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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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analog PCB layout guidelines

PCB vs. PCBA: From Bare Board To Final Assembly

I wrote a letter to a former teacher the other day, and given his impact on my career, I wanted to ensure I presented myself well. I used online tools to smooth over spelling and grammatical errors, but upon a reread, I realized I had used some imprecise (yet roughly synonymous) language. Most wouldn’t notice…

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Mixed-Signal PCB Design Best Practices

While smaller and more powerful electronics delight users, engineering these marvels can challenge the printed circuit board designer. Electronics used to contain multiple boards for digital processing, power supply, and analog functions, but that functionality typically packs into one dense PCB design in today’s devices. Analog circuitry takes sensory inputs and converts them into digital…

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