[chbot] PCB sanity check

[Charles Manning]

I agree with Richard

Once you've done all the DRCs and had a look at the 3D viewer you're pretty
much ready to go (especially with hobby-level boards).
It is interesting how often you find errors when looking at the 3D view.
That allows you to see "the real thing" which is a bit more informative.

Kicad is amazing now and has features that would have cost you both arms
and all three legs just 5 years ago.


On Tue, Sep 3, 2024 at 7:20 PM Robin Gilks <gb7ipd at gmail.com> wrote:

> Many thanks for the offer Richard - great to hear from you ;)
>
> My main concern was getting to grips with standard practice on track
> sizes, via positioning (especially in fill zones), constraints (clearances
> etc) cut lines and so on. All my PCBs to date have been home etched so this
> is a first going commercial!
>
> By a happy coincidence we use Kicad at work (!!) and I was able to get our
> hardware guy to give me some tips over the last couple of lunch breaks - we
> have given up on Altium and use Kicad exclusively. I seems quite happy with
> 8 layers, TFBGA-216 micros and balances lines for DSI LCDs.
> The order has gone in now, I wonder how long it will be before I sit down
> and do a version 2.
>
>
>
> On Mon, Sep 2, 2024 at 4:09 PM Richard Jones <richardandjanenz at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Robin,
>>
>> I can take a look at your PCB later this week, but I'm not optimistic
>> about finding things for you. Having passed ERC and DRC your PCB will
>> reflect schematic errors faithfully, and I find that a good check is to fly
>> around the PCB in the 3d viewer, with as many parts fitted as possible. You
>> get to see how your silk screen will look top and bottom, some of the
>> design decisions can be subjective. Once you are happy with the 3d view you
>> can do a trial upload to see what the design looks like in your chosen
>> supplier's gerber viewer. If you have routing cuts for ac mains isolation
>> etc I find the suppliers online chats very helpful to confirm how they like
>> odd things to be specified. Hope that helps.
>>
>> Good luck!
>>
>> Richard Jones
>>
>> On Sun, Sep 1, 2024 at 2:00 PM Robin Gilks <gb7ipd at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I've 'finished' my weather station PCB but since it's my first effort
>>> with Kicad I'm looking for someone with experience of this software to do a
>>> sanity check on my work.
>>>
>>> I'm using the latest Kicad 8 (8.0.4) and have eliminated all ERC and DRC
>>> errors and warnings so I think I'm OK but who knows!! (some via positioning
>>> is a bit wobbly for example.
>>>
>>> The latest backup zip file is about 250k so not something I'm going to
>>> spam the list with but if there is a volunteer out there I can send
>>> directly.
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>>
>>> --
>>> Robin Gilks
>>>
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