Bring out yer Diptrace

[vigilante398]

If you think that's bad you should check out LTSpice for Mac OS X. I'm a pretty calm dude, but that program actually pissed me off. They just decided that Mac OS X didn't need toolbars. You're just supposed to start out knowing the shortcut keys.

The very first day of my very first circuits class in university, the professor was walking us through installing all the software we needed for the semester, providing both Windows and Linux instructions. The guy sitting next to me raised his hand and asked "What about on mac?" And the professor without hesitation and completely deadpan replied "Engineers don't use macs."

Poor dude changed majors to creative writing

 

[Feral Feline]

boy howdy routing that smt ic was a pain in the keister. ripping off this amz design
View attachment 37527

I'm a compressor junkie, and love this circuit (even though I've never built it. I've got the Small-Bear adaptered-IC but still haven't ordered the PCB yet.

Your layout looks so much better, and it seems you've added some of the suggested mods vis-à-vis the toggles.
Will you have any spare PCBs for sale?

 

[fontoponto]

My largest so far Edit: but I have to admit that it has a lot of flaws and will be redesigned. And it was made in Kicad not Diptrace...

 

[finebyfine]

Your layout looks so much better, and it seems you've added some of the suggested mods vis-à-vis the toggles.
Will you have any spare PCBs for sale?

thank you! and yup the dpdt is the AVG Cap and the SPDT is the input cap. I changed the silkscreen a bit to reference that after posting and also made some tweaks based on forum posts on analog devices.

And I’ll drop one in the mail for you one once I confirm it

 

[szukalski]

Dredging up a thread.. this may be a dumb question, but how are you setting up the pot locations on your PCB?

Is there some trick that I am missing? Or just manual placement..?

 

[Robert]

Dredging up a thread.. this may be a dumb question, but how are you setting up the pot locations on your PCB?

This is how I do it.

Getting drill guides from Eagle PCB

Hi all, I occasionally make my own PCBs using Eagle, and one of the biggest things I'd like to be able to do is no reinvent the wheel and take advantage of all the Tayda pre-drilled enclosures. But I'm not sure how to accurately create a board layout that would match any of the standard PPCB...

forum.pedalpcb.com

 

[Big Monk]

Dredging up a thread.. this may be a dumb question, but how are you setting up the pot locations on your PCB?

Is there some trick that I am missing? Or just manual placement..?

I typically let graphic design drive PCB design unless I’m using a PedalPCB predrilled unit.

 

[Grubb]

I typically let graphic design drive PCB design unless I’m using a PedalPCB predrilled unit.

Exactly this. Pot location is set by how the front of my pedal is designed to look, then I subtract 16mm from the Y coordinate of the knob position to place the pot pads. All of this is much easier if you design the board with the origin point being the centre of the pedal enclosure and not just the centre of the PCB itself.

 

[Big Monk]

Exactly this. Pot location is set by how the front of my pedal is designed to look, then I subtract 16mm from the Y coordinate of the knob position to place the pot pads. All of this is much easier if you design the board with the origin point being the centre of the pedal enclosure and not just the centre of the PCB itself.

I target 3 knobs on most of my designs so I start with a +/- 16.5mm X spacing on the top 2 knobs, with a 0 X position and -25.4 Y spacing for the lower knob.

Then I do the graphic design and nudge things to make the text and graphics work.

Once I have graphics in a finished state, i'll layout the board mechanicals, outline, etc. to make sure it fits with the graphics scheme. Before I am doing a PCB layout with all components, I may have to nudge things around a little more.

By the time I'm adding all the non-mechanical or fixed components, Graphic design, board mechanicals and board outline are locked in place and I only change if the development of the actual component layout requires nudging.

 

[bhcarpenter]

You all have inspired me. Here’s a layout based on some DIY classics. It’s a John Hollis Flatline with a Jack Orman Stupidly Wonderful Tone Control (http://www.muzique.com/lab/swtc.htm). It’s my first try at laying out a PCB.

 

[vigilante398]

I'm really excited about this layout so I wanted to share. I already make an Ampeg B-15N preamp with a 12AX7, but I always wanted to try one with a 6SL7 like the original. I wasn't able to get it into a 125B, but it should fit into a 1590BBS.

 

[Passinwind]

I'm really excited about this layout so I wanted to share. I already make an Ampeg B-15N preamp with a 12AX7, but I always wanted to try one with a 6SL7 like the original. I wasn't able to get it into a 125B, but it should fit into a 1590BBS.

View attachment 42144
View attachment 42145

I absolutely love 6SL7 for bass applications, and 12AX7 usually not so much, so...SWEET!

 

[Mentaltossflycoon]

Certainly grabbing my interest there with the 6SL7.

 

[szukalski]

Some more questions for those with some experience..

What's your take on copper pours? Ground on both layers? Ground + VCC?

Pour clearance? Currently looking at 0.25mm/0.01", any thoughts?

 

[Robert]

I put ground pours on top and bottom layers.

0.01" clearance, 0.01" Line Width / Spacing, and 0.013" border clearance.

 

[Grubb]

Some more questions for those with some experience..

What's your take on copper pours? Ground on both layers? Ground + VCC?

Pour clearance? Currently looking at 0.25mm/0.01", any thoughts?

I try and do ground layers both top and bottom. I've done VREF on a plane before, but it was because I was having trouble routing the board without it. I just use the default clearance in DipTrace and have not had an issue with it.

 

[vigilante398]

Someone on here said something that nagged me in the back of my brain until I had to lay this out. If it works the way I expect it to I may have another DIY project for you fabulous folks.

 

[szukalski]

To keep a fine thread going..

What are your thoughts on where to take power for the LED? I see some designers taking it before the reverse polarity protection diode, and others putting it after. Any reason not to go the latter way? If you were using a relay break-out board then you could save on the protection diode there (it's not a high cost but it is another component to manage..).

 

[Grubb]

What are your thoughts on where to take power for the LED? I see some designers taking it before the reverse polarity protection diode, and others putting it after. Any reason not to go the latter way?

Nothing technical from me here, but rather something pragmatic. I tend to copy the power schematic from my earlier designs and reuse the generic parts in each subsequent layout. This has meant my boards have a 9V line for the LED that branches out prior to the diode, as the first circuit recipes I ever copied were laid out that way. Now it's an inherited feature of my later designs. I'm open to improvements if a case can be made that it's more important than mere personal preference.

 

[coltonius]

Some of you guys are really good at this! Here's my first attempt, and I had a lot of help. A lot. It's a proto board of the Cobra Chicken (PTD Rotobone Clone) I'm working on: