r/PCB

I have been reading the Aplication Note "Grounding Data Converters and Solving the Mystery of AGND and DGND", and the Autors recommend to split Agnd and DGND but other Voices ( z.b. Altium Academy) say it is hard to get good results.

I'm trying to make a nA Transienten measurement system, a 4 Layer board. I use 2 components witch are mixed ( Adc ADS8681 and a Dac ), the Amplifier is a TIA build with a LMC6001( i know not the perfect part but yea, i have them on hand). Any Dokuments were I can read about it?

For example can I replace all 10uF 402 capacitors with 22uF 402 capacitors without adverse effects?

In which cases would this not be advised?

Hey ya‘ll

I need to design a stepper controller that has a built in resistance monitor (so when it reaches a certain threshold it sends a signal back to a GPIO pin.

Is there any way I can design this without losing my mind? I tried an analog system with a voltage monitor and ended up giving up a few hours in.

Thank you

I'm gonna build a circuit with ESP32 okay for that i need to both program though C -type and also after setup i'll use that for function. so which will be best option to use ldo or buck converter my input will be 5v , >6A

https://preview.redd.it/suv06gwmadwg1.png?width=1771&format=png&auto=webp&s=b1bb552b1eeb4e61cf5272996339e674cd12b4b2

https://preview.redd.it/d0dnbiembdwg1.png?width=2310&format=png&auto=webp&s=1a6226a7a106972371662f030637b09ebc3390e3

This PCB can be powered with USB or Solar using the BQ25798 IC. this then feeds into the buck which converts it down to 4V for a rail that feeds different LDOs for different devices.

The system works, and teh correct voltages and currents are supplied to the rest of the PCB, however,

Problems:

1. without a battery, the current going into the Buck is unstable, so it requires a battery always, which the BQ25798 says is not necessary. Could it be that I have set charging as always on ?

2. the circuit makes whining noises depending on what DC voltage is being supplied.

https://preview.redd.it/swo9j0r79iwg1.png?width=2088&format=png&auto=webp&s=f39d5878330c04519dfd5880458fea19f9898c2d

Just to clarify: I am a complete beginner with PCB design. This is the first proper project that I am taking on.

This is my schematic for an ESP32-S3 based device which uses a TFT display, MPU9250, a few buttons for inputs and a charging circuit for a Li-Po battery. I made it with the help of some online tutorials but I doubt it works properly.

Any feedback on this would be appreciated. I am quite sure something is going wrong somewhere, especially in the charging circuits, so please help me out with that.

Hi all mentors, I am currently a B.tech student learning embedded systems and interested in PCB designing.

I have designed one two basic pcb but honestly it is just copy paste from some random yt video.

I really want to learn the concepts of pcb designing.

Can you please help me how I can really start learning this. I am having approx 2 month holidays soon which I want to utilise for this purpose only.

Any course or book or lecture or anything can help me.

Thanks for the advice in advance.

Could anyone tell me how to identify a smd caps value? I work at a service centre if there's any cap that's damaged or at fault and couldn't get the same spare. I was adviced to use same looking size smd cap from a scrap PCBA. Does this work for long term or they just don't do their job properly?

Newbie here, are there some good practices in designing a battery powered PCB?

For example how to route batt- and ground, protections of some sort, things like that.

Nothing special than a 12V battery powering some sensors and esp, but I'm curious.

TY

I want to design a pcb preferably a but complex like light rf or usb or those categories

Equipment:

Hot air

Solder(im u can say good at it)

Oscilloscope

Any help would be nice

I have multiple JLC PCB orders this past year, totaling hundreds of USD in tariffs, but it seems like I haven't spent ENOUGH money to hit a threshold ($800???) to have a legit ACE account. I'm wondering if I'm missing something, or if I'm just out of luck.

Hi, I’m looking for a tool (open-source or commercial) that does more than just basic Gerber viewing. Specifically, I want something where a PCB operator or reviewer can:

• Load standard Gerber files (RS-274X) plus drill files
• Pan/zoom around the layers
• Easily mark a spot (e.g., trace too close to pad, solder bridge risk, missing via)
• Add a note or issue type to that mark
• Export or generate a report (PDF, CSV, or image with annotations) that lists all those issues with coordinates and comments

Essentially, a lightweight review/QC annotation tool for Gerbers, not a full CAM editor. Does anything like this already exist, or is everyone just using screenshots + separate spreadsheets?

Thanks for any pointers.

I have a crystal that has 12pF load capacitance in its datasheet. To calculate required capacitors I need an estimate on stray capacitance such that

12pF = C1*C2/(C1+C2)+Cstray

It's gonna be a 0.8mm 4layer JLC04161H-7628 FR4 pcb from JLCPCB (0.21040mm separation between top and ground layer)

How do I estimate Cstray?