deskthority

Hello,

I've designed a small PCB intended for testing purposes. After this first stage is successful, I will escalate the design. Also it's my first attempt using EAGLE, I've never tried to design a PCB before. So I'd like you to take a look and tell me your opinion, if you see any faults and what things should I correct/consider.

I've attached a zip file containing the EAGLE files.

Thank you in advance!

EDIT: Also here is a PDF with the schematic. In case you don't want to download/install EAGLE
https://pithos.okeanos.grnet.gr/public/ ... 9uaYrrI6N5

Long chip for such a small matrix. But I guess that's just a taste of things to come.

D3 looks a bit odd. I've never used Eagle (or any PCB design software) but shouldn't the red and blue lines connect to different sides instead of both at the bottom?

Yes, I'm just guessing here. You might be just fine!

Muirium wrote: ↑Long chip for such a small matrix. But I guess that's just a taste of things to come.

D3 looks a bit odd. I've never used Eagle (or any PCB design software) but shouldn't the red and blue lines connect to different sides instead of both at the bottom?

Yes, I'm just guessing here. You might be just fine!

They are routed correctly, just looks like they aren't because they are overlapping. Blue is the bottom copper and red is the top copper. Hard to see that they aren't connected from the picture but if you open it up in EAGLE you can turn the layers on and off and it makes it easier to see.

tommakrin wrote: ↑Hello,

I've designed a small PCB intended for testing purposes. After this first stage is successful, I will escalate the design. Also it's my first attempt using EAGLE, I've never tried to design a PCB before. So I'd like you to take a look and tell me your opinion, if you see any faults and what things should I correct/consider.

I've attached a zip file containing the EAGLE files.

Thank you in advance!

EDIT: Also here is a PDF with the schematic. In case you don't want to download/install EAGLE
https://pithos.okeanos.grnet.gr/public/ ... 9uaYrrI6N5

tommakrin

The PCB looks good to me. IMO the schematic is hard to read and looks like a rat's nest with all the overlapping lines. Might be able to make it easier to read by using netlabels, but this is kind of personal preference, especially if you are the only one using it. Although as you add more to the matrix it gets more and more complicated. One thing to note about EAGLE is the size limit they impose on the PCB in the free version. Shouldn't be an issue for this but it might be if you are creating a bigger board. The limit is: 100 x 80 mm (4 x 3.2 inches) and only 2 layers.

Long chip for such a small matrix. But I guess that's just a taste of things to come.

The "chip" in fact will be a 40-pin DIP socket in which I'll place the Teensy 2++. I didn't calculate exactly the dimensions and distances, but from a first look it seems to fit exactly. I've already soldered pins to the Teensy board so it would be "plug 'n' play".

IMO the schematic is hard to read and looks like a rat's nest with all the overlapping lines.

I've used the EAGLE'S autoroute function, but maybe I should have done it by hand Except the netlabels, what's your suggestion?

One thing to note about EAGLE is the size limit they impose on the PCB in the free version. Shouldn't be an issue for this but it might be if you are creating a bigger board. The limit is: 100 x 80 mm (4 x 3.2 inches) and only 2 layers.

The size limit is a problem. I found that in the university we have the full edition so maybe I design the large one there (uncomfortable solution, but still, a solution)

One more thing: will it be significantly cheaper to make a single-sided PCB, rather than this 2-layered one?

If you need some guidance for designing PCBs in Eagle with MX switches on it, you can use my simple MX Breakout board for reference:

https://github.com/okoyono/mxboard

@aaron Could you please explain me what is the purpose of these holes? I've seen them in other PCBs too.

They are there for pcb mount switches.

Thank you very much.