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DesignSpark freeware PCB design

July 21, 2010 in PCBs, tools by Ian | 12 comments


We’ve been meaning to check out DesignSpark.

Free from practical constraints on board size, pin counts, layers and output types… Multi-page schematic designs are supported…. supports the importing of Eagle design files and libraries…

It’s not open source, but it could potentially be a favorable closed-ware alternative to Eagle. Eagles’s board size limits don’t usually effect us because we use all SMD parts, and the layer limit is pretty moot because 4layer boards are too expensive for us to prototype.

Multiple sheets is a very attractive feature though. Eagle currently limits you to one sheet, which makes big designs unwieldy. Eagle’s big lock-in seems to be the huge number of user generated part libraries.

For an open alternative, there’s Kicad. We haven’t tried it for a few years, anyone know if it’s been updated?

Via Adafruit.

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Adding custom graphics to PCBs in Eagle

July 12, 2010 in PCBs by Ian | No comments

Do you want your next PCB to be pretty? Here’s how to add custom graphics to a PCB using Eagle.

Via Make.

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Easy vias on homemade double sided PCBs

March 16, 2010 in PCBs by Ian | 4 comments

Double sided home-etched PCBs require a lot of patience and luck. Both sides need to be aligned properly, and via wires have to be soldered between the layers so top and bottom are connected.

The usual process for connecting the layers is to insert a small wire in each via hole and solder it.  This is a tedious, time consuming process. YourITronics documents another way: thread a long wire through all the holes, solder it in place, and cut away the excess. The result, as seen above, is a very small, very clean via connection. There’s even a few under the TQFP chip! We’ll definitely use this tip the next time we make a double sided board at home.

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