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PCB Design and Outer Layer Surface Finishes PCB Design and Outer Layer Surface Finishes Although it might seem to be very downstream in terms of overall product development considerations, determining which PCB outer layer surface finish is the correct one is something that needs to be addressed at the forefront of the PCB design process. There are a variety of outer layer surface finishes available with both advantages and disadvantages to nearly each one. Which one is best suited to your particular design is highly dependent on Read Article
The Impact Of Glass Weave Styles On Blind Vias And Differential Skew The Impact Of Glass Weave Styles On Blind Vias And Differential Skew In recent years, whenever we have talked about glass weave styles, the conversation has surrounded the effect those styles have on differential skew. But weave styles and their impact on PCB designs actually have their roots in blind vias. Both blind vias and skew can be compensated for through the mechanical spreading of the various glass weave styles. This article will discuss both elements, the ways in which they can be addressed and the Read Article
Designing For The Mil-aero Market—ground Equipment Designing For The Mil-aero Market—ground Equipment When it comes to designing products for the Army and Marine branches of the military, a lot of the focus is on ground equipment—armored personnel carriers, tanks, Humvees, rocket launchers and artillery pieces. For the Marines, there is also amphibious equipment. On the smaller product implementation side there are radios for both Navy and Marine applications along with the appurtenant communication satellites required for keeping everything Read Article
Generating Outputs for Assemblers Generating Outputs for Assemblers I was asked recently by a relatively new engineer what files I send to an assembler to make sure they do not encounter problems, and what would reduce the number of clarification questions they ask about the design. That engineer had been working professionally for several years with a large company, and had never had the responsibility of generating outputs or even seen the outputs from the products he was working on, so his only experience was Read Article
Dimensioned PCB Drawings for Assemblers Dimensioned PCB Drawings for Assemblers In my previous article, Generating Outputs for Assemblers, we generated a fantastic assembly drawing for an assembler or contract manufacturer to visually determine component placement positions. However, there are times you may wish to provide drawings that impart additional clarity to your assembler in order to ease the setup of machines or other processes—this typically involves panelization dimensions or fiducial positions on the panel. In Read Article
Get Inspired by Major League Hacking with Jonathan Gottfried Get Inspired by Major League Hacking with Jonathan Gottfried Jonathan Gottfried, Developer Evangelist at Twilio Inc., talks ‘Major League Hacking’ on the Altium Ontrack Podcast. Learn how MLH is influencing the next generation of engineers the world over. Read Article
Getting Started with Your First Electronics Projects in Upverter Getting Started with Your First Electronics Projects in Upverter (previously Geppeto) Sofftware Upverter (previously known as Geppetto) is an online platform that allows anybody with access to a modern browser to develop their newest development board and move on to low volume manufacturing. One of the challenges in launching your product, especially hardware products, is that it requires an array of skill sets and some reasonable level of experience. Upverter gives designers and start ups that are transitioning into their growth phase a Read Article
Come See Microchip at AltiumLive 2019 in San Diego! Come See Microchip at AltiumLive 2019 in San Diego! We here at Microchip are excited to contribute to the presentation lineup at AltiumLive 2019 in San Diego. Join us this year to hear our very own Bob Martin’s keynote presentation covering prototyping using the Arduino platform, and Pete Wilson’s technical session on wireless design using RF modules. Here’s a summary of what you’ll learn from Microchip this year: In this keynote, Microchip's resident Wizard of Make, Bob Martin, will show us how Read Article
Designing For The Mil-aero Market—Satellites Designing For The Mil-aero Market—Satellites Similar to the products developed for naval applications, satellites are subject to specific environmental conditions that must be addressed during the product development cycle. From Radhardened ICs to heat pipes and an extreme emphasis on reliability, PCBs designed for use in satellites are subjected to extraordinary operational issues. This article will describe the challenges associated with designing PCBs used in satellites and the Read Article
Costs of Hiring Your First Electronic Engineer Costs of Hiring Your First Electronic Engineer Several years ago, one of my top consulting clients was interested in bringing me onto their team as a salaried employee. They did not have any electronics design/testing capability in-house, so they needed to set up a lab to allow me to work for them in their offices, rather than from home. Hiring your first electronic engineer or technician can be a big step for a company that has been outsourcing all of its projects. The company that was Read Article
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