Trying to do a small PCB for the XBM80-2 80m micro-transceiver using the Sprint Layout 4 PCB layout package I hit a problem: wanting to use a single sided PCB for low cost I did a groundplane fill. Then I wanted to connect certain pads to this. I cannot see how to do this! Several people have offered advice, but nothing seems to work: any attempt just results in a new clearance area being created. In the end I gave up and filled in the ground as another track and join it to the pads manually. The resultant draft PCB (1 inch square) is shown here. I have not built it on a PCB yet, so this is only a suggestion. An SMT version could be half the size - i.e. VERY tiny indeed.
6 Feb 2010
Problem with Sprint Layout 4 PCB package
Trying to do a small PCB for the XBM80-2 80m micro-transceiver using the Sprint Layout 4 PCB layout package I hit a problem: wanting to use a single sided PCB for low cost I did a groundplane fill. Then I wanted to connect certain pads to this. I cannot see how to do this! Several people have offered advice, but nothing seems to work: any attempt just results in a new clearance area being created. In the end I gave up and filled in the ground as another track and join it to the pads manually. The resultant draft PCB (1 inch square) is shown here. I have not built it on a PCB yet, so this is only a suggestion. An SMT version could be half the size - i.e. VERY tiny indeed.
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3 comments:
Very nice PCB, Roger. Are you going to be having these professionally made or do you have a DIY method to make your own?
I used two 2N3904s in a Darlington configuration in the T2 position. It seems to have improved sensitivity especially at close-in frequencies. Still not enough gain to drive Walkman type headphones though.
I may try a one-off "by hand" PCB to check it works OK Julian. No plans to do anything further though.
It's rather frustrating to work with a software for PCBs and have to do part of the job manually. But again, any software has its own tricks and if you are willing to dig long enough, you should be able to pull it through. By the way, any success so far?
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