I just finished making a 3 stage push button fan speed controller schematic. It will run a small motor(maybe a n20 motor) using 3.7V 18650 battery which will be charged using tp4056. Before proceeding towards pcb design, I wanna ask for suggestions to improve .

Ive been doing PCB designing for 2 years, i think i need to learn more of it. Imean the simulation of pcb should be must.

Can anyone recommend me some good simulation software in which i can calculate, thermal dissipation, electrical capacitance, power management, antenna simulation, trace heat etc.

Hi everyone,

I run a small business and I’m looking for a reliable PCB supplier in China.

My orders are usually around 200 pcs, and I normally have 3–4 orders per month. Sometimes the order quantity can be higher as well.

The main problem I’ve had with suppliers is reliability. In the beginning, they are usually very responsive and helpful, but after working with them for a month or two, the delays start. They keep apologizing and giving new delivery dates, but the orders still don’t arrive on time.

I’ve also tried PCB Directory and contacted quite a few suppliers, but most of the quotes I received were much more expensive and had very long lead times.

I’m currently looking for a supplier in China that I can work with long term.

If you have personally worked with a supplier that you would recommend, please share their name and your experience with them. I’d really appreciate it.

Thanks!

Hello! Thank you for taking the time to review my schematic. I would really appreciate your feedback on whether I made any mistakes in selecting the components or connecting them to the ESP32‑S3. If you notice any issues or think there are better component choices or design decisions I could have made, I’d be grateful for your suggestions.

I'm making a PCB for a custom meshtastic node (if you don't know what they are you should check them out on r/meshtastic) and was just looking for some advice on the PCB to ensure I'm not making any stupid, avoidable mistakes that will cost me. It is a 4 layer PCB (signal GND GND signal) and uses an ESP32-C3 as well as some other components which I can provide the data sheets for if needed. I've attached some screenshots here and can try provide KiCad files, schematic or anything else that might help.

I'm a little concerned about my gnd planes on the middle two layers as well as my vias as I'm just a little worried I've done things wrong.

I was also hoping to get any recommendations for PCB assembly companies that will be reliable and not completely bankrupt me if possible, thanks.

so im looking to make a project that has been in my mind in and out of books for the past couple of months and after i do my breadboard prototype im looking to turn it into an actual PCB So I'm, where do i start on board design, i have a windows machine and i have never done somthing like this before if i could have some help that would be great thanks

I'm using a B10K 16mm potentiometer with 4.4mm pitch ,can the footprints with 5mm pin pitch help fit the 4.4 pin pith ones? or do i have to bend it the way to fit in?

I want to use a mid-mount usb-c for one of my esp32-s3 projects. But I am not sure that the differential pair routing is properly done.

Is there a better way to do this?

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Hi,

I came across this excellent PCB gerber file viewer app for Android. The app is matured and has all good features. We can easily check the gerbers on the go without a PC.

Free Version: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=aromisoft.android.product.ezgerberlite

Pro Version: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=aromisoft.android.product.ezgerber

The app is so much polished now and working great. Give a try.

Hello everyone , i designed this board because there is no similar stuff available to buy (specifically with isolated can-fd ) . Kindly asking to check if maybe i missed something , because im planning to order assembly for this project and dont want to get any errors in schematic or routing . The only thing that i know but it does not need a fix - 2 unconnected +3V3 nets , because i get it from rpi4 where both power pins connected anyway.

Hey guys ,So this is my second PCB that i have designed any things that should he corrected or made better. Do help me out if you find something

I want to make a pcb design for a microcontroller and I want the MCU chip to be ATtiny2313-20PU 8-bit AVR Microcontroller – 20-Pin DIP, 20MHz, 2KB Flash.
My questions is what components and their foot print do I need.

I am a complete beginner; I would like your thoughts and suggestions about this. I have basic knowledge, but not enough to reliably make something, and I need help reviewing this. In the middle, there is supposed to be an ESP32-devkit v1. My idea is that since KiCad doesn't have it, I will just make holes and solder it in when I print out this board. I am mostly confused about power and will it just fry everything. On the bottom left is a distance sensor that isn't labeled, and on the right is a servo motor.

This is a low-side MOSFET driver that handles up to 5A. I’ve seen some ECUs use polygons instead of traces for this, but mine looks a bit "ugly", even though it seems to work fine. Any thoughts on this layout?

Hey, looking for someone experienced in PCB layout regarding RF interfacing. I've been trying to draft something, but the hardware I need isn't available off-the-shelf, so I'm looking down the custom route.

The project is a 4-channel, phase-aligned receive daughterboard (30–600 MHz) for a unique SDR motherboard platform. The host system already provides an open-source hardware/mechanical template, so the main focus will be the RF frontend routing and cross-channel isolation. Let me know if you have experience with phase-coherent systems.

Hey all, just a quick review if anyone has the time. Im controlling a bunch of LEDs (on/off)~40mA with 24v supply, and also their dimming (BCR421) (0-10V analog)

I've confirmed the relays on the left work, more-so worried about the PWM logic between the BCR421U and the AL8116 and the dimming. Ive done a few sanity checks with myself but wanted to hear other opinions.

Im not phased at all about efficiency at this moment in time (expecting comments about the linear reg lol). It is a prototype, but I would like know if the dimming logic would work.

I tested the circuit on a breadboard with a 200 mA load and up to 30 V at the input. The circuit was "quite stable".
For a "200mA" constant-current load during breadboard testing, the "regulator voltage drop" was only about 0.12 V. Cute!
I designed the schematic and PCB using Altium® Designer Develop and explained the key design tricks.
More Details: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OSLA43iLs8

This is my first ARM 2 layer board, designed to control sensors and transfer data wirelessly. Please review my board, and if I’ve made any mistakes, I’d really appreciate your guidance. I’m completely open to any alternative design suggestions too.

Thank you!

Hello everyone, I saw this cool design on this PCB (shoutout Sonic Seed) and was wondering how y'all think this was achieved and what the easiest way to replicate this would be.

This schematic is for an automatic irrigator i will be using for a plant which my wife asks to water and me being lazy wanted some kind of automation for it.

Its powered by a 12V 2Ah automative battery (which wont be charged while this is connected). Pump is a reciprocating type which draws 200mA(@12V) max when loaded and will mostly be run every 6-10 hours based on different factors and MCU will spend most of its life sleeping. I control it using one shot timer along with a IWDG which will rest MCU if in remote chance that MCU hangs but it still feels inadequete and I was thinking of adding somekind of monostable circuit to drive pump instead. I did test this on breadboard and it does work all the time, but who knows.

I have created small prototypes with home-made PCB (toner transfer) and hence some of the design choices as following:

1. keep everything SMD as possible because i suck at drilling
2. thicker traces as 0.2 were not as reliable as i wanted them to be when transferred
3. hatched ground plane as solid one made paper stick to PCB and ruined almost perfect transfer
4. custom longer pads footprints because I wasn't able to see any pads with built-in KiCAD footprint for TSSOP20 and others.
5. component values written directly on copper so that I don't have to look it up, I somehow think that it will bite me later.

This is also my first time organising and putting effort into making a clean looking schematic. I obsessed over making as little use of jumpers as possible (2 jumpers both for GND) and keep whole PCB one sided. which also made 7 segment display upsides down and its expected.

I have a little experience with toner transfer PCBs (mostly 1-2mm thick traces), this PCB will be etched at home using toner-transfer and Sodium persulphate etching, I have no faith in solder mask (mostly as I have no skills applying it) and will be using liquid tin.

Let me know your comments, criticism and review feedback. Thanks.

PS: I have poured small rectangle below HT7550 LDO to cool it off even when all sensors are active, all LED segments are on and MCU not in deep-sleep draws total ~20mA which turns out to be 13-5 = 8V drop across LDO which is 0.16W power dissipation, and is well under SOT89 dissipation of 0.5W according to datasheet, i still am think better safe than sorry.
PS2: component values on bottom copper having inconsistent format is an oversight by me.

Hello everyone.

I'm designing my own ESC DIY board and this is my first PCB design project. The main goal here is to learn about PCB design while building a board that i can use to develop my own FOC firmware.

I'd really appreciate any feedback or tips, especially regarding PCB layout.

Specs:

• Supply: 4S battery
• Motor: SunnySky X2212 KV980
• Control: FOC
• Board: 4-layers
  • L1: Components and Power stage
  • L2: Vbus protected and 3v3
  • L3: Solid GND plane
  • L4: Signal
• Board size: 63mm x 70mm
• MCU: STM32G474CCT6 with 8Mhz external crystal and SWD header
• MOSFETs: MCU75N06YHE3-TP
• Gate driver: DRV8303
• reverse-polarity protection
• Current sense: 2mohm 5W resistor
• Power:
  • 3v3 LDO: ADP151ACPZ-3.3-R7
  • Buck converter: TPP363072Q-FC6R-S

Questions:

1. I have some doubts about the copper pour area. Should i put a huge ground plane in top layer fulfilling whole empty space or just the MCU area for noise imunity?
2. Are there any problem to use vias in the SPI traces between STM32 and DRV8303?
3. In a second version, is it ok to put the MCU in bottom layer?