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12:00 Thermal Management Part 3: PCB Heat Transfer In this episode, Chris Carlson shows how to calculate PCB Heat Transfer. An expert in PCB design, Chris is a wealth of information for the novice and experts in PCB design. Get the most effective information on PCB design and Electronic Design Automation. If you find this video interesting, please like and share with your fellow PCB designers or let us know if you have any questions in the comments. Links to the Datasheets: Voltage Regulator Watch Video

Frank Duggan: Micro Architecture and Aspiring to MIT

Frank Duggan: Micro Architecture and Aspiring to MIT Judy Warner: What first got you interested in developing your own microarchitecture using discrete logic? Frank Duggan: Without really knowing the specifics, it was something I'd wanted to do since I was little. I was obsessed with my Snap Circuits electronics kit, and liked to challenge myself to build circuits that do various things. At some point, I decided that building a computer was the ultimate challenge. This was probably because I found Read Article

Randy Clemmons, PCB Designer at Ingenu, Leads San Diego Altium User Group

Randy Clemmons, PCB Designer at Ingenu, Leads San Diego Altium User Group Judy Warner: Could you tell us briefly about your career path and where you work now? Randy Clemmons: I'm currently working at Ingenu where we are developing Internet of Things (IoT) networks and end point applications. Altium Designer^® is our tool of choice. I started my electronics career at age 19 after volunteering for the U.S. Navy's advanced electronic program. After 10 years of service in the Navy I went to work for 1 year at Litton Read Article

The Best Tools for Multi-Board PCB Systems Design

The Best Tools for Multi-Board PCB Systems Design They say that time flies when you’re having fun. Maybe that’s why I feel like time slows to a crawl when I’m constructing a multi-board PCB device. Designing even one board can be an agonizing task, what with trying to avoid EMI, ground everything properly, mitigate static discharge, and optimize your routing. Creating a system of PCBs that all fit together physically and electrically sometimes tests the limits of tedium. Lucky for us there are Read Article

PCB Design Process: The EDA Design Approach

PCB Design Process: The EDA Design Approach The electronic design automation (EDA) approach, which is also referred to as the electronic computer-aided design (ECAD) approach, is composed of a series of software tools that are used to execute and complete the electronic system design process. These systems can include printed boards (PCBs) as well as integrated circuits (ICs). When considering product development for printed circuit boards, a toolchain with a wide array of dissimilar tools Read Article

How to Use a Random Number Generator to Create Uncertainty in PCB Design

How to Use a Random Number Generator to Create Uncertainty in PCB Design My high school peers knew me as a predictable person—always the first one to show up anywhere—on time, every time. Since they didn’t seem as concerned with keeping their schedules and promises, sometimes I waited hours for my friends. That uncertainty would mess up my schedule, but engineering was a place where I found uncertainty was rarely a problem. Unsurprisingly, I developed a deep interest in physics and engineering, where the results are Read Article

How to Become a PCB Designer in Today’s World

How to Become a PCB Designer in Today’s World For the engineer that likes to solve puzzles, create something physical, and appreciates electronics, PCB design as a career might be right for you. Even if you're not a PCB designer or layout engineer, and instead you want to work as an electrical engineer, there is still room for you to work with PCB designers. Today's teams are multifunctional and they need to collaborate across disciplines. It's better to think of electronics development Read Article

PCB Design and Fabrication Tips to Prevent Open Circuits During PCB Manufacturing

Printed Circuit Board Design and Fabrication Tips to Prevent Open Circuits During PCB Manufacturing For a couple years, I lived in a town with a chocolate and candy factory. It was an amazing and terrible time, because you could go to the factory and buy “seconds,” or messed up candies, for about 75% off the normal price. Usually, the mistake was cosmetic, like the chocolate cracking over the caramel, and everything tasted totally fine. When a PCB manufacturer makes a mistake, sometimes it’s cosmetic, and the board will still function Read Article

How to Create a 3D Donut and Other Unusual Shapes in Your PCB Design

How to Create a 3D Donut and Other Unusual Shapes in Your PCB Design It is generally very simple to create realistic 3D mechanical shapes in Altium Designer^® using the included Extruded, Cylinder, and Sphere shape types in the PCB Library editor. However, some shapes can be tricky. A board outline can be extremely helpful and can even produce shapes like the polygon (polygon pour). A 3D donut, however, is what we will be focusing on today. Although a hole cannot be cut out of any of the Altium-created shapes, a Read Article

Thermal Management Part 2: Sizing a Component Heatsink and Datasheets In this episode, Chris Carlson shows how to properly size a heatsink for a component. An expert in PCB design, Chris is a wealth of information for the novice and experts in PCB design. Get the most effective information on PCB design and Electronic Design Automation. Links to the Datasheets: Voltage Regulator Datasheet Thermal interface (sil Pad) by Berrgquist Heatsink Datasheet If you find this video interesting, please like and share with your Watch Video

PCB CAD Design for Manufacturing Guidelines: How Trace Routing Can Affect Solder Joints

PCB CAD Design for Manufacturing Guidelines: How Trace Routing Can Affect Solder Joints A couple of weeks ago I attended a concert that was a tribute to the big band leader Stan Kenton. I love big band jazz for many reasons, one of which is the configuration of musicians and instruments in the band. There are usually around 15 to 20 musicians on different instruments, and everyone plays a different part. If just one person makes a mistake, it can ruin the balance of the number that was so carefully arranged by the composer. The Read Article

PCB Technology Trends: The Benefits of Internet of Things Security Gateways

PCB Technology Trends: The Benefits of Internet of Things Security Gateways Do you ever like to take a break from social situations for a few days and spend some quality time with your television? I do that maybe a little more often than I should, and last week I spent that time binge-watching the new season of Stranger Things. If you haven’t seen the show, it’s about a girl with psychic powers who opens a portal to another dimension (the Upside Down) filled with creatures. The gateway to that world lets monsters loose Read Article

Introduction to High Speed PCB Designing: How to Eliminate Crosstalk

Introduction to High Speed PCB Designing: Techniques for Avoiding Crosstalk Wondering how to reduce crosstalk? Crosstalk is the unintentional electromagnetic coupling between traces on a PCB. Let’s take a look at what crosstalk is and how to reduce crosstalk in high-speed PCB design. Read Article

The Best Easily Available PCB CAD Design Software Training Resources

The Best Easily Available PCB CAD Design Software Training Resources Congratulations! You’re about to start working on a new CAD system, and you are chomping at the bit to design something. Like a 10-year old waking up on the morning of their birthday, you can hardly wait to rip the wrapping off the box and get started. Once you’re seated in front of your new software though, you begin to worry. How do you open up a part to work on it, and is it even called a “part” in this system? How do you create a simple Read Article

Beginner’s PCB Design for Manufacturing Guidelines

Beginner’s PCB Design for Manufacturing Guidelines We’ve compiled some of the most important design for manufacturing guidelines for beginner engineers. Read Article

Important Considerations for Pads in PCB Design: Pad Cratering Prevention

Important Considerations for Pads in PCB Design: Pad Cratering Prevention Every year after Halloween, my school used to have a pumpkin launch, probably so they could get the pumpkins on sale. Mostly, mechanical engineering students participated, but anyone was allowed to enter and see if they could launch their pumpkin the farthest. Sections of campus were blocked off and your path to class was rerouted if you went at all. Most of the engineers got (or took) the morning off for cheering and jeering. Results were Read Article

The Best Multilayer PCB Design Tips for Circuit Board Layout

The Best Multilayer PCB Design Guidelines and Tips for Circuit Board Layout Doing something new for the first time can be difficult. Baby birds probably don’t appreciate being pushed out of the nest and teenagers are nervous before their first real date. I, personally, was scared to death on my first date. However, I’m glad that I took that first step because that milestone was a great moment in my life. Designing your first multilayer PCB board may not be quite like a first date, but it's still a critical step for a PCB Read Article