my first electronics project, they weren’t too hopeful about my future as a design engineer. With hundreds of jumper wires clumsily soldered onto a prototyping board, my feeble attempt at making a ham radio barely passed as a joke. I was learning about the dot matrix, pic microcontroller, and RGB LED lights. Everyone has to start from the beginning! Thankfully, I’ve come a long way since those days. If you’re starting your Read Article Power Consumption Tips: What are Ways to Reduce Power Consumption in an Embedded System? For years, I always forgot to turn off the lights and fans at my house. Despite initially denying that constantly using these appliances significantly increased my electricity usage, I eventually broke my bad habit and began turning off every little switch. After all, being more prudent about my electricity usage reduces my monthly bills and promotes a greener earth. Unfortunately, minimizing system power consumption in an embedded system Read Article Rigid PCB Vs Flexible PCB: How Adaptable is Your Design Approach After working on multiple projects for a demanding client, I often relieve my stress by kicking it out at a local martial arts gym. When I was a teenager, I was quite flexible and had no trouble landing kicks. These days, however, my kicks are somewhat restrained by my rigid legs; I’m simply not as flexible as I used to be. Of course, flexibility and rigidity are important concepts outside of the martial arts gym as well. While designing PCBs Read Article Beyond Unified Workflow: True Unified PCB Design When it’s crunch time my only focus is on getting my PCB design to the finish line correctly and out the door to manufacturing - unified workflow comes later. I know from experience that there are a number of obstacles in that can get in my way and cause a delay. You know, unavailable parts, feature creepage - I’m used these obstacles, they are part of the job. But I am routinely stressed by needing to manipulate different design tools and data Read Article 3D PCB Editor Simplifies Concurrent ECAD/MCAD Modeling Spending my weekends contending with powerful, yet non-intuitive modeling software is getting old. It is a shame we’ve come so far from the first CPU and its promise of computing power to still struggle with endless menus, and setting intricate parameters just to get started. The learning curves continue to suck precious hours from engineers and PCB designers, leaving many to give up new functions, such as 3D, in favor of reliable 2D environments Read Article How to Connect Two PCB Boards With a Bus: Do Not Pass When Flashing Yellow During my school days, my favorite time of the day was when the bell rang and we were free to go home. While waiting for my school bus, I spent time messing around with my friends and would be so engrossed in playing that I’d occasionally miss my bus. Naturally, my mom wasn’t too thrilled about having to pick me up after a busy day of work. Missing the school bus, fun as it may have initially seemed, resulted in some serious grounding. Without Read Article Knowledge Before Power: Making Shapes to Create an Assembly Drawing in Altium Designer You are going to be doing a lot of critical work in your CAD tools. Everything from the building, connecting schematic nets, laying out the PCB, and finally creating the assembly drawings. That’s a lot to consider when you are first exploring your PCB design system that it can be easy to overlook a very basic function in all of those “how-to” videos and demonstrations. How in the world do I create a simple rectangle or even a line in these tools Read Article PCB Manufacturing Production and Process Manufacturing a printed circuit board and designing a circuit board are two different things. As designers or electrical engineers who are now laying out boards, you may have some questions for your manufacturer that are best asked in advance. There is always an advantage to working closely with your fabricator. Consider the big picture and the very details that impact your projects' success. Click the PDF above to read more about PCB Read Article Pagination First page « First Previous page ‹‹ Page148 Current page149 Page150 Page151 Page152 Page153 Next page ›› Last page Last » Load More
