Over on Hackaday Give Your SMD Components A Lift they linked to How To Lift SMD Pins Safely – IC Pin Lifting / Soldering by Mr SolderFix.
Lifting SMD components from PCBs
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Tag Archives: pcb
Black Mesa Labs
Today I found Kevin Hubbard here:
He seems to know a fair bit about PCB design and FPGAs, which are things I am becoming interested in too.
Protoboard
I have been on the lookout for some good protoboard for a while now, and today I found this: ElectroCookie Solderable Breadboard PCB Board for Electronics Projects Compatible for DIY Arduino Soldering Projects, Gold-Plated (9 Pack + 3 Mini, Multicolor Pack).
It is cheap and well laid out, which is a combination of properties I have had some trouble finding. For instance if you search for ‘protoboard’ over on AliExpress you don’t get any good results.
Anyway. I got myself two twelve packs. Average cost of AU$2.25 per board.
p.s. I went back and got these as well:
- ElectroCookie Large PCB Prototype Board Kit Solderable Breadboards for DIY Arduino and Soldering Projects, Gold-Plated (6 Multi-Pack, Blue)
- ElectroCookie Mini PCB Prototype Board Solderable Breadboard for DIY Electronics, Compatible for Mini Arduino Soldering Projects, Gold-Plated (50 Pack, Black)
This ElectroCookie stuff is good value!
FreeRouting
Today I learned about FreeRouting, which is also available as a KiCad plugin. It does track/trace routing for PCBs.
6 Horribly Common PCB Design Mistakes and AppCAD
Today I enjoyed watching 6 Horribly Common PCB Design Mistakes and the follow-up video Design Mistakes You Must Avoid on Your New Electronic Product.
In the first video I learned about AppCAD Design Assistant which is a free tool which boasts a broad bunch of features (and, particularly, it can help you design an antenna on your PCB):
- S-Parameter Analysis and Plotting
- Active Circuit Bias Design
- Cascade Noise and IP3 Analysis
- Transmission Line Analysis
- Signals and Systems
- Complex Math Engineering Calculator
I haven’t used AppCAD yet, but I will check it out soon.
TQFP100, TQFP64 and TQFP48 starter boards
Today while watching EEVblog 1580 – MacGruber Mailbag I discovered the Jon Newcomb universal SMD breakout boards, there’s more info and links to purchase here: http://www.jnewcomb.com/
Sharing PCB designs on PCBWay
Over on An Absolute Beginners Guide To Designing PCBs using Easy EDA – Make PCB From A Schematic I learned about How to Share Projects in PCBWay Community. Seems like a good service to me, haven’t used it yet but do intend to check it out.
Prototype Circuit Board
Also variously known as “stripboard” and “veroboard” I got myself some of this TZT 10PCS DIY 2.5×6.4 2.5*6.4CM Prototype Paper PCB Universal Experiment Matrix Circuit Board Single Row Continuous Hole 25x64mm. AU$4.71 for 10 pieces, delivered. The boards are fairly small, 25x64mm.
And also some of this: diymore 5PCS/Lot 50X100mm 2-3-5 Joint Universal PCB Boards Single Side Copper Prototype Print Circuit Boards Breadboard. AU$4.28 for 5 pieces, delivered. These are a little larger at 50x100mm.
I still haven’t found exactly what I’m looking for when it comes to stripboard, gonna keep my eye peeled. This is what I have so far:
Speedy Bend – Resistor Lead Forming Tool
So I got myself some of these Speedy Bend – Resistor Lead Forming Tools. There’s a video on YouTube about how to use them: ProbeMaster Speedy Bends: Axial Lead Forming Tools.
One PCB to RULER them all
So I got myself a One PCB to Ruler Them All from Little Bird Electronics, and when I say “a”, I mean “three”:
