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searching Introducing the Octopart Way to Search for Components We spoke to electrical engineers and hobbyists from various industries to learn about the challenges involved in searching for and selecting the right components. From these conversations, we’ve identified a few key ways to help you make faster and better-informed decisions when selecting a part. Octopart search capabilities are designed to: Make the whole landscape of parts available and easy to understand Help you narrow down specific component Read Article
How PCB Software Performance Affects the Layout of Power Planes and Ground Planes How PCB Software Performance Affects Power Planes and Ground Planes Positively and Negatively The detective on your favorite police television show will often be looking for the plain facts of the case. In PCB design tools, we have some “plane” facts to look for. One of those would be getting a better understanding of what it takes to create a power plane and a ground plane. As designers, we know that planes provide power and ground to the components on our boards. We also know how to manipulate our tools in order to create those planes Read Article
The Different Types of Support for Circuit Building Software The Different Types of Support for Circuit Building Software My 10-year-old son came to me a couple of weeks ago with a problem that he needed my help with. His bicycle wouldn’t shift out of the upper gear and therefore he wasn’t able to ride it. As it turned out, all I needed to do was to straighten a bent derailleur and add some lubricate. A few minutes later my son was pedaling happily down the street to meet with the rest of his friends. That got me to thinking, the help that my son needed from me is Read Article
PCB Design Tips: Should You Include an External Watchdog Timer (WDT) in Your Board Design PCB Design Tips: Should You Include an External or Internal Watchdog Timer (WDT) in Your Board Design Would you invest in an external mouse, keyboard, and a high-definition monitor when your laptop comes equipped with these features? It’s a personal choice, especially when you want to turn your laptop into a portable workstation. My girlfriend, who’s starting her career as a professional accountant, dismissed my choice as a waste of money. In electronics, deciding whether to include an external watchdog timer (WDT) in your PCB design can be an Read Article
Altium Evaluation Guide For PADS Users Altium Evaluation Guide For PADS Users To learn more about this topic please see the full solution - Evaluating Altium Designer for PADS Users - at Altium.com. Read Article
Why You Should Include Mechanical Parts in Your Bill of Materials Template Why You Should Include Mechanical Parts in Your Bill of Materials Template Have you ever put together a project where there weren’t enough to finish the job? I have, and I know how frustrating it is to have to wait for the missing to be replaced. Meanwhile, that partially completed bookshelf or bicycle just sits there mocking you. You can’t use the bookshelf, and nothing in life hurts worse than the scolding face of an 8-year-old who can’t ride their new bike. This problem can also happen during the manufacturing of Read Article
Microcontroller Failure Modes: Why They Happen and How to Prevent Them Microcontroller Failure Modes: Why They Happen and How to Prevent Them I owe much of my design success to my college. Not because of the lab experiments where we learned what might accidentally blow up a capacitor, but because we learned that Murphy’s Law can strike when you least expect it to. Since I spent a lot of time playing Warcraft and struggling to finish up endless assignments, I relied on my computer to function at all times. Back then, computers were pretty limited and it wasn’t uncommon to see the Read Article
Considerations for PCB Circuit Design: Why PCB Labeling is Important Considerations for PCB Circuit Design: Why PCB Labels are Important Checklists are an important part of life. Airline pilots use them to make sure that they’ve put the wheels down before landing. Shoppers use them to make sure that they don’t forget to buy the eggs. We all use checklists in different ways, and many of us would be lost without them. Here’s another good use for a checklist; making sure that we don’t forget to include important elements on our PCB design. It’s not likely that we will forget to place Read Article
PCB Designer Responsibilities: How to Manage Engineering and Manufacturing Expectations PCB Designer Responsibilities: How to Manage Engineering and Manufacturing Expectations My wife works at an elementary school, and the thing she dislikes the most is when she has to put herself between two kids in an argument. Being caught in the middle like that is frustrating for her because it is often difficult to turn it into a “win” for both sides of the argument. We as PCB designers are often in the same position when we have to mediate the needs of electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Trying to negotiate a “win Read Article
Global PCB Designers and Innovators: OnTrack Newsletter October 2017 Global PCB Designers and Innovators: OnTrack Newsletter October 2017 On Track Newsletter October 2017 VOL. 1 No 7 Welcome to the October 2017 issue of Altium’s On Track Newsletter. This month we celebrate a few unique engineers and designers from our global user community. The first is Omer Mahgoub from South Africa who is designing boards for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The SKA will be the world’s largest radio telescope ever built, spanning two continents and providing unprecedented views of space. Next Read Article
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