uble sided boards carefully as this allows for the possibility of denser routing if required.

I have found that as I have grown older I have become more patient with my layouts regarding them as personal works of electronic art. A finished product needs to be a thing of beauty and not just be functionally correct. All good layouts naturally spend most of their time with the positioning of the components with the connecting up taking a lesser proportion of the time. Planning, as with anything in life, is the most important part of the layout project. One item I have not mentioned and that is the role of au

PCB (printed circuit board) layout
This is a topic that has grown closer to my heart over the decades that I have been designing and laying out printed circuit boards. The issue came up because a company I was doing contract work for has been outsourcing their layout work with the result that the final product left much to be desired. Electrically all the correct points were joined up but mechanically, aesthetically, technically it was a disaster. There was a gaping void between knowing the functionality of a particular design and routing accordingly and this particular design where the the individual that routed the pcb clearly had no idea about either the functionality or the final operation of the design.
There are many elements to laying out a printed circuit.

* Make sure you have the correct pcb size according to the chosen enclosure. This may have to take into account that there might be a number of different boards that have to mechanically connect and electrically relate to each other.
* Make sure that all the components have been correctly specified, specially their physical sizes and pin spacing
* The input and output connectors must be correctly specified for the appropriate voltage and current.
* The positions of the i/o components relative to the enclosure must be carefully measured and placed. This includes not only the electrical i/o but also the visual components if lcd screens, 7 segments displays, LED's, pushbuttons etc are being used.
* Plan the high current paths because bad planning can lead tracks that are too narrow, too long or too close to sensitive components.
* Plan the high frequency paths taking note of proximity to ground planes and metal surfaces. Lengths of track can also be a critical factor when rf paths are being layed out.
* Plan the power supplies blocks as careless planning can lead to noisy power supplies with subsequent interference and malfunctioning of the rest of the circuit. Rather take your time now than have to redo a board several times because of hasty component placing the first time round.
* Place all the components before starting with a layout. If the components have been placed properly, laying the tracks can be quick and painless. Sometimes I do a provisional layout to see how particular paths will look but the bulk of the routing I do when all the components have been placed.
* Plan the horizontal and vertical routing paths on double sided boards carefully as this allows for the possibility of denser routing if required.

I have found that as I have grown older I have become more patient with my layouts regarding them as personal works of electronic art. A finished product needs to be a thing of beauty and not just be functionally correct. All good layouts naturally spend most of their time with the positioning of the components with the connecting up taking a lesser proportion of the time. Planning, as with anything in life, is the most important part of the layout project. One item I have not mentioned and that is the role of aut

ed the pcb clearly had no idea about either the functionality or the final operation of the design.
There are many elements to laying out a printed circuit.

* Make sure you have the correct pcb size according to the chosen enclosure. This may have to take into account that there might be a number of different boards that have to mechanically connect and electrically relate to each other.
* Make sure that all the components have been correctly specified, specially their physical sizes and pin spacing
* The input and output connectors must be correctly specified for the appropriate voltage and current.
* The positions of the i/o components relative to the enclosure must be carefully measured and placed. This includes not only the electrical i/o but also the visual components if lcd screens, 7 segments displays, LED's, pushbuttons etc are being used.
* Plan the high current paths because bad planning can lead tracks that are too narrow, too long or too close to sensitive components.
* Plan the high frequency paths taking note of proximity to ground planes and metal surfaces. Lengths of track can also be a critical factor when rf paths are being layed out.
* Plan the power supplies blocks as careless planning can lead to noisy power supplies with subsequent interference and malfunctioning of the rest of the circuit. Rather take your time now than have to redo a board several times because of hasty component placing the first time round.
* Place all the components before starting with a layout. If the components have been placed properly, laying the tracks can be quick and painless. Sometimes I do a provisional layout to see how particular paths will look but the bulk of the routing I do when all the components have been placed.
* Plan the horizontal and vertical routing paths on double sided boards carefully as this allows for the possibility of denser routing if required.

I have found that as I have grown older I have become more patient with my layouts regarding them as personal works of electronic art. A finished product needs to be a thing of beauty and not just be functionally correct. All good layouts naturally spend most of their time with the positioning of the components with the connecting up taking a lesser proportion of the time. Planning, as with anything in life, is the most important part of the layout project. One item I have not mentioned and that is the role of au

current.
* The positions of the i/o components relative to the enclosure must be carefully measured and placed. This includes not only the electrical i/o but also the visual components if lcd screens, 7 segments displays, LED's, pushbuttons etc are being used.
* Plan the high current paths because bad planning can lead tracks that are too narrow, too long or too close to sensitive components.
* Plan the high frequency paths taking note of proximity to ground planes and metal surfaces. Lengths of track can also be a critical factor when rf paths are being layed out.
* Plan the power supplies blocks as careless planning can lead to noisy power supplies with subsequent interference and malfunctioning of the rest of the circuit. Rather take your time now than have to redo a board several times because of hasty component placing the first time round.
* Place all the components before starting with a layout. If the components have been placed properly, laying the tracks can be quick and painless. Sometimes I do a provisional layout to see how particular paths will look but the bulk of the routing I do when all the components have been placed.
* Plan the horizontal and vertical routing paths on double sided boards carefully as this allows for the possibility of denser routing if required.

I have found that as I have grown older I have become more patient with my layouts regarding them as personal works of electronic art. A finished product needs to be a thing of beauty and not just be functionally correct. All good layouts naturally spend most of their time with the positioning of the components with the connecting up taking a lesser proportion of the time. Planning, as with anything in life, is the most important part of the layout project. One item I have not mentioned and that is the role of au

locks as careless planning can lead to noisy power supplies with subsequent interference and malfunctioning of the rest of the circuit. Rather take your time now than have to redo a board several times because of hasty component placing the first time round.
* Place all the components before starting with a layout. If the components have been placed properly, laying the tracks can be quick and painless. Sometimes I do a provisional layout to see how particular paths will look but the bulk of the routing I do when all the components have been placed.
* Plan the horizontal and vertical routing paths on double sided boards carefully as this allows for the possibility of denser routing if required.

I have found that as I have grown older I have become more patient with my layouts regarding them as personal works of electronic art. A finished product needs to be a thing of beauty and not just be functionally correct. All good layouts naturally spend most of their time with the positioning of the components with the connecting up taking a lesser proportion of the time. Planning, as with anything in life, is the most important part of the layout project. One item I have not mentioned and that is the role of au

uble sided boards carefully as this allows for the possibility of denser routing if required.

I have found that as I have grown older I have become more patient with my layouts regarding them as personal works of electronic art. A finished product needs to be a thing of beauty and not just be functionally correct. All good layouts naturally spend most of their time with the positioning of the components with the connecting up taking a lesser proportion of the time. Planning, as with anything in life, is the most important part of the layout project. One item I have not mentioned and that is the role of auto routers. I am not a great fan of auto routers and cannot recall one board in the last 20 years that I have auto routed and sent out to the pcb manufacturers without extensive tidying up and usually scrapping the entire auto route and starting again. I know there are cost implications but I have found that I rate satisfaction with a routed board much higher than speed of routing.