The Amp Hour · 26 Feb 2016 · 1h 22m · Episode 288
Hosts Dave Jones and Chris Gammell answer caller questions on The Amp Hour, covering topics from soldering iron recommendations and PCB grounding issues to career advice for transitioning into electronics engineering. They discuss advanced PCB design resources for high-speed signals and BGA layouts, and provide technical solutions for implementing capacitive touch buttons in KiCad for a custom dry-aging meat fridge project.
makers and hobbyists
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Hosts Carl and Corey discuss PCB layout tips for hobbyists, focusing on component placement and power plane design. They cover decisions like single-sided vs. double-sided assembly, grouping components by functional blocks, and the critical importance of placing decoupling capacitors near IC pins. The conversation also addresses thermal management, power plane sizing, via current capacity, and the use of positive vs. negative layers in CAD tools.
David Ray of Cyber City Circuits explains his company's transition from a kitchen-table hobby to a small-scale manufacturing hub for electronics and escape room props. He details a specific reverse engineering workflow for PCBs involving high-resolution photo scanning, GIMP, and Inkscape to recreate designs in KiCad, illustrated by his TI-83 calculator project. The conversation also covers the challenges of legacy component obsolescence, the utility of online communities like electronics Twitter, and the technical aspects of building interactive escape room hardware.
Chris Gammell, co-host of The Amp Hour podcast and employee at a large industrial electronics company, discusses his new online course, Contextual Electronics, which bridges the gap between academic theory and practical hardware design. He explains the course's structure, which targets advanced Arduino users by teaching them to design, source parts for, and build a 'Bench Buddy' project using KiCad and open-source tools. Gammell details the logistical challenges of running a remote hardware class, including managing global time zones, version control via GitHub, and optimizing for low-cost, low-quantity component sourcing.
Phil King of Weekend Engineering advises host Elecia White on the end-to-end process of designing and fabricating a custom PCB, from schematic capture to assembly. They discuss the trade-offs between professional EDA tools like OrCAD and Altium, free options like EaglePCB and KiCad, and vendor-specific tools like DigiKey's SchemeIt and ExpressPCB. The conversation covers the critical importance of net lists, PCB layout challenges such as trace spacing and via types, and the logistical complexities of sourcing components and managing fabrication costs.
Hosts Carl and Corey share embedded electronics horror stories, including Corey’s PCB layout error where a tool connected line and neutral, and Carl’s experience with a potato gun fireball. They discuss common design pitfalls such as incorrect through-hole sizing, voltage level mismatches between an FPGA and a 1.8V chip, and the leakage currents of unpowered ICs like FTDI chips. The conversation emphasizes the importance of reading datasheets, verifying Gerber files, and understanding power-up sequencing to avoid bricking components or causing shorts.
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