Bradboards are good for prototyping and are a very useful tool, but when you need to do something really serious, you need to know how to actually make your PCB.
Creating a PCB is not an easy task, but with a little perseverance and time, PCBASIC will help you create your first PCB.
Materials for PP
First, let’s look at what materials are used for manufacturing. The base for the PCB is made of a solid non-conductive material. Usually the base is fiberglass, known as FR-4. This is the most commonly used material, because. it is fire-resistant, cheap and most importantly has a low intrinsic conductivity.
For high performance (RF) circuits, other types of materials are used such as ceramic or PTFE.
Layers
If you are going to make PP at home, then most likely it will be one-sided PP. Single-layer PCBs are very easy to manufacture and design, but if your board layout does not fit in one layer, you will have to use external jumpers for electrical connections, and this can already be inconvenient at the stage of mounting radio components.
Copper tracks
As already mentioned above, copper tracks (electrical connections) are created by removing excess copper from the surface of the metallized layer. More details about the important aspects of electrical connections will be discussed in the second article.
vias (vias)
One of the main components of PCBs are vias, used in dual and multi-layer boards to electrically connect one plating layer to another. For more details PCb available on UETPCB.
There are several types of vias:
1. Through-vias – the most commonly used type, the hole is drilled through the entire board and plated to create electrical contact with the layers.
2. Blind vias – holes connecting the outer layer with one or more inner ones.
3. Hidden (buried vias) – vias that do not go outside and connect the signals on the inner layers.
4. Micro-via or uVia – micro-holes or holes of small diameter and shallow depth, made by laser or drilling with depth control and connecting the outer layer to the inner.
That’s basically all you need to know about vias.
Schema Design
Before considering board design or device schematics, you must have an idea of what you want to design. Those you just need to think about what you want to build and choose the right components for it.
Define your goals
- The first step to successful device design is having the right goals for what you want to achieve in the end. –
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time-bound
Visualize your concept
Now that you have a clear idea for your project, it’s time to start designing. Before you start looking for components and drawing schematics, I suggest developing a clear picture of how your design should function.
Component Selection
Choosing the right components will determine whether you complete a project successfully or abandon it in desperation.
When choosing among the millions of different components on the market, it is very difficult to give a complete selection guide, but I can provide a few tips to help you.
1. Check availability. The last thing you want to do is put your project on hold for a few weeks or even months just because a key component of your project is out of stock with the vendor. Choose components that are in abundance and available from different distributors.
2. Consider the production cycle of your components. Sometimes it happens that components are discontinued and you may have to make changes to the project after a short period of time, however, if your device is in a single copy, then this does not play a significant role.
3. Use filters by components. Many online stores provide very functional filters on the site by the parameters of the components, as well as by cost and availability, use them, select components with the parameters that are optimal for you, and then filter them by cost.
4. Remember the minimum quantity. Many components are only sold in minimum allowed quantities, for example, starting from 1000 pieces.
5. Choose the right case. When choosing components, pay attention to the case in which it is produced, you should not buy a component that you will not be able to solder later.
6. Examine the component. Before buying, be sure to study the documentation for the component so that in the future there will be no problems with its use in the project.
After all components are selected, you can order them. Personally, I like to order through online stores like mouser.com or digikey.com. This, of course, is purely my preference. If you know other relevant suppliers, you can write about them in the comments.
Draw your connections
The most suitable option for this is to paint each block separately on different pages of the notebook. You can also make all the necessary notes about what works and what this or that pin is responsible for