Questions tagged [pcb]
PCB is the acronym to Printed Circuit Board. A PCB is a carrier for the circuit's components and their electrical connections.
3,380
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How to fix Logictech audio amplifier PCB?
I am new to this forum. If I make any mistake regarding the post, let me know.
So, let me start with the whole story. I am using a logitech normal 2.1 stereo audio setup for my PC. Last 1 month I ...
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2answers
41 views
What is a “mechanical pad”?
I've bought an FPC breakout stick from: Adafruit. In its datasheet, it mentions a "mechanical pad", which is the exposed copper bar near the connection pads. What does it do, and can I utilize it ...
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1answer
51 views
What is best sources for learning and practising AVR microcontrollers? [on hold]
I am computers and systems engineering student and I am very interested in microcontrollers so What is best sources for learning and practising AVR microcontrollers ?
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2answers
131 views
How to increase pcb trace width after fabrication
I am new to pcb design and my first designed pcb is burning, I have checked some traces and I found this:
C18 capacitance is 0.1uF and 100V rated. The problem is that slim trace width is only 0.2mm....
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Possible water damage to keyboard pcb [on hold]
Can’t find an appropriate answer so far.
Spilled water on kb last week. Unplugged and dried. Kb was fine for 2 days, then all the far left buttons stopped working as well as the number pad 7. Tried ...
2
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1answer
44 views
Corroded PCB from Rechargeable NiMH battery
This NiMH battery began to leak battery acid onto the circuit board / PCB below it. Some of that acid ran down one of the wires connected to the battery and pooled up at the foot of the plug where it ...
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7answers
4k views
Will copper pour help on my single-layer PCB?
I have a PCB which contains one 20x4 LCD, eighteen 12x12 mm push buttons, and three LEDs. This board is connected to an Arduino Mega through a 30 cm long ribbon cable. Now during testing, I ...
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1answer
34 views
Buck converter LC output filter contribution to phase margin
I'm trying to develop a better understanding of how my power distribution network can affect the stability and performance of buck converters, which has lead me to documents like this one.
The main ...
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153 views
Please check my board design before I waste money
TL;DR: Please make sure my schematic and board design won't blow up on me. GitHub Repo if you're feeling extra thorough.
Project overview
I am trying to create an Arduino based Bluetooth RGB led ...
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1answer
22 views
Mitigating noise pickup from contactor turn off
I am working on an industrial control system that uses a microprocessor to control a bank of 6 contactors. The contactors have 120V coils. When all of the contactors turn OFF at the same time, they ...
0
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1answer
43 views
Are there any simulator programs for Linux like Proteus for Windows to simulate an AVR microcontroller using .hex file?
I prefer Linux OS because of many tools I used in it and because it is an open source.
I wonder if there is a simulator program like Proteus for Linux to simulate the microcontrollers?
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2answers
40 views
EFT Design training
My team is responsible for designing industrial electrical devices. We had successfully designed several devices before. Recently, we are designing products that have to meet IEC 61000-4-4 class A ...
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2answers
54 views
Tracing GPS antenna on multi layer PCB
I have been tracing PCB for the first time and came to a few questions regarding GPS antenna selection and placement on PCB.
Basically, I am trying to make as small as possible PCB with GPS/GSM modem....
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4answers
320 views
Is there a difference between PIO and GPIO pins?
GPIO = digital + analog pins;
PIO = only digital ?
EDIT: PIO defined in datasheet as "Programmable input/output, also known as general-purpose I/O"
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2answers
57 views
Are Trace Intersections Possible
So This is my first pcb and for easier traceing and just to correctly make the connections I want to make intersections of 2 traces specifically for where I am connecting protection diodes to my ...
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1answer
43 views
FR-4 RF attenuation (when used as an enclosure)
I want to use a blank PCB (no copper) as a panel of an enclosure because it seems to be the cheapest way (Seeedstudio et al.) to have custom holes and cutouts.
I wonder if antennas placed behind such ...
6
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2answers
238 views
What component is labeled “SI” on a PCB silkscreen?
What component is labeled SI (SI1, SI2, etc) on a PCB? By the way, what kind of capacitor is C7? (The one on the right of the "SI" component, assuming its a capacitor).
EDIT: The PCB is a combined ...
3
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4answers
96 views
Where does return current flow for a differential signal?
As far as I understand, return current flows the "negative" channel for a differential signal connection. Only if it is not balanced well, there might be unwanted return current in reference GND or ...
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1answer
38 views
Ondulatory routing in Raspberry Pi [duplicate]
I bought a Raspberry Pi and I noticed some of the routings are not straight lines but instead they make a funny ondulatory shape (see picture at the right and bottom of the processor).
I'm not sure ...
2
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1answer
26 views
Eagle create board from schematic is missing some parts but ERC says they are consistent
I have capacitors C1 through C6 on my schematic, and if I type MOVE C2 into the command line it grabs that capacitor. But on the board created from my schematic, it is missing C2 and C3 and no other ...
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0answers
66 views
Possible causes for the introduction of a sudden bias in the spectrum of a spectrometer
I have an ultraviolet-visible spectrometer. Recently, I changed the bulb of the current light source with an identical bulb. I immediately observed a change in the shape of the spectrum which is as ...
0
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1answer
49 views
Help Identifying Parts of a Battery Management Board
I am currently way over my head in a personal project to design and create a 5 cell battery protection system. I'm fairly confident that I've correctly cloned the cell balancing section (section C) of ...
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1answer
53 views
Can't update my schematic to PCB layout in Altium
I have finished my schematic for an echo circuit using PT2399 IC as per the application circuit in datasheet. I have downloaded the part (including footprint) from snapeda.com and updated my Altium ...
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1answer
21 views
MFRC522 - Impedance control with External Antenna
I am a newbie into the world of RFID. For one of my upcoming designs, I am using the chip MFRC522 and an external antenna. The antenna is W7001.
As you can see in the datasheet,
It is mentioned that ...
0
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0answers
57 views
Switch Like Microcontroller or Integrated circuit
I'm somewhat new to this, and just wondering what the best approach would be.
I'm trying to make a device that would be put in the middle of 2 connectors with about 20 wires. Essentially I am ...
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0answers
42 views
Can I communicate with an Atmega32U4 through USB during runtime?
I'm designing a PCB circuit to do PID control using sensor data to control a robot. I'm new to using micro-controllers other than Arduino and I'm having some trouble figuring out exactly how ...
0
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1answer
76 views
How to make an electrical connection to thin gold plating?
Hello fellow engineers.
I am trying to make an electrical connection with some gold plating. The gold plating is shaped like a rectangle, with dimensions of 3mm x 1.5mm x 0.1μm thick. Here is what ...
3
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2answers
97 views
How to design a CMC (Common Mode Choke) footprint to allow no-pop solution
How would you design in CMC's with a 0504 (1210 metric) 4-lead package to allow for a no populate (do not pop, DNP,DNI) solution? I am thinking 0402 0ohm (zero ohm) resistor but cannot picture the ...
0
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3answers
64 views
How to remove solder mask in Eagle
I want to remove solder mask in particular area for mount a TO220 package.
As shown in below image I want to mount the 7805 using a M3 nut and need to remove solder mask only in covering area. (like ...
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1answer
52 views
50 Ohm impedance RF transmission line PCB design
I am designing a PCB for a Bluetooth 5 device using Qualcomm chip and a Murata BP filter. The RF circuit is composed of:
an SMT antenna that has a 50 Ohm unbalanced feed point impedance,
a Murata 2....
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2answers
36 views
DDR UDQS and LDQS into one DQS controller
I have one x16 memory chip () that has two Data Strobe pairs (UDQS and LDQS), on the other hand, I have arm chip (i.MX6 ULZ) that has one Data Strobe pair (DQS). Is there any way of connecting them, I'...
2
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1answer
56 views
Current monitor circuit not working
For part of a project, I am needing to monitor the current draw of 4 low power loads simultaneously. I like experimenting with circuits and I found one online in a TI application note (AN-31 page 35) ...
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2answers
37 views
Common resistor for pulling up unused pins of ATmega2560
I am designing a PCB with ATmega2560 MCU. I have 50 unused pins in my design. I was wondering if I can pull up these 50 pins using 5 resistors such that 10 pins have a common pull up resistor. Is that ...
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0answers
45 views
HDMI switch design PCB
I was looking around but I cant seem to find much about how to make an HDMI switch, so eventually found TMDS361B which seems to be pretty easy to design and also can be controlled by 2 simple pins.
...
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1answer
53 views
Is it feasible to manually draw from scratch a 2-layer PCB inside HFSS
I am trying to replicate a new planar marchand balun
Is it feasible to manually draw from scratch a 2-layer PCB inside HFSS ?
Or should I use external PCB drawing tool such as Kicad or Altium, then ...
0
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1answer
81 views
( How-To ) Ultra Low-Profile PCB Stacking
Recently I found myself needing to stack two small circuit boards on top of each other for a modulation project. The problem is that the areas I want to connect together on the two boards have no ...
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1answer
49 views
To connect Active GPS Antenna wires on PCBA should Solder or use Connector
Will it make a difference if I solder or use the supplied SMA type connector to connect the wires of Active GPS antenna on PCBA?
I am using gps antenna of this type.
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1answer
24 views
read audio files and send them by SPDIF [closed]
Can these chip read audio files from an SD card/USB flash drive and generate an SPDIF digital stereo audio output?
VS1053 or VS1063a or PCM2906
EDIT: I think this is the DEVICE I need. SD card / ...
22
votes
3answers
8k views
Odd PCB Layout for Voltage Regulator
I am reverse-engineering a board which has a Xilinx Spartan 3E FPGA, with VCCAUX powered by a 2.5 volt regulator. Below is the PCB layout for the regulator part of the circuit, and something seems ...
2
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4answers
83 views
Securing mod wires to PCB
I have done a few mods to a PCB with 36 gauge mod wire. Obviously this wire is so thin that it only takes a few bends back and forth to break it. What is the best way to secure this in place on the ...
6
votes
1answer
362 views
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Manhattan-Style routing?
Manhattan-Style routing being the use of expressly east-west planes and north-south planes, using a via and changing planes when a signal changes direction.
Comparing to freestyle routing, which lets ...
0
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2answers
85 views
Printing PCB PDF parts size [closed]
I used 3 different PCB design software packages (Proteus, Eagle and Express PCB) and no matter what I'm doing the DIP-28N (or any other ICs) pins are printing bigger than actual IC pin number/size.
...
16
votes
3answers
2k views
Why do some PCBs have exposed plated perimeters?
I've seen a number of PCBs, largely high speed and RF boards, that have exposed copper, either at the perimeter of the entire board, or in various sections, often with stitching vias.
I've never ...
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5answers
1k views
Does anyone have problems with micro USB connectors on PCB?
In a PCB I've been developing, I included a micro USB connector. The problem is that when I plug in and out cables on it, seems to get weaker and weaker and needs to be resoldered, even the pins on ...
2
votes
1answer
78 views
Traces over ground plane [duplicate]
Sometimes it cannot be avoided to run traces over a ground plane (bottom layer) in a two layer PCB.
I have two questions regarding this:
In the (simplified) example below, what is preferred? To use ...
0
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1answer
54 views
Vias or traces through two pins of e.g. resistors on a PCB?
I made the design below in KiCad. It's for me a test to see if I can solder SOT23, 0604, 0805 and 1205 components.
Someone said it is not a good idea to make traces between two pins of a component (...
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2answers
71 views
What is the difference between “SMD/SMT” and “Straight” about Mounting Direction?
I'm looking for a tactile switch for mounting on a PCB.
I use Mouser to find them.
https://www.mouser.jp/Electromechanical/Switches/Tactile-Switches/_/N-5g2m?P=1z0z7pt
In that page, there is ...
2
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2answers
45 views
Is the F.Cu upper layer really on top or just the 'upper layer' but protected?
I guess these are two very trivial questions, but I couldn't find any conclusive answer.
Below is a part of a PCB I want to create (my first ever), a SOT23 transistor and a 0805 resistor. .
My ...
0
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1answer
57 views
Bridge wire for soldering
I saw in a video that the person was using something he called bridge wire to solder a pcb with.
I was wondering what kind if wire is used as a bridge to do the connection between components?
Here ...
2
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3answers
83 views
Is the impedance control of differential pair traces a transmission line problem?
I read in an article of design reference that "If the length of the interconnect PCB is greater than 1/10 th of the wavelength, we should consider using the transmission line instead of ordinary ...
