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Thought Leadership
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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How Online BOM Management Helps Build Teamwork
Last week one of my co-workers, a brilliant guy named Phil, quit his job for a position in another company. Phil was amazing, and losing him was a tremendous blow to our department and the company. The tragic thing though is that Phil didn’t leave for a better job, he left because he felt that he no longer added any value. It is amazing at how many truly exemplary employees end up quitting because of workplace frustrations and feeling
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How to Work with Your PCB CAD Software Support Technicians
Have you ever been in a situation where you are trying to help someone, but they don’t understand what you are talking about? You want to help them through their difficulties, but the two of you seem to be from different worlds. If that scenario doesn’t sound familiar to you, then you’ve probably never raised teenagers. If it does ring a bell, then you may be a seasoned parent, or you may even be a customer support technician. I firmly believe
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Essential PCB Design Tips: How to Implement a Watchdog Timer in Your PCB Design
When you work from home there are some perks of the job. You can make your own meals, slot in some laundry over lunch, and drink all the tea you want. I use a stove-top kettle to boil water for my tea, so when I get in the writing zone, I rely on its high-pitched whistle to tell me when it’s done. Sometimes when I’m careless, I don’t fit the lid on properly. As a result, the kettle remains silent despite the fact that the liquid water inside of
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The Top Reasons Why PCB Design Software with Auto Routing Can Save You Time
I’ve been designing printed circuit boards long enough that my family has sadly grown accustomed to me spending more time at work than at home. When deadlines are looming, everyone knows I’ll be working late nights at the office. Modern PCB design software with auto-routing tools can help you cut down your routing time, but not everyone is a fan of these features. I know all the arguments against using an auto-router because I’ve been using them
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PCB Design: An Optocoupler Tutorial for Your PCB Layout
Are you guilty of hitting the snooze button at least twice before you reluctantly wake up from your blissful sleep? My wife claims that I probably have the world record time for hitting the snooze button since I do it without even opening my eyes. But there are times when the third snooze alarm mysteriously doesn’t go off and it is a losing battle to get my day started on time. In electronics, embedded systems often rely on optocoupler circuits
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Thermal Relief Guidelines for PCB Layout
Sometimes, thermal reliefs are a DFA measure for a new PCB. Here’s when you should use thermal pads in a PCB.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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