Introduction: There are many obscure places to get help with a design problem...
What we will attempt to do here is capture some unique help guides or '"how to"
examples, on specific design problems and their solutions.
Mechanical
Reference material -
Drill sizes
Hardware
Machine Screws, Nuts and Washers
Rivets
Sheet Metal Bend Radii
Galvanic Corrosion - dissimilar
metals
Knurl Data
Dimensioning
Surface Roughness
Geometric Tolerance
Cylindrical Fits
Solid Bare Wire Gage Diameters
Wire Current Carrying Capabilities
Conversion of units
Formulas
Clearance Holes for Threaded
fasteners
Ohm's Law
Electrical units
Component Definitions
PCB terms
Component Mounting requirements
Logic Definitions
PCB Materials
Current carrying capacity for
etched conductors
Routing - (proper line
structures, on the surface and inner
layers, buses, clock lines,
terminations, diff pairs, equal line
lengths, rf corners, line widths,
thicknesses, and lengths.)
Placement - (bypass caps,
mechanical clearances, voltage
clearances, rooms, line length vs.
component location, 3D studies,
stiffeners, busbars, eyelets,
hardware, card guides, ejectors, heat
sinks, etc)
Libraries and footprints - (
where to find data to build a part,
how to interpret data sheets,
archiving , protections, access,
librarian, clearances, fonts,
silkscreens, masks, land patterns,
tolerances)
Break out and Fan out -
(strategies for 'breakout or fan out'
of vias from high pin count parts like
PQFP or BGA packages)
Shielding - ( why do you
need shielding? can you design it out?
Examples of different types of RF and
Magnetic shielding, EMI, RFI,
conducted and radiated...)
Ground planes - ( USE
THEM!!! - Do's and Don't's Layer
stackups, decoupling, ground loops,
etc..)
Design for Manufacture and Test
Design for Assembly
Tolerances
Fat and skinny lines (all about current)
Surface Finishes
Surface mounted Components
Through Hole mounted components
Manufacturing Panels
RF Frequencies and how they affect your design
HDI - Through Hole vs HDI
Flex Circuits -
http://www.minco.com/uploadedFiles/Products/Flex_Circuits/aa24-flex_design.pdf
Common design 'mistakes'
and recommended solutions
( also see the
FAQ section of this
website)
Solder - (oh boy this is a
deep subject...) ( SN63, rosin core,
hand soldering, paste soldering, high
temp, ductility, lead and no-lead
solders)
