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Step 4Designing the PCB
The design software
To design the PCB, I use Fritzing: It is open source and it fits the Arduino way of life.
Check out: www.fritzing.org
The design
Designing a PCB in Fritzing is easier than you might think. I won't say that it isn't a challenge, but just try it, it is fun.
First you put all the components in the breadboard in the breadboard-view. You just place them exactly as you did in the real world.
Next you go to the PCB-view and you will see that this view really is a mess. You now arrange the components how you would like them on your PCB. Now you click autoroute and the magic happens. It is never exactly right the first time. Sometimes it just helps to click autoroute again and sometimes you have to move, turn or change some parts. You can also draw your own copper.
(this is not a Fritzing tutorial, there are many on the web)
(I added the actual Fritzing file I made, so you can play with it)
Exporting your design
Now you can export your design. (if you don't want to etch your own PCB, you can also order the PCB directly from the Fritzing program) But I will be etching my own PCB, so I will export it for etching. This will result in a nice PDF-file. Doesn't it look cool.
Printing your design
To print your design, you will need a laser-printer. A bubble-jet won't do. First I use a vector-drawing program to put more than one PCB on one sheet of paper. You could use a program like Adobe Illustrator. My legal version of Illustrator doesn't work anymore (since I'm running Lion), so I use Inkscape. This is also a free program. See www.inkscape.org.
Now I first print on a normal sheet of paper and look wether the parts will fit. My printer makes the designs slightly smaller than they should so I have to print my designs 103%. Just check what your printer does.
If the size is right, you can get your 3M transparent sheet en print your design on that.
To design the PCB, I use Fritzing: It is open source and it fits the Arduino way of life.
Check out: www.fritzing.org
The design
Designing a PCB in Fritzing is easier than you might think. I won't say that it isn't a challenge, but just try it, it is fun.
First you put all the components in the breadboard in the breadboard-view. You just place them exactly as you did in the real world.
Next you go to the PCB-view and you will see that this view really is a mess. You now arrange the components how you would like them on your PCB. Now you click autoroute and the magic happens. It is never exactly right the first time. Sometimes it just helps to click autoroute again and sometimes you have to move, turn or change some parts. You can also draw your own copper.
(this is not a Fritzing tutorial, there are many on the web)
(I added the actual Fritzing file I made, so you can play with it)
Exporting your design
Now you can export your design. (if you don't want to etch your own PCB, you can also order the PCB directly from the Fritzing program) But I will be etching my own PCB, so I will export it for etching. This will result in a nice PDF-file. Doesn't it look cool.
Printing your design
To print your design, you will need a laser-printer. A bubble-jet won't do. First I use a vector-drawing program to put more than one PCB on one sheet of paper. You could use a program like Adobe Illustrator. My legal version of Illustrator doesn't work anymore (since I'm running Lion), so I use Inkscape. This is also a free program. See www.inkscape.org.
Now I first print on a normal sheet of paper and look wether the parts will fit. My printer makes the designs slightly smaller than they should so I have to print my designs 103%. Just check what your printer does.
If the size is right, you can get your 3M transparent sheet en print your design on that.
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Ik heb lang met een gewone soldeerbout en tin smd componenten gesoldeerd en het is supergoed te doen (al mijn instructables projecten die smd bevatten zijn met een gewone bout gesoldeerd).
Nu gebruik ik meestal soldeerpasta en een hetelucht-soldeerapparaat.
Hoe dan ook, ik heb net een smd Scottky diode gekocht om op mijn Arduino nano bordje te solderen (ja, kortsluiting gemaakt) eens kijken hoe dat gaat. Ik heb denk ik 30 jaar geleden voor het laatst smd gesoldeerd.
Omdat de Scottky in het bordje colkomen kapot is, is het misschien het makkelijkst om de nieuwe er met een druppeltje lijm op vast te lijmen en dan da kantjes te solderen.
Heb even wat prijzen vergeleken:
attiny45 smd. SMD shop 2.15 Dickbest 2.50
attiny2313-20PU smd SMDshop 2.49 (soic20) dickbest 2.00 (sol20) 1.95 (DIL).
Soms dus de een soms de ander goedkoper. Dickbest heeft als minimumorder 6 euro en de verzendkosten zijn laag. Bij smd.shop weet ik dat niet. SMD shop heeft wel een groter assortiment Atmel microcontrollers.
Beide lijken me handige adressen om te hebben. Bedankt
Kan je me uitleggen waarom ik gaten in zelfgemaakte PCB zou willen doormetaliseren? Waarom heb ik die gaten gemaakt? Of is dat voor dubbelzijdige PCB's om van de een naar de andere kant te gaan?
Nice project, by the way!