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PCB Design

Build a Buck Converter PCB - Student Project

Build a DC-DC Buck Regulator - Student Project In this article, Mark Harris will go through the implementation of power supplies in a PCB Design project with a student. Curious how it turned out? Read now to learn more. Read Article

Tips for Getting Started In Compact PCB Design

Save PCB Space: Tips for Getting Started In Compact PCB Design How do you tackle a high-density layout PCB design project? Mark Harris gives you a head start in acing your compact PCB design. Read and learn from the expert here. Read Article

PCB cost drivers

PCB Manufacturing Cost Drivers and Designing to Cost Whenever I’ve engaged with a startup client that wants to understand board design and manufacturing costs, they often get surprised when I tell them the major PCB cost drivers and start giving some ballpark estimates. For a startup hardware company, or even a major enterprise that does not normally engage in electronics manufacturing, the numbers can be surprising, especially for low-volume runs. There is this perception that electronics Read Article

Comparing PDN Inductance to the Inductance of a Capacitor

Comparing PDN Inductance to the Inductance of a Capacitor Here's how PDN inductance affects power integrity and signal integrity in your high speed PCB. Read this blog to learn more. Read Article

Avoiding Noise when Interfacing with Remote Sensors

Avoiding Noise when Interfacing with Remote Sensors In this blog post, expert Mark Harris tackles the best and cost effective approaches to avoid and reduce noise when Interfacing with Remote Sensors. Read now to learn more. Read Article

Keeping Your Circuits Dry

Keeping Your Circuits Dry: How to Waterproof Electronic Circuits What do you do if the fantastic new device you’ve designed needs to work in a humid, damp, or dripping wet environment? Expert Mark Harris answers how you can keep your circuits dry. Read now to learn more. Read Article

Transmission Line and PCB Track Design

Transmission Lines in PCB Track Design Digital designs fall broadly into two categories: low-speed and high-speed. The category “high speed” does not necessarily mean a high clock rate. Rather, it refers to the rise time of the signal during switching, which leads to propagating wave behavior on long PCB tracks. When a PCB track gets too long, it needs to be designed like a transmission line, not just a simple conductor with DC resistance. Understanding how to design transmission Read Article

How to Find the Transistor Parts You Need for Your Circuit Board

How to Find the Transistor PCB Parts You Need for Your Circuit Board Design Transistors are vital components in power supplies, high-power ICs, and embedded systems, enabling efficient switching in electronics, sensors, and analog systems. To streamline design and ensure proper functionality, access to comprehensive PCB supply chain tools is essential for sourcing and integrating transistor parts seamlessly into your projects. When you use the complete set of PCB design tools in Altium Designer, you can do more than Read Article

PCB Relay Selection, Design, and Layout are Easy in Altium Designer

PCB Relay Selection, Design, and Layout are Easy in Altium Designer Circuit protection is vital for user safety and for protecting a board from electrical damage. Whether you’re working with a small, moderate power PCB or a large, high voltage electromechanical system, power surges or faults can destroy components and create hazards for users. The best way to ensure your next device remains safe from high voltage ESD or large current surges is to use a simple PCB relay. Compared to large relays that need to be Read Article

Spot Copper Connection Errors in Design Rule Checks

Copper Connection Software: Instantly Check Every Connection With Rules-Driven PCB Design Tools It’s easy to find errors in most simple PCBs. Simply scan through your critical nets and trace each copper connection from source to load. Today’s printed circuit boards are not so easy to inspect and validate by eye. Even relatively simple low-speed boards can have hundreds of components packed into a small space, and it’s easy to get lost in a complex PCB layout. Today’s modern designs demand modern design tools. Altium Designer users have Read Article

Improving Your Engineering CV

Improving Your PCB Design Engineering CV and Resume Your CV could be costing you your dream job. Mark Harris give his expert advice on how you can make sure that your CV will not be ignored by a non-technical recruiter. Read Article

PDS Impedance: The Traditional Approach To PDS Design vs. Energy Flow

PDS Impedance: The Traditional Approach To PDS Design vs. Energy Flow Take a look at traditional PDS impedance versus the “energy flow” view of PDS design. We’ll debunk misleading information that could cause your designs to fail. Read Article

Build Your Next LED PCB Design in Altium's Unified Environment

Build Your Next LED PCB Design in Altium's Unified Environment LED driver boards can be challenging designs when running at high power and high voltage. Power systems for driving devices like LED panels need careful planning and layout for power supply sections, and the LED PCB board design itself needs to be laid out to ensure low-temperature operation. These objectives can be difficult to balance without the best PCB LED circuit design software features and DC analysis tools. When you need to create a high Read Article

PCB Developing: Preparing Your Circuit Board for a PCB Etching Service There are times where you don’t need to produce a finalized, silk-screened board at high volume, and you may only need to use a blank PCB with no components or silkscreen. Blank PCBs can be useful for prototyping, breadboarding, experimenting with components, and accessing external traces. These boards do not need to go through a special production process, they only need a limited documentation package to begin fabrication. ALTIUM DESIGNER^® The Read Article

Transition from Hobby PCB Maker to Professional Designer with Altium

Transition from Hobbyist PCB Manufacturer to Professional Designer with Altium Most new designers start off with freeware when they need to create their first PCB designs, but free PCB design software lacks many features required to create real circuit boards. Hobbyist PCB designers and makers need a range of tools to create high-quality circuit boards and eventually create real devices. Instead of using free PCB layout software and other programs to help get designs into production, hobbyist PCB makers need professional Read Article

Model Train Circuits in the Best Electronics Design Software

Model Train Circuits in the Best Electronic Model Railroad Design Software Model train circuits include multiple elements that hobbyists might find in other common electronics. LEDs, buzzers, alarms, motors, and much more can be found in model train circuits. Designing train circuit boards takes a great schematic editor and component library with real and generic components for use in a circuit board. Use the best circuit board design software to create your model train circuits and start your PCB layout in a single Read Article

OpenRAN

All About ORANs: A PCB Designer's Guide to Open Radio Access Networks Open radio access networks, or ORANs, are a new paradigm in telecom architecture that will enable future 5G and 6G network architectures. Read Article