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I held off doing PCB stuff for a long time because the tools seemed incredibly complex and intimidating, and now I wonder how I ever did anything without it. Th

I held off doing PCB stuff for a long time because the tools seemed incredibly complex and intimidating, and now I wonder how I ever did anything without it. The things I wish someone had told me: - all a PCB is, is a flat version of your hand-wired prototype - all those crazy lines are just the wires - there's no special hidden EE magic until later - the schematic editor shows your intent - the pcb layout editor shows where things go - the hard part is actually just finding schematic and layout editor files for the components you're using - github search is great for this - you will make lots of mistakes and need a few goes - everyone does, debugging is half the fun, don't be afraid - online PCB houses make those mistakes cheap Things I have made with little more than introductory-Arduino knowledge: - A wearable bluetooth ring: https://twitter.com/gmurphy/status/1372368637332389888 https://twitter.com/gmurphy/status/1372368637332389888 - A hall-effect volume control knob for my PC: https://twitter.com/gmurphy/status/1179831446204121088 https://twitter.com/gmurphy/status/1179831446204121088 - A long range garage door opener: https://www.instagram.com/p/B11m1y5J3qc/ https://www.instagram.com/p/B11m1y5J3qc/ - And currently working on a keyboard: https://twitter.com/gmurphy/status/1443048243101777921 https://twitter.com/gmurphy/status/1443048243101777921 Also, the debugging step for me got orders of magnitude easier when I got a set of PCBite probes - just drop them on and they mostly stay in place. e.g: https://mobile.twitter.com/gmurphy/status/1365753286544957442 https://mobile.twitter.com/gmurphy/status/136575328654495744...

znpy 5y ago
Thank you for sharing tour experience with the topic, i was wondering: where whould somebody start if all they know is basic circuit theory?
- dbrgn 5y ago
  Just start a small project and figure out how things work on-the-go :) My first one was a small PCB to control a RGB LED strip using three potentiometers.
dogma1138 5y ago
Unless you dealing with things where signal integrity matters any drawing program with fixed dimensions that you can reliably print from whilst maintaining dimensional accuracy if you are using the print and transfer method works well. CAD software for PCBs becomes a must when you need to deal with a lot of components in odd sizes/package formats, you need auto routing, being able to simulate resistance, impedance or clearance for high voltage sections of your PCB or when you actually need to get your PCB manufactured by a 3rd party that has specific requirements for file formats etc. And even then some of these 3rd parties allow upload of graphical formats for the trace and solder mask layers.
- teleforce 5y ago
  Good news, signal integrity guru Eric Bogatin has just released a guide book on circuit prototyping and PCB design fundamentals that can become an instant classic in the field: https://us.artechhouse.com/Bogatins-Practical-Guide-to-Prototype-Breadboard-and-PCB-Design-P2206.aspx https://us.artechhouse.com/Bogatins-Practical-Guide-to-Proto...
dognotdog 5y ago
That PCBite probe setup look nifty indeed, thanks for the tip (pun intended)!
PragmaticPulp 5y ago
> - the hard part is actually just finding schematic and layout editor files for the components you're using - github search is great for this I recommend learning the symbol and footprint editors as early as possible. Creating your own footprints is a good way to force yourself to go through the data sheet and understand what each pin does, too.
- _moof 5y ago
  I second this. It can be tedious but for some parts you won't have a choice.
- jareklupinski 5y ago
  yup, once you "get your hand in" and only focus on the correct footprint/pad layout and a little silk, it becomes faster to just sketch out parts with fewer than 32 pins than finding (and validating!) random libs
- hellohntoday 5y ago
  As other here have said, this is very good advice. Early on I tried to only use components in available libraries. That was a mistake. Start doing your own footprints and symbols from the start
fho 5y ago
Also: the Autorouter in Kicad is actually pretty useful ... if you use it as a tool, not as a magic problem solving machine. I normally place components somewhat randomly, big chip in the middle, connectors at the side, small stuff close to where it belongs ... then hit the autorouter, look at the result and move around some components, hit the autorouter again, rinse repeat ... In the end I'll end up with fairly good looking PCBs (e.g. https://imgur.com/a/rUGtBNa https://imgur.com/a/rUGtBNa) without having placed a single line myself.
- xondono 5y ago
  > the Autorouter in Kicad is actually pretty useful... For most toy projects it’s perfectly sufficient, but once you get into complicated stuff it will bite you back. Using an auto router is like building your software by copy pasting from stack overflow indiscriminately.
  - sokoloff 5y ago
    I didn’t get the sense the autorouter was used anywhere near as often as that.
    - fho 5y ago
      I don't think it is ... and I think some it is some sort of "get of my lawn"-ism. I passed a degree in electrical engineering at some point (haven't used it too much after that), and "don't use the auto-router" is basically what is taught from day zero. So ... while I can't say anything about PCB design in industry ... I can say that I tend to use a auto-router for my small DIY audio projects and it has never really failed me. And ... if auto-routers are not used in the industry ... maybe that is something somebody on here should "disrupt" ... computers have become just too powerful not to be combative in solving some constraint path finding problems.
      - sokoloff 5y ago
        I tried using the auto-router in KiCAD on my last <simple hobbyist> design and realized that it had been removed from KiCAD. There was some external package that could do it, but at that point “screw it, I can route this board faster than reading the docs on how to deal with the autorouter” took over, especially since I couldn’t be sure anything I learned for this project would still apply for my next project if KiCAD later re-added an autorouter.

znpy 5y ago

Thank you for sharing tour experience with the topic, i was wondering: where whould somebody start if all they know is basic circuit theory?

dbrgn 5y ago
Just start a small project and figure out how things work on-the-go :) My first one was a small PCB to control a RGB LED strip using three potentiometers.

dogma1138 5y ago

Unless you dealing with things where signal integrity matters any drawing program with fixed dimensions that you can reliably print from whilst maintaining dimensional accuracy if you are using the print and transfer method works well. CAD software for PCBs becomes a must when you need to deal with a lot of components in odd sizes/package formats, you need auto routing, being able to simulate resistance, impedance or clearance for high voltage sections of your PCB or when you actually need to get your PCB manufactured by a 3rd party that has specific requirements for file formats etc. And even then some of these 3rd parties allow upload of graphical formats for the trace and solder mask layers.

teleforce 5y ago
Good news, signal integrity guru Eric Bogatin has just released a guide book on circuit prototyping and PCB design fundamentals that can become an instant classic in the field: https://us.artechhouse.com/Bogatins-Practical-Guide-to-Prototype-Breadboard-and-PCB-Design-P2206.aspx https://us.artechhouse.com/Bogatins-Practical-Guide-to-Proto...

dognotdog 5y ago

That PCBite probe setup look nifty indeed, thanks for the tip (pun intended)!

PragmaticPulp 5y ago

> - the hard part is actually just finding schematic and layout editor files for the components you're using - github search is great for this I recommend learning the symbol and footprint editors as early as possible. Creating your own footprints is a good way to force yourself to go through the data sheet and understand what each pin does, too.

_moof 5y ago
I second this. It can be tedious but for some parts you won't have a choice.
jareklupinski 5y ago
yup, once you "get your hand in" and only focus on the correct footprint/pad layout and a little silk, it becomes faster to just sketch out parts with fewer than 32 pins than finding (and validating!) random libs
hellohntoday 5y ago
As other here have said, this is very good advice. Early on I tried to only use components in available libraries. That was a mistake. Start doing your own footprints and symbols from the start

fho 5y ago

Also: the Autorouter in Kicad is actually pretty useful ... if you use it as a tool, not as a magic problem solving machine. I normally place components somewhat randomly, big chip in the middle, connectors at the side, small stuff close to where it belongs ... then hit the autorouter, look at the result and move around some components, hit the autorouter again, rinse repeat ... In the end I'll end up with fairly good looking PCBs (e.g. https://imgur.com/a/rUGtBNa https://imgur.com/a/rUGtBNa) without having placed a single line myself.

xondono 5y ago
> the Autorouter in Kicad is actually pretty useful... For most toy projects it’s perfectly sufficient, but once you get into complicated stuff it will bite you back. Using an auto router is like building your software by copy pasting from stack overflow indiscriminately.
- sokoloff 5y ago
  I didn’t get the sense the autorouter was used anywhere near as often as that.
  - fho 5y ago
    I don't think it is ... and I think some it is some sort of "get of my lawn"-ism. I passed a degree in electrical engineering at some point (haven't used it too much after that), and "don't use the auto-router" is basically what is taught from day zero. So ... while I can't say anything about PCB design in industry ... I can say that I tend to use a auto-router for my small DIY audio projects and it has never really failed me. And ... if auto-routers are not used in the industry ... maybe that is something somebody on here should "disrupt" ... computers have become just too powerful not to be combative in solving some constraint path finding problems.
    - sokoloff 5y ago
      I tried using the auto-router in KiCAD on my last <simple hobbyist> design and realized that it had been removed from KiCAD. There was some external package that could do it, but at that point “screw it, I can route this board faster than reading the docs on how to deal with the autorouter” took over, especially since I couldn’t be sure anything I learned for this project would still apply for my next project if KiCAD later re-added an autorouter.