Karen Lin Mar 28,2014 2584

PCB Prototyping techniques: things to know before pulling the trigger

Prototyping has become far more difficult than it was in the old days. For one thing, electronic components have gotten smaller; an IC can now be the size of a peppercorn or a grain of sand. As a resu...

PCB prototype Printed circuit board

Karen Lin Mar 28,2014 1988

A new way to handle RF/PCB design

In most companies, RF design has been something that happened in a different lab, or even a different location, by some engineers doing some rather peculiar circuit design. Tools have developed over t...

PCB design printed circuit board

Karen Lin Mar 28,2014 1446

Learning From Others' Mistakes: a Case Study of a PCB Design Error

It was late in the evening. I had just got the board assembled for a customer. When I went to program the device, I got hit with a warning that there was a high current draw and that the board most li...

PCB Design printed circuit board

Karen Lin Mar 28,2014 2672

Common PCB design mistakes

Let's face it. We all make mistakes, and PCB designers are no exception. And contrary to popular belief, making mistakes is ok, as long as we learn from them. Here is a quick summary of some common PC...

PCB design printed circuit board

Karen Lin Mar 28,2014 1546

Homemade PCBs

My buddy Wayne Yamaguchi sent a little update on making printed circuit boards (PCBs) at home. Wayne always was the expert on toner transfer PCBs. This is where you print your Gerber art on a special ...

Homemade PCB printed circuit board

Karen Lin Mar 28,2014 1229

Three double-sided PCBs in three days

I am so impressed by the not-for-profit charity FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). As John F. Kennedy once said, “We must do all that we can, to give our children the ...

double-sided PCBs printed circuit board

Karen Lin Mar 28,2014 1550

Cadence TimingVision supports high-speed PCB interface design

Cadence has announced a new TimingVision technology within the Allegro PCB Designer solution that can speed the timing closure of high-speed PCB interfaces -- such as a DDR3 memory interface -- by 60%...

high-speed PCB printed circuit board

Karen Lin Mar 28,2014 3196

Photos of contaminated printed circuit boards

Photos of contaminated printed circuit boardsLate last month we posted Michelle Woolley’s article Gross causes of PCB failures, complete with pictures of ants and mosquitos in the most unfortunate pla...

printed circuit boards PCB board

Karen Lin Mar 28,2014 1744

Printed Circuit Board Etching

A printed circuit board (pcb) mechanically supports and electrically connects electronic components using conductive tracks, pads and other features etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-cond...

Printed Circuit Board PCB ething

Karen Lin Mar 28,2014 2184

How to Print a PCB

A PCB file is a Printed Circuit Board file. PCB files are normally ASCII, or plain text, files but need to be opened in a compatible Windows application in order to print the design. Engineering desig...

Printed Circuit Board PCB file

Karen Lin Mar 27,2014 2013

Virtual Tour of a PCB Manufacturer

Base2 Electronics has a great post describing a detailed virtual walkthrough of the facilities and processes of Advanced Circuits (AC), a PCB manufacturer. For geek heads like us this is better than C...

PCB Manufacturer Two-layer PCBs

Karen Lin Mar 27,2014 1643

Miniature Photoelectric Sensors for Perfect Printed Circuit Boards Detection–Series ML8

ML8-8-H for detection and positioning of printed circuit boards Printed circuit boards are inherent in the majority of machines and products people use every day. From household appliances to consume...

Printed Circuit Boards PCB board

Karen Lin Mar 27,2014 4798

Fixing Solder Mistakes Or Resoldering

Even if you have been soldering for years, mistakes are still bound to happen every once in awhile. Whether its a misplaced component or the solder just doesn’t take, soldering mistakes are usually pr...

PCB board printed circuit board

Karen Lin Mar 27,2014 1369

How to Solder Like a Pro

Now that you know the basics of soldering, it’s time to learn how to solder like a pro. Here are some helpful tips to creating professional grade projects: 1.If your soldering iron isn’t working prop...

solder PCB printed circuit board

Karen Lin Mar 27,2014 1314

Learn How To Solder PCB

Correctly soldering your own electronics takes skill and practice. Now that you have an idea of the tools you will need, we will cover some techniques that will ensure the quality of your work. First...

Solder PCB printed circuit board

Karen Lin Mar 27,2014 3003

Tools Needed to Solder PCB

Same as with many other projects, having the proper tools for the job determines the quality of the work being done. In the case of soldering you can start out using a lot of fancy and expensive tools...

Solder PCB printed circuit board

Karen Lin Mar 27,2014 1501

How to Solder PCBs

How to Solder Defined as “the joining of metals by a fusion of alloys which have relatively low melting points”, soldering is the use of a metal that has a low melting to adhere surfaces that have ...

Solder PCBs printed circuit board

Karen Lin Mar 27,2014 2493

The S4 Flight Board

The flight board, which is considered the backbone of the entire S4 payload, is a Printed Circuit Board (PCB). The flight board provides the foundation that keeps all the components firmly in place. I...

Printed Circuit Board (PCB) PCB board

Karen Lin Mar 27,2014 4164

How to Surface Mount Components Onto a Printed Circuit Board (PCB)

Soldering surface mount components isn’t difficult, but it will require a good eye, a steady hand and a soldering iron with a small and clean tip. In a proper joint, you want the solder to adhere to b...

Printed Circuit Board (PCB) PCB board

Karen Lin Mar 26,2014 3927

Best PCB design software

printed circuit boards (PCBs) are used in all but the simplest electronic products. They are more costly to design but they allow automated manufacturing and assembly. As a result, products become fas...

PCB design software Printed circuit boards (PCBs)