good presentation - the format is fine given the screen captures, colored/highlighted arrows and use of colored indicator ovals. The lecture portion ties the slide content together well enough ...
URL for PCBArtist User Tips Guide has changed from what is in the presentation, and apparently page numbers have changed as well. Look here http://www.4pcb.com/pcb-software-tips-tools.html for the updated version and other resources, or search Google for "pcbartist user tips".
@garysxt, hear hear! Always double check. Tomorrow, I'll go over reviewing the gerber files! Always review your gerbers. These are lessons you usually learn the hard way.
I'm coming at layout from an engineer's perspective. I've found that most layout professionals are not from that background. They tend to happen into it. There doesn't seem to be a education path for it.
I agree with Carol and Zwilrich on separate custom libraries. If it is in there I know it is correct. I have found errors in the parts in some libraries. Never trust a part until you verify it - especially ones you create yourself. :-)
Yes, Library Management is a must. Especially in DesignSpark where you are depending on pointers and the order of the library paths are important, you can really screw up your design if you are not careful about separating out projects.
To make matters more complicated, you can have multiple libraries in one folder, and I don't think there is a way to only used a particular library file and not others in the same folder.
@RMass, Sorry if it's not exactly the same. I've used it for many projects and I tried to remove all the customizations short of re-install. Looks like I missed a few. Hard for me to tell. Hopefully you have learned enough to fill in the blanks.
Working with Eagle, I've found it makes life much easier to follow Carol's idea of putting all of your parts in a custom library. You spend much less time looking for the right part. Also, in older versions of Eagle, the parts were on a metric layout. This caused all sorts of headaches when doing a layouts with imperial measurements.
I use a separate library for each major project. Having a separate library makes it much easier to find the part you need. It also means if you change a part in one project, it doesn't mess up a different project.
I'm really enjoying this. Didn't know these free SaaS packages were out there. For this level of effort, I had just used ExpressPCB layouts etc in the past, but this is heaps better, almost professional. Perfectly fine for this level of board complexity. Thanks for putting this together Carol.
except the fact that the pcb program used here is for hobbyists, all the professional packages work the same way. here people will get the idea how to use something like this and what are the basic steps to get a board from a schematic and the schematic from an idea.
@Rob: Really just wanted background to better understand what my hardware engineer colleagues go through to get a board ready for my software/firmware.
I used Eagle to design a PCB that plugs in to a Microchip Explorer16 Dev Board. It has a little DS1825 temp sensor on it. Had to fab a board because no other way to solder those tiny pins!
except the fact that the pcb program used here is for hobbyists, all the professional packages work the same way. here people will get the idea how to use something like this and what are the basic steps to get a board from a schematic and the schematic from an idea.
The format is just fine for most of the courses. A live demo of what Carol is doing would be better for the kind of things Carol is showing in this class.
The archive of this program will be available within moments of when Carol finishes her lecture. I'll let you know when it's archived. Shortly after 2:30 Eastern.
I got behind on audio too, and now it is trying to buffer, but is buffering slower than the audio plays. I'll just listen in later when the audio is available. Thanks Carol!
I think this setup is the best and comfortable for both the lecturer and the student. We have control over slide show and audio is gr8 after the player upgrade..
I've d/l'ed a free version of Eagle, and played with that. Didn't have any need for scripts, and created a complete 2-layer board. Haven't tried DesignSpark yet.
I'm running WIN7 with IE9, Flash 11.4.402.278 and MSOffice 2010 and I don't have a single problem.This isn't a Pro-Microsoft (or anti-other_OS) post - I figure if my tools aren't doing the job, I won't either. If you can't/won't use MSOffice 2010 you can fetch the Office viewers here http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/office-online-file-converters-and-viewers-HA001044981.aspxPowerPoint is listed. :) joe
I am using Chrome and I hear the "Blog Talk Radio" announcement and then it does not stream anything else. If I wait until the presentation has been archived I can listen to the audio.
For those of you who have experienced trouble hearing the audio portion of these presentations, you might try using the Chrome browser. Those using the Chrome browser seem to have little problem hearing the audio.
-The streaming audio player will appear on this web page when the show starts at 2pm eastern today. Note however that some companies block live audio streams. If when the show starts you don't hear any audio, try refreshing your browser.
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