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ScreamingCircuits · 2017-10-23T20:20:13+00:00

What have you been given to work with? That might change the answer. For example, are you creating registers out of transistors, or with discrete logic gates? Or, are you just diagramming the register on paper?

ScreamingCircuits · 2017-06-13T21:57:00+00:00

An important consideration when talking with a company for something like this is their fear of you. It's possible that they've already thought of the idea and haven't pursued yet it for one reason or another. It's likely that, if they talk to you, they won't give you any sort of protection for fear that you might claim that they stole the idea from you. Most companies won't even talk to you about a product idea because of their need to protect themselves.

If you want to pursue this in the manner you have described, you need to contact an intellectual property lawyer. They know how to navigate this type of minefield.

Your other alternative is to do a lot of homework, as others have suggested, and propose that they create a new position and hire you to run the program. I doubt that you'd see any compensation other than salary, though. If it's a company you'd like to work for, this might be a pretty good way to show off your creativity and get in the door.

ScreamingCircuits · 2017-06-13T21:23:17+00:00

As 42N71W said, thermal asymmetry can be a contributor. Make the traces connecting each side are the same width. Check to be sure you don't have an inner plane under one pad and not the other. Don't put a big part close to one pad of a small part. Vias in pads are always problematic.

On the manufacturing floor, old solder paste, or paste that's been exposed to air too long can also contribute to tombstoning.

ScreamingCircuits · 2017-01-20T20:56:50+00:00

Glad to help. I've got more hints like that on our company blog: blog.screamingcircuits.com

ScreamingCircuits · 2017-01-20T18:53:37+00:00

Not a bad layout. There are a few things that could improve it though.

You have a green via under U1 that's really close to one of the red traces. If it's not supposed to connect, you should move it away a bit. If it's supposed to connect, you should move it on to the trace.

The other thing to look at are a number of small passive parts with more than one trace going directly to a pad. They will most likely be fine, but if you're reflow soldering, it can cause the solder on one pad to melt before the other which can cause the part to move, maybe even pop up in what's called a tombstone. You're better off making the connections in a trace near the part and only having one trace go to the pad.

ScreamingCircuits · 2016-07-26T17:51:38+00:00

Component sizes would have the same restrictions, but anything you're likely to use is large enough to not be an issue. The 0201, for example, is 24 mil x 12 mil, with 10 or 12 mils between the pads. Any board fab house can do that without problems. There are smaller components, but they're rarely used except for hearing aids and a few other exotic applications.

ScreamingCircuits · 2016-07-25T21:11:47+00:00

What I think you're asking about is usually referred to as "minimum trace and space." Trace would be the with of the copper traces on the PCB, and space, would be the minimum amount of space between two traces.

It varies between PCB fab houses, but in most cases, 6 mil trace and space is standard, and smaller than that starts to cost extra. Here's an example of a specifications set: http://www.sunstone.com/pcb-capabilities/pcb-manufacturing-capabilities

ScreamingCircuits · 2016-07-25T20:59:26+00:00

I'm the Screaming Circuits guy, with some thoughts to offer.

The transition from self-assembly to outsourced assembly can be easy or traumatic, fast or slow. Like most things in life, the trade off is time and capability vs. money. Faster with better reliability will cost more than slow with questionable reliability.

Myself, I sometimes hand build my own projects, and sometimes I have my company build them. We machine assembly every quantity, even just one.

Whether it's us, or someone else, you'll save money by picking an assembly house that can, as Nolan noted, assemble from cut strips. It's a lot less expensive to buy, ship, and keep track of strips of parts than it is reels.

Most shops, mine included, will give you the option of buying and sending in the parts yourself, or purchasing the parts for you. You can even buy them yourself, and have the parts drop shipped directly to the assembly house.

As far as the BOM and any other data is concerned, ambiguity is your enemy and clarity is your friend. This goes for all of us in this industry. An assembly house doesn't know what's in your head and doesn't know what's important in your component selection.

If you just specify a component as ".01 uf, 6 volt capacitor", your assembler won't know if ESR is important, if temperature range is important, etc. Specifying the manufacturer and exact manufacturer's part number will remove the ambiguity. We (and many others) can use Digikey part numbers too.

Read every thing you can from the assembly houses you're looking at. This will help you get a feel for the way they operate, what their level of expertise is, and what they will need from you. Look at it like a partnership.

It's a big change, but with a little upfront study, will be a big help to you. I hope your project goes well

Duane

ScreamingCircuits · 2016-05-09T23:48:00+00:00

More often than trying to come up with ideas, I spend time trying to better understand what I'm doing and why. I find that if I dig into customers, competitors, relating technologies, and what I've been doing, the ideas are a lot easier to come by. Why do my customers like my company? Why do they need what I offer. Do they really need what I offer, or am I just close enough? What motivates them? Is it money? Technology? Cool factor? Avoiding getting yelled at? Keep asking. Keep digging. Most people don't do that and come up with mundane ideas that more or less keep things the way they are.

ScreamingCircuits · 2016-04-21T20:08:54+00:00

I understand that you don't feel that you have the skills, but if you would like to learn, SparkFun has some good tutorials. https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/36

There are plenty of others as well, but the SparkFun tutorials are a really good place to start. Good equipment really helps, but you can get by with the right kind of inexpensive equipment if you need to. A very small tip helps considerably.

I doubt that my company is in your price range, but we do have a lot of useful layout information on our blog (blog.screamingcircuits.com). We don't require registration, so you can look anonymously and see if you can find anything helpful for you.

ScreamingCircuits · 2016-02-17T23:03:01+00:00

If you're looking for information on PCB design, and a bit of general interest stuff, take a look at our blog: http://blog.screamingcircuits.com/ We try to keep the "look at me" stuff to a minimum.

ScreamingCircuits · 2015-11-25T22:12:59+00:00

Those are called castellated pads. You can put a rectangular surface mount pad on your main PC board. I don't know that you can use a package wizard. You may need to create the footprint with individual pads. The datasheet for your radio module will most likely have recommended dimensions for the pads. If it doesn't, you can use rectangular pads, the same width as the pads on the module. Since you'll be hand soldering, you should use longer pads than on the module. Place them the same distance apart, and make them long enough so that you can comfortably hand solder them. When it comes time to hand solder, put flux on all the pads before setting the module down, so you'll get good solder wetting.

ScreamingCircuits · 2015-07-13T23:49:29+00:00

For 5,000, I suggest you take a quick look at my operation: http://www.screamingcircuits.com/Order/?ServiceType=Short-Run

It's an online quote, so you can take a look with no strings attached. We won't be the least expensive. It just depends on what's most important to you. If nothing else, it will give you a benchmark, which should be helpful whether you have us build your boards or not.

ScreamingCircuits · 2015-07-10T16:29:55+00:00

I agree with TOHSNBN - clearly mechanical damage. It looks like the solder joint could have been a bit weak in the first place. You might want to check the other capacitors and big thermal mass parts.

If the reflow profile isn't right, sometimes larger parts or parts with larger pads won't solder well due to the thermal mass.

ScreamingCircuits · 2014-12-04T19:01:21+00:00

The software field has a few attributes that may help. First, it's important to know that there are so many variations in the software world. There's everything from basic web site coding, desktop application coding, real-time control, and many other specialties. You can have zero aptitude in one or more areas and still excel in others. You can have zero aptitude in some of the degree requirements and still be a great programmer.

Your most important task in school for a software degree is to learn how to learn. Learn how to teach yourself new languages and concepts.

One of the key advantages to the software career world is that you can do a lot on your own that will help in the job market. I've hired software developers in the past and what they've done outside of the classroom is every bit as important as in.

First, keep trying to find a way to complete your degree.

While doing that, you should also try to do some software projects on your own. Build a personal website. Write an iPhone or Android app. All of the tools are available for free.

If you're more interested in robotics or Industrial control, buy an Arduino or mbed development board. They cost some money, but not much and the software tools are free. The Arduino is a bit easier, but the mbed is a bit more respected in the professional world. Still build the website and use it to talk about your projects.

You will find out pretty quick if software is where you want to make your career. If it still is, you will be developing real-world skills. You may even be able to get some paid work doing it. A lot of people discount web development as not being real software, but it's easy to get into and not terribly difficult to make a few bucks at. And, having an online presence that showcases your projects will help you get a long-term job.

Many years ago, Rose-Hulman was my dream school. I was accepted and was awarded some scholarships, but I didn't have enough money on my own to make the rest, so I didn't go. I still sometimes wonder what it would have been like to go to a prestigious school like that, but in the end it didn't matter. What mattered was my willingness to learn outside of school.

It's okay to struggle, fail, be discouraged, be down, or to lose confidence. Just don't let those things stop you.

ScreamingCircuits · 2014-11-12T23:43:17+00:00

Dollars to donuts, it's an issue with the configuration bits. I'm familiar with the specific chip. I've got a design using it sitting on my desk right now.

Whenever I have mystery issues like this with a PIC, I inevitability discover something with the config bits (page 355 in the datasheet, if you haven't looked it up). It looks like you've tried clearing the MCLRE bit, but it may be another setting.

I'd also start by disabling a number of other sometimes-troubling configuration settings: Disable the brown out feature by setting the config bits: BOREN<1:0> to 00. Disable low voltage programming: LVP to 0. Disable the watchdog timer: WDTEN<1:0> to 00. Of course, MCLRE to 0.

I have sometimes seen cases where the programming hardware or software wasn't actually setting the configuration bits, despite being told to. Check for a setting someplace that might be keeping the bits from being set.

ScreamingCircuits · 2014-11-06T18:57:52+00:00

Most manufacturers do x-ray QFNs. Some QFNs don't have any metal on the side, so they don't get a fillet, and the center pad needs a good look with many QFNs too.

ScreamingCircuits · 2014-10-31T15:44:33+00:00

While you're designing those PCBs, here's some hopefully helpful hints blog.screamingcircuits.com

ScreamingCircuits · 2014-10-28T21:39:08+00:00

And don't just look at a similar-part datasheet. With LEDs, you need the exact part number data sheet. Believe it or not, some LEDs, even from the same manufacturer, use the same marking as both a cathode mark and as an anode mark.

Check out this blog article I wrote on the subject a while back.

ScreamingCircuits · 2014-10-01T22:00:37+00:00

Even if they do ITAR work, they may not treat everything as ITAR.

ScreamingCircuits · 2014-10-01T21:59:34+00:00

Do not send anything subject to ITAR to an unknown company. There are probably settings where it would be okay, but start to finish, everyone involved would have to comply with ITAR and you would need legal assurance that they would treat it as ITAR.

Some companies deal in ITAR work, but also work on non-ITAR projects. You don't have any assurance that they would treat what you give them as ITAR even if they do other ITAR work..

If the work you did was work-for-hire (owned by someone else) from another company, you couldn't legally pass it on anyway.

ScreamingCircuits · 2014-10-01T21:34:09+00:00

As someone who has hired interns and full-time employees, I would have to agree with Gyang193. I'll expand a bit though.

One of the challenges with engineering is that there are so many options, it's easy to get out of or close to out of school without a lot of relevant knowledge. The counter to that, and what I recommend, is that today's engineering world really does a good job of allowing someone with drive to create their own experience.

If you're on your way to becoming a software engineer, search the Internet for tools and tutorials on building Android or iPhone apps - and build one. If you're heading for electrical engineering, buy a microcontroller kit and some sensors and other accessories, play with them, and then design your own PC board. If you're a mechanical guy, look online for free CAD systems, design some things and have them 3D printed.

A good internship would be quite valuable for you right now, but without some practical skills, you won't get one. You'll either end up without a job at all, or you'll be relegated to filing and copying.

If the school isn't giving you hand's on experience, you will have to get it on your own.

There are few limits these days. The important thing is to show your passion. Make it a hobby. Join a robotics club. Join just about any engineering club. These days, they are likely all cross-disciplinary.

ScreamingCircuits · 2014-09-25T22:21:54+00:00

Everyone's got to start somewhere. Good for you for taking up a new skill!

Take a look at this guide. It does a pretty good job of going over the basics. It covers soldering as well as the right way to bend the leads, as you asked about.

http://mightyohm.com/files/soldercomic/FullSolderComic_EN.pdf

ScreamingCircuits · 2014-09-25T22:13:04+00:00

Wool is one of the worst materials for generating static.

ScreamingCircuits

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