SDG

[@ADR69]

This is serendipitous I was trying this out two days ago and it was not very straight forward. Thanks for sharing, this was helpful

[@OrbiterElectronics]

Very interesting and helpful, thanks Steve. I don't do many PCBs but these considerations will certainly help with future ones 👍

[@George-gz5zm]

Would be nice if you could do a follow-up on emc layout. One problem you can get when you have inputs and outputs opposite sides is large current loops. Essentailly a good antennae.

[@peterellis2764]

Hi Steve, hope your doing well pal. The lighting project looking well, looking forward to the final product. I would really like you to do some videos on Proteus. Especially PCB side of stuff. Thanks and keep up the great work !!

[@guychaboteaux5187]

I like your videos 👍 I am looking forward your DAC and amplifier projects 😄

[@CollinBaillie]

Barely related, but here's a question for you. Pull-up resistors, and level shifters. Before or after the level shift? Say I am using an SPI device with an Arduino, and I'm making a shield PCB to sit between the two... would I put pull-up resistors on the high side or the low side of the level shifter? More of a circuit design than PCB, but... couldn't find another of yours videos which may be more relevant. Arduino being the high side, SPI device being a 3.3v device, on the low side.

[@sdgelectronics]

It depends on the nature of the drivers - you only need pull-ups on open-collector outputs. SPI shouldn't need pull-ups or pull-downs though unless it's for some purpose before MCU initialisation.

[@CollinBaillie]

@@sdgelectronics Oh, of course. These are the CS lines for various SPI devices and a RD line for an LCD. Not specifically SPI I suppose. I'm using TXS0108E for the level shifters.

[@d3line]

Amazing channel, can’t believe I haven’t found you earlier! I got a question about PCB design with AC traces: what widths and distances are you using for traces and air gaps? Also I have an idea for video: how to choose between different AC to DC converters for projects. Is it worth to buy a sealed package or build on PCB yourself, what are the different types and how do they compare, stuff like that.

[@sdgelectronics]

Somewhere in the region of 16 mm/kV is considered good practice. Thanks for the ideas.

[@FixDaily]

Great video sir! I might say that something got my eyes on: 2:37 what's the magic behind those 2 zener diodes to protect the input and to blow the fuse? I mean, how they work together, and which values did you choose (zener diodes and fuse)

[@sdgelectronics]

The series zener will normally act like a plain diode. The circuit is designed to work between 5 and 24V nominally, so the zener is set to 30V. If you see more than 30V it'll conduct and clamp the rail to 30V. If enough current flows the fuse will blow. If the reverse voltage is applied to the circuit the zener to 0V will conduct at 0.6V and off enough current is available will blow the fuse. The series zener may not need to be a zener - I think I had some reasoning but can't think now 😂

[@FixDaily]

@@sdgelectronics Liked the ideia, thanks mate for sharing :) Btw the fuse you used is something around 0.5A or something?

[@jerkovicbrate]

Great video. If you have time, do some pcb design from start to finish, maybe livestream.

[@GlennPierce]

Thanks Steve. My idea for a project. I would love to see a wifi power meter that sits between the mains and your device or in my case the consumer unit. You can buy din rail modbus meters that do this but they lack wifi functionality without extra equipment. In my setup my mains meter tails go into my modbus energy meter. I also have my module (Wemos / RS485 cheap ebay board) that reads this energy meter info using modbus. This board then publishes this energy info using mqtt on my local network for other devices to use. For example my washing maching may turn on when the house is exporting energy. In addidtion to my setup I also have a 5v din rail powersupply to power my board. It would be nice to have this functionality built into one board. I imagine different form factors like a din rail module or a simple box that can be wired on a extension socket for monitoring one device and when you don't want an electrician to have to install into your house wiring. I think this would provide quite good tutorial material of measuring properties on the AC wave form ie how to determine the energy flow direction etc. Obviously more microcontroller coding and pcb design stuff in addition to using the active probe again :) A pic of my currently bulky setup. www.dropbox.com/s/towc0ea7ec9vr1g/energymeter_setup.jpg?dl=0 Thanks

[@sdgelectronics]

Very interesting - you reminded me I actually have 5 Modbus energy meters for when I change the consumer unit/fuse box in the next month or so, but I decided I may not fit them. I had a similar setup to yours (excluding the wifi) at my previous house, but certainly a topic I could revisit. I'll take a look at your link - thanks.

[@gincoba]

Hi Steve! Thanks for your great videos! Very useful! Can you tell us what kind of software do you use for schematic and PCB layout? Thanks a lot! Cheers

[@sdgelectronics]

Thanks, it's Labcenter Electronics Proteus Design Suite

[@IanScottJohnston]

Good tips Steve......a lot of folks don't pay attention to board house rules n guides and just wing it.......ahem!!!

[@sdgelectronics]

That was me also...

[@chefbink61]

High end Dac,,,, cant wait,,, been wanting to build one for some time now....

[@sdgelectronics]

It'll be based around the Wolfson 24-bit DACs, but there will be lots of interesting design work on this.

[@chefbink61]

@@sdgelectronics I will be looking forward to it!! Thanks for the info!!

[@johnyang799]

@@sdgelectronics Aww that's not high end. Would be much better to go with cs4398 or ak4490.

[@bloguetronica]

What CAD package are you using? Looks good.

[@sdgelectronics]

It's Proteus. A slightly older version as I don't have updates anymore.

[@RayMerrell68]

How do you cut the 10x10 JLCPCB into smaller units? Like, if i wanted to make a bunch of nano boards but I wanted more than just 5?

[@sdgelectronics]

Two methods - you can create a design with all of your designs in a matrix and put router slots in the design to allow them to be removed. Alternatively you can upload the single design and check the option to get JLCPCB to panelise the board. I will do a video on this soon for the Christmas lights project for this year :)

[@freddiemortos8519]

Helpful tips in pcb design

[@sidharthap]

Which PCB software do you use? and what's SDG?

[@robertcalkjr.8325]

Thanks Steve! Why is it that when people are talking about copper clad boards they say 1oz., 2oz., but when you go to buy one they say mm's and inches?

[@Afrotechmods]

1oz and 2oz refer to the thickness of the copper layers on the PCB.

[@robertcalkjr.8325]

I know that I just wonder why people can't get together and just everybody use ounces, or use mm's and inches. Why do techs use ounces when manufacturers don't? Just curious.

[@The.Doctor.Venkman]

Great video, Steve. Nice to see you using Proteus to demo these concepts. I've used Proteus from the early version 7.6 and now up to v8.8 SP1. I know Proteus is widely used in industry and by some quite famous people as their preference and would recommend this design suite to anyone. I have quite a few bins of components in the lab and often wish to incorporate them into my designs. However, one concept in Proteus I never quite got to grips with was: 1) Trying to design schematic symbols for these odd components that were not available in Proteus itself 2) Writing their simulation DLLs 3) Their footprint design 4) The 3D Models This all changed as of Proteus v8.8 SP1 as they incorporated an import feature whereby one can find standard file formats of the above except (in most cases) the simulation model. We can now import SnapEDA files and other files provided by component suppliers on their websites. for me, this was a major improvement on an otherwise excellent piece of software.

[@sdgelectronics]

Proteus works well for me - I should really look at the pricing and consider upgrading. One of the main reasons I like Proteus is the component entry is really straightforward so it doesn't really take long. Also it's very quick to make quick tweaks to existing footprints if they don't work well for whatever reason. Thanks

[@JamesGMunn]

What do you recommend for an introductory/beginner Layout SW solution? Thanks!

[@sdgelectronics]

EasyEDA is free to use and works well. KiCAD is also very popular these days.

[@gincoba]

SDG Electronics Hi Steve! Thanks for your great videos! Very useful! Can you tell us what kind of software do you use for schematic and PCB layout? Thanks a lot! Cheers

[@d3stinYwOw]

What Schematic/PCB software do you use here? :)

[@sdgelectronics]

Proteus, although it's an older version as I haven't updated my license.

[@d3stinYwOw]

@@sdgelectronics so maybe try KiCAD here? Only if you want to :)

[@harishsingh5491]

what software is this? Is this proteus?

[@sdgelectronics]

Yes, Proteus

[@yonray]

What software are you using?

[@sdgelectronics]

Proteus - used it for 15 years and never got around to switching to something else