Author Topic: RFM69HW Breakout Board layout  (Read 1666 times)

dwenrhod

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RFM69HW Breakout Board layout
« on: April 09, 2015, 05:08:32 PM »
If you are interested, I posted what I did for my design of an RFM69HW breakout board (the github location is in the post).
http://bitknitting.wordpress.com/2014/03/10/rfm69hw-breakout-board-layout/

I crave feedback - if there is anything I can do better, please let me know.

All the best!
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Felix

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Re: RFM69HW Breakout Board layout
« Reply #1 on: April 10, 2015, 08:38:56 AM »
At a glance some of the traces appear to be too thin. I would keep any traces above 8mil and 10mil if possible for data, 12/15mil for power.
My first PCB experiments were in KiCad and I hated my life trying to learn and use it. I can't freaking stand the fact that the schematic and board are disconnected, not to mention the million other bugs and annoying things. Hello Kicad?!!
Sorry ... bad memories. I then learned Eagle watching some youtube videos in about 1 day :), and still learning ever since. It's one thing to learn how to use a software, and it's an entire different thing to learn how to design PCBs properly. Once you have the latter, you can use any software that doesn't stand in the way of your work flow. For me Eagle is the thing, for others Kicad. Diptrace is also excellent, but it's almost irrelevant what you use. Use whatever will do the job. If you want excellency and are a professional, buy Diptrace or Altium. If you just need a simple design use something free. If you care about open source then use Eagle, it's the "maker industry standard".