EMI Reducing PCB Shielding Techniques to Incorporate in Your Designs I spent most of my twenties producing and mastering music for local artists. As much as I love older consoles, it gets annoying to listen to audio from one channel bleeding over to other channels. Newer consoles are built with proper EMI shielding and crosstalk reduction measures, and the analog signals in these newer consoles are much cleaner. Digital devices are not immune either. Modern computers and smartphones continue to pack more silicon Read Article Let Your Designs Talk for You: Export Altium 3D Layout Artwork to Adobe® PDF It wasn’t long ago that getting to new places around town required talking and writing down verbal instructions from another. I’d pull out my city map and study the route, having to note each street and intersection where I’d turn. It worked, but it took concentration and good map-reading skills. Today, I use my smart phone’s map feature and audio capabilities to get where I’m going. Assembly instructions for printed circuits contain the same Read Article PCB Design Software Upgrades: Progressive Releases Build Confidence There is pain and pleasure when anticipating new technology. All of us have been through steep learning curves that wear down the elation to use technology that’ll do something cool. Soon we abandon newly-adopted technology given its lack of delivery on the promise. There are some gadgets, however, that not only perform but are easy to use. Ease of use with powerful features is a pleasure. When powerful features evolve we’ve got a home run! Each Read Article Smart Self-Check Process to Optimize Power-Up for Embedded Systems I’ve been obsessed with morning routines ever since I started sending my son to kindergarten in the morning. From making breakfast to ensuring that his schoolbag is properly packed, I rarely mess up, except for a rare occasion where I forgot to place his water bottle in his bag. Despite the rarity of that occurrence, my son wasn’t impressed with my forgetfulness even though I promised it wouldn’t happen again. Now, when checking through his Read Article Augment This! How AR is Changing PCB Design If you’ve yet to play with an AR or VR experience, you should! The emerging technology is quickly becoming a game changer for industries such as entertainment, healthcare, education, military, and the list goes on. Providing, quite literally, an infinite amount of potential applications, it’s no wonder that so many industries are affected by and are embracing the new tech. While VR places the user inside an entirely manufactured environment, AR Read Article Lee Ritchey and High Speed Digital Design Looking for expert views on High Speed Digital design and Signal Integrity? Learn from Lee Ritchey an industry premier authority on high speed PCB and system design on this OnTrack Podcast episode. Read Article Easy PCB Board Layout Routes with Altium Designer There are not too many things better than a good road trip to a new location. The excitement mixed with anticipation is like a perfectly proportioned libation. However, I always have the same apprehension in looking at a new map and wonder how I will ever become familiar with all the streets. Yet, somehow I always manage to learn them. A map is just a layout which is just the realization of a plan and underneath every plan are patterns to be Read Article What's New In Altium Designer 18 Webinar Recap May 17, 2018 In case you missed our Altium ® live webinar, no worries. You can catch up here with the video recording and presentation slides . If you’re not a fan of videos I’ll try my best to summarize in the webinar notes below. The key takeaways will be the same as the April 19th webinar but do take a look at the questions as they’ll be different. Also for next month's Altium webinar I plan to show more, I’m thinking ActiveBOM® but if you all have Read Article CircuitStudio 1.5 Is Available Now We’re happy to announce an update for our PCB design software CircuitStudio® 1.5. Although this is not a major feature-packed release -that's on its way- it's still important and admittedly much needed. CircuitStudio is alive and still being developed. What this means is more regular updates, we even have planned another update by the end of this year. I’m sure you guys want to know what’s new and what’s coming, so let me just jump into it Read Article Why You Need BOM Management Tools for PCB Design Although, I do not drive as much as I once did being on the road is still one of my most favorite activities. Not many things can equal the thrill and freedom that comes from being behind the wheel. Yet, there can be a great deal of difference in the experience depending on the vehicle you are driving. Almost any vehicle will perform the basic function of getting you from point A to point B, but there comes a time when basic is not enough. Moving Read Article The Fundamentals of Programming a PIC Microcontroller One thing I’ve learned from parenting: it can be incredibly difficult to teach a child something. While they might be very interested, and they might have all the time and resources in the world, if the child isn’t ready to learn or is missing some crucial building block, they might just not get the skill or lesson. Thankfully, programming a PIC microcontroller unit (MCU) is considerably easier. With the right programming tools, circuit, and Read Article How Do I Flip and Rotate Components in Altium Designer and Other Schematic Functions In this article, we'll give a brief overview of how to flip or mirror components in Altium Designer, as well as how to rotate components in different design documents . The functions in the schematic are slightly different than in the PCB layout , so follow along if you are a new user and want to learn these basic functions. These functions can be accessed in multiple places: from the main menu at the top of the application window, using a hotkey Read Article Conductive Ink Printing for PCB Designers: What You Need To Know When you’re a father, there are many things that you have to get really good at doing really quickly. While I could take some time in prototyping to work out all the kinks in my designs, I don’t have that luxury when trying to decipher why my kid is crying at 3 in the morning. As a result, I’ve developed some skill at making milk formula and changing diapers quickly. If only I could’ve developed that sense of god-like speed in printed circuit Read Article What’s the Future of WiFi for the Internet of Things? I’ve come to adopt several different modes of communication between the different social circles in my life. Slack, messenger, texting, calling, letter writing and various other messenger services - all of which are unique to particular people or friend groups. Most of the time, I can barely keep track of them all and more often I end up sending the right text to the wrong person. IoT protocols are just as diverse, and new options come out Read Article Pin Swapping Without Back Annotation Using Straightforward PCB Design Software When working with high pin count, fine pitch components like FPGAs or memories, pin swapping may need to be performed when laying out your PCB. Designing schematics based on these devices that perfectly translate into a sane layout is extremely difficult. But as you start placing components and routing connections, you may find that your initial layout is a tangled, crisscrossed mess. This is where pin swapping becomes invaluable. Once you start Read Article Altium User Groups: Starting, Finding, and Joining Back in my youth, I fondly remember the days of after-school clubs. Whether it be chess, band, or robotics clubs, these were the places to go to find like-minded, passionate folks eager to talk the talk. Although the days of youth are likely well behind most of us (rest in peace monkey bars), there still exist social environments where we can meet up with like-minded individuals. However, this time around, we’ll be able to reap far more than just Read Article 18:34 What’s New in Altium Designer 18 Webinar Performance Improvements in Altium Designer Multi-threading Multithreading allows Altium Designer to parse out different tasks to different cores making it Watch Video Pagination First page « First Previous page ‹‹ Page137 Current page138 Page139 Page140 Page141 Page142 Next page ›› Last page Last » Load More