The PCB fabrication and assembly industry does have standards, but enough people don’t follow these standards that sometimes the manufacturers are obliged to assume that no one does. Of all the aspects of printed circuit board (PCB) design, polarity seems... Read more
Fun with LEDs, from the Screaming Makers LEDs are one of our favorite subjects here in the Screaming Circuits blog. Between inconsistent marking and... Well, it's mostly about inconsistent marking. In fact (or maybe in opinion), LEDs are one of... Read more
Should folks building small numbers of circuit boards use surface-mount parts, or should they stick with through-hole components that are so much easier to handle and solder (not to mention see)? I spend my days and nights surrounded by printed... Read more
In designing my YouDoYou lapel pin for the upcoming Open Source Hardware Summit (March 13, 2020 in New York city), I had a couple of firsts. This was my first design using a lot of 0201 passives and this was... Read more
Some parts just look cooler than others. I really like the super tiny WLCSP (wafer level chip scale package) BGAs that some newer ARM microcontroller and power components come in. They not only fit the "smaller is cooler" mantra, but... Read more
Most of what I write about here on the Screaming Circuits blog relates to DFM (design for manufacturing) and PCB layout best practices. Being in the business of prototype and on demand manufacturing (POD), we are frequently exposed to the... Read more
Almost every PCB needs to interface with the outside world in some way or another, or interface with other PCB’s within the internal structure. This means that power and I/O connectors are very common, and unfortunately requirements are commonly overlooked.... Read more
Similar to the connector issue, it’s vital that you clearly define any “keep out” zones intended for aspects such as mounting holes or sensitive circuitry. While you are defining those zones, remember that solder mask isn’t considered a reliable insulator,... Read more
PCB Design Tip of the Day: Ensure Connector Locations & Orientations are Correct Connectors, especially thru-hole connectors, present opportunities for error in both layout and in assembly. First, it's not always obvious to the PCB layout specialist which side of... Read more
There’s nothing like a good synonym roll, just like Grammar used to make. AKA Semantics do matter in schematics, especially when dealing with multi-page schematic diagrams, reusing schematic sections or working on a team project. Tip of the day: Use... Read more
