Screaming Circuits's Profile

Posted 3 days ago at Screaming Circuits

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If you're going to exit, you may as well exit in style and I can't think of a better example than Commander Chris Hadfield's "good by" from the International Space Station on Monday (May 13). Thank you, Astronaut Hadfield. Since... Continue reading

Posted May 15, 2013 at Screaming Circuits

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Unsolicited

I have a question for you. When is the last time that you responded to an unsolicited email? It's been a very long time for me. However, I just did open up and read an unsolicited email that actually seems... Continue reading

Posted May 13, 2013 at Screaming Circuits

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What?

Usually, these days, I seem to hear the word "what" as a part of a "Wait... What?" statement, as in a short-cut for: "That sounds good" - pause - "No, it doesn't. It doesn't even make sense." It can be... Continue reading

Posted May 3, 2013 at Screaming Circuits

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The Value of Open Source

There were a number of interesting sessions and debates last week at the DesignWest show. One of the more passion filled, was on the value of Open Source hardware. Some people think it will save the world,if only everyone will... Continue reading

Posted Apr 29, 2013 at Screaming Circuits

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Fun With QR Codes

Does anyone remember the CueCat? I think it came out in 1999 or something like that. It was a system that involved putting bar codes in print articles, advertisements and such. Users would buy a CueCat scanner and could then... Continue reading

Posted Apr 24, 2013 at Screaming Circuits

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LEDs - Seeing Double

Like I do so often, I'm being a bit redundant. While I'm all for stamping out and eliminating redundancy, this is redundancy with a purpose (not a porpoise). Not long ago, in a galaxy not far away, I blogged about... Continue reading

Posted Apr 22, 2013 at Screaming Circuits

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DesignWest; San Jose April 23 - 25

Will you be there? We will. If you're in San Jose April 23, 24 or 25, stop by the McEnery Convention center, in San Jose, California. We're in booth 838 and would love to see you and say hi. We'll... Continue reading

Posted Apr 18, 2013 at Screaming Circuits

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Creating a QFN Footprint - the center pad

I've written bits and pieces about creating footprints in Eagle and a lot about what the QFN solder paste layer should look like, so maybe it's time to connect the two dots. I'm using Eagle CAD here, so your process... Continue reading

Posted Apr 17, 2013 at Screaming Circuits

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Screaming Circuits introduces new Cordwood assembly service!

Tired of all those small parts? Can't figure out how to route traces to all 1,900 balls on that hot new FPGA? If 0201 passives have you running scared and the thought of 0.3mm pitch parts has you on the... Continue reading

Posted Apr 1, 2013 at Screaming Circuits

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Will a Via Fit Between?

I don't know that it would be accurate to say that BGA's have ever been easy, but with 0.4mm pitch being common and 0.3mm pitch showing up, some of the older size, like a WHOLE millimeter pitch seem positively spacious.... Continue reading

Posted Mar 25, 2013 at Screaming Circuits

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More cautionary tails

I recently wrote about the horrors of LED marking variations. Unfortunately, LEDs aren't the only place to find inconsistencies in our world. Another part to keep a close eye on is the ubiquitous three-terminal voltage regulator. For just short of... Continue reading

Posted Jan 16, 2013 at Screaming Circuits

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How NOT to mark a diode

A while back, I wrote about ambiguity in the markings on electrolytic capacitors. In doing that, I cobbled together a little image to illustrate how surface mount electrolytics are marked. Take a look at the image below: Note how I... Continue reading

Posted Jan 9, 2013 at Screaming Circuits

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More Beagle CAD Paws

Continuing on from my last post... As I said, I do everything I can to avoid re-using the package footprint when adding the the parts library in Eagle CAD. The schematic symbol can be a different story though. It still... Continue reading

Posted Dec 6, 2012 at Screaming Circuits

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Beagle CAD paw prints

Unfortunately, I can't generically hand out Eagle CAD QFN footprints without knowing the specific part, but I can illustrate the areas I initially had difficulty with. All of the traps that used to get me seem blindingly obvious now, but... Continue reading

Posted Nov 30, 2012 at Screaming Circuits

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The ESD Habbit, or an Unexpected Shock.

Excitement is building here. In a little over two weeks from today, The Hobbit movie will be released to theaters. I'm sure everyone reading here knows the story, but in case you don't I'll spoil it for you. It's a... Continue reading

Posted Nov 28, 2012 at Screaming Circuits

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Something Completely Different

Here's something you don't see every day. We, at Screaming Circuits, have had folks jump on a commercial airplane and fly here from another state to pick up boards we've assembled for them, but we've never had a personal helicopter... Continue reading

Posted Nov 28, 2012 at Screaming Circuits

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BOM process

All of this talk about BOMs these days, (all of my talk, that is), kind of begs the question of how BOMs are put together. An Excel spreadsheet seems to be the most common "BOM management" tool in use today.... Continue reading

Posted Nov 15, 2012 at Screaming Circuits

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Speaking of Reference Designators...

In my prior post about BOMs, I gave a few examples of reference designator formats in the BOM. BOMs are a common item that have standards but no standards as are reference designators. There are actually a number of standards... Continue reading

Posted Nov 13, 2012 at Screaming Circuits

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BOMs Away

Yes, I'm talking about BOMs (bills of materials), not bombs. That would be silly and irrelevant. At least mostly irrelevant. If you make bombs, it wouldn't be, but it would probably be all secret so we couldn't talk about it.... Continue reading

Posted Nov 12, 2012 at Screaming Circuits

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Let's Get Small, as in 0.3mm

Not long ago, I wrote about a 0.3mm pitch wafer scale BGA we received and were asked to place. The gist of that article was that those parts are very small and we d0n't yet have a process that we... Continue reading

Posted Oct 31, 2012 at Screaming Circuits

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Would You Like Parts With Those Frys?

In days of yore (last month), the PCB design process would more or less start with the schematic. (I'm ignoring all of the work that has to take place before the schematic) The bill of materials would typically come together... Continue reading

Posted Oct 29, 2012 at Screaming Circuits

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Sharing With Sunstone

Sharing is what our partner Sunstone Circuits would like today - sharing your stories. We've been partners with Sunstone Circuits for a very long time. When we purchase boards turn-key, we go to them first. They even build a fair... Continue reading

Posted Oct 18, 2012 at Screaming Circuits

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It (.3 mm) Finally Happened

Back in January of 2012, I wrote about the possibility of 0.3 mm pitch BGAs being used here and there. I predicted that in a year, we'd see some 0.3 mm pitch BGAs showing up. I was about three month's... Continue reading

Posted Oct 12, 2012 at Screaming Circuits

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Missing Mars Probes

Back in ancient times when multi-legged beasts ruled the earth, there were a lot more standards. Or maybe there were just fewer total things resulting in fewer total variations, which looks like more standards. In any case, if you got... Continue reading

Posted Oct 8, 2012 at Screaming Circuits

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