For PCB design I use the open-source schematic and PCB design software KiCAD. Its a great program and has gotten a lot better recently. It is unlimited in size, components and number of layers and has lots of the features of very expensive professional PCB layout software. There are times when having just one schematic … more
Following on from the surface mount reflow oven I built, I thought I would report on its performance and my experiences with surface mount devices. I had designed a relatively complex board which had a number of devices which were only available in a surface mount package. So I decided to produce this board with … more
The next step with the open-source charge controller project is to design the printed circuit board (PCB). This circuit board has specifications that it will work with up to 20A DC, hence I need to ensure that the thickness of the tracks is able to cope with this current without any problems. Here I show … more
For PCB design I use the open-source schematic and PCB design software KiCAD. Its a great program and has gotten a lot better recently. It is unlimited in size, components and number of layers and has lots of the features of very expensive professional PCB layout software. But… there are times when its not so … more