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Having two different design teams working together on computer-aided design processes can be tough. You constantly have to share software files back and forth, keeping track of what’s been sent and what’s been received. Not only that, the circuit board design data you sent isn’t the design data you receive. You’re constantly dealing with the file formats of different domains. The worst issues come up when printed circuit changes have been made...

Your design tools should give you an easy way to create circuit diagrams, simulate electrical behavior, and start a new PCB layout. A photodiode circuit is important in many applications, ranging from simple ON/OFF light detection to receiving digital data in an optical fiber. These semiconductor devices are similar to a regular diode, but they can be difficult to simulate without the right component models and circuit design tools. With Altium...

PCB transmission line calculators are a dime a dozen, giving you the tools you need to calculate lossless impedance, lossless propagation delay, or simple things like DC resistance. These quantities are nice to know, but they don't tell you the whole story about your design. Online calculators are also known to give incorrect results when used for impedance calculations, especially because they cannot consider fundamental phenomena like...

Anytime you need to prepare a new design and plan a production run, it’s important to work up an estimate for design, PCB fabrication, assembly, shipping, components, and any other portions of a project. There is a lot that goes into any project and it needs to be planned out early in order to prevent cost overruns. Some designers looking for manufacturing services and component prices might be tempted to use an online calculator, but this is...

There’s a lot of data that goes into any PCB design project. The design files and project files all have their own parameters, and these can be customized to provide plenty of useful information for data management. ECAD software users need a simple way to keep their parameter sets organized within their project files, component libraries, and much more. Parameters can appear in all types of objects in your ECAD software, as well as in any type...

Finding and sourcing new components for your design should be an easy process. Parts specifications can get very detailed, and there are many component options and part browsers on the market (e.g. Ultra Librarian, SamacSys, DMS, etc.). How can designers narrow down to the components they need and source components from authorized distributors? Using an OEMSTrade electronics part search and other distributor websites only gives you a partial...

Electronic symbols are the basis for the CAD documents you’ll create before you prepare a circuit board layout. An electronic symbols library contains basic symbols and figures that are used in electrical drawings, and they need to be linked to the PCB footprints that will appear in your PCB layout. When you need to prepare and organize clear PCB layouts and electrical drawings, you need a reliable source of CAD symbols and PCB footprints, and it...

Many engineers will do some basic calculations by hand in order to understand their filter and amplifier circuits. However, for complex circuits that do not obey standard series and parallel rules, or that use nonlinear components like diodes and transistors, more sophisticated methods are needed. As such, designers need an easy-to-use but powerful simulation application to aid filter design and simulation. Some programs make simulations...

The next generation of Easy, Modern, and Powerful PCB design is here! Watch this video as we showcase Hidden Secrets in Altium Designer and learn how you can leverage them to elevate your design experience. With every release of Altium Designer, we present to you all of the significant new capabilities available to enhance your design work experience. These major new capabilities often overshadow some lesser known features that do not get the...