Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Industry Standard Small Traces

Today I read that "Industry Standard Small PCB Traces" are normally as small as 6mils.

Because I like small things, I wanted to try to build a circuit with even smaller traces.  The circuit I choose is a new iteration on my Micro Power QRSS Transmitter - the same circuit that was used on the QRSS test that I ran last week.

I have re-designed the board for ALL 1206 SMD parts, using 5mil traces and 8mil clearance. I would have liked to use smaller parts, but 1206 size parts are the smallest that I have available. The traces do not need to be this small, I am just doing it to see if I can? - It is kind of a QRP thing for the Home Brew PCB Fabrication process!

The Toner Transfer and Etch process went well - The board DC Resistance checks OK, without loss of connections or shorts.

The size of the board is 1000mil x 850mil,
shown here at about 4X actual size.

The signal traces between pads are 5mils wide, 8mil clearance.
The GND Grid is 5mil Traces on 20mil Centres.
The Font is 3pt.

The major components of the circuit are; a 5 Volt Regulator, Crystal, 2N3904 Oscillator, and a KID2 QRSS ID'er.

Note: SMD 1206 parts are: 12mils long and 6mils wide.

The next step is to mount the parts - which could be a real challenge, . . . . for tomorrow.

-

1 comment:

  1. Very nice! Any chance you will post some pictures and descriptions of the toner transfer and etch processes you used to make the board?

    ReplyDelete