Valley Services Electronics

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pcb footprint creation guidelines

PCB Heat Dissipation Techniques to Improve Performance

I’ve been burned in the kitchen more times than I’d care to admit; while these once were painful lessons, they now serve as a constant reminder that kitchen work requires respect and undivided attention. When I was much younger, I marveled at the induction stovetop while visiting a friend, and while I had learned many…

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PCB Beveling for Edge Connectors

Thermal Vias Improve Heat Flux

To perform at the higher levels expected of each succeeding generation of electronic devices, the more those electronics have to function at greater operational levels. To do this, complex component packages with larger pin counts are used in increasingly denser circuitry requiring greater power. And while this PCB design technology produces the required results, it…

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pcb footprint creation guidelines

PCB Substrate Selection for Manufacturability

Buried discreetly inside of nearly every electronic device is a printed circuit board. Usually green in color, PCBs will have diverse electronic components soldered to them depending on their function. Circuit boards like this are at the core of the electronics industry today, but there is much more to them than what’s gleanable in a…

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medical pcb

Medical Device Prototype Development: Manufacturer Tips

While modern electronic manufacturing and design are more conscious of the environmental impacts on biological systems for e-waste, medical devices have to operate while performing vital care safely. This heightened requirement can affect anything from material selection for components or the board to limits on circuit parameters. People rely on medical devices for everything from…

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tombstoning pcb assembly

Tombstoning Prevention – Design Analysis

Halloween is a yearly celebration in the neighborhood. Front yards that typically hold beautiful flowers and shrubs transform into decorative graveyard scenes in keeping with the holiday theme. One of the more common items is little plastic tombstones with humorous epitaphs such as: “Here lies Johnny Yeast, pardon me for not rising.” Tombstones on a…

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PCB Surface Finish: Preparing for Assembly

One of my first neighborhood jobs growing up was washing cars. With my dad’s trusted shammy, I would go around the block cleaning exteriors and vacuuming interiors to save a few bucks for video games. Part of my toolkit was wax – I didn’t understand its true purpose, but I could see the difference between…

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