In the next posts I would be showing the steps for a simple PCB design.

the circuit design is for a capacitor ESR meter. I would be using a readymade design
available at
http: // paulorenato. com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=94:building-an-esr-meter&catid=4:projects&Itemid=4

The schematic for the board as drawn on the source website

modern PCB design software. Allow you to produce a schematic and translate to PCB afterwards.

there are two categories, licensed and free software.

EagleCAD leads for licensed software while KiCAD, DesignSpark, PCBartist are free

I use PCBartist for convenience sake.

attached is my PCB design of the circuit diagram.

Your design would typically vary from this depending on you software and layout choice

red coloured tracks are for the top layer
while brown coloured tracks are for the bottom layer

clockwise from top

(i)top silkscreen (ii) Top layer (iii) bottom layer (iv) double sided PCB (v) smooth sand paper

1. Use a laserjet printer with original toner, most refills do not work.
2. Print on light glossy paper. I use 90mg available at print supply shops
3. Use the lightest grade of sandpaper you can lay your hands on to sand the surface of the PCB
4. Clean the PCB with a paper towel and ensure the surfaces are completely dry.

Nice job, Nisol. Etching one's own PC boards is rapidly becoming something of a lost art, with such online PCB manufacturers as Express PCB, who provide their PCB layout design application as a free download, and will make very small runs of as few as 3 double-sided boards for just $75.

Still and all there must be a real satisfaction that comes with fabricating your own PC board from first principles, using those corrosive etching chemicals to create a polished result from scratch. I'll be checking back on your progress here.

@Jakumo
$75 is a little more than 10,000 of our own Naira add some more for courier delivery. For few quantities
it would pay better to go the DIY route.

The top layer and silkscreen are printed as mirror images.

Next carefully align the top and bottom layers. make sure all pads on both layers
are perfectly aligned.
Use office pins to pierce the gloss papers in two well spaced points. (see picture below)

repeat the alignment procedure above but this time use the bottom layer and
top silk.

next place one of the papers on the pcb which should be clean and dry then
hold in place using masking tape as shown in the next picture

Observe that the two pierced holes are clearly visible.

Next use a drilling machine to drill through the pcb at the two visible holes

Place the second paper on the other side of the pcb and hold in place with
masking tape.

Insert two office pins through the hole that was previously drilled
through the first paper + pcb.

your pcb should now have the top layer artwork stuck to one side
and the bottom layer to the other side.

you need a laminating machine at this stage. So turn it on now and
allow it to heat up for like 2mins.

Insert your pcb + paper into the machine.

run through the machine several times until the pcb becomes very hot.

soak the board in cold water for like 5mins

peel off the papers to reveal
the toner transferred to the pcb

mix acid to be used in etching of the board

I use hydrogen peroxide + sulfuric acid + water

the higher the concentration the faster the etching, however if concentration is
too high it would damage the board.

bubbles can be observed on the surface of the solution.
the solution turns blue as the reaction continues

after etching rinse the pcb with cold water


top layer

bottom layer

copper oxidizes in air and becomes hard to solder.
To prevent oxidation some form of protection has to be applied
to the surface of the board.
In this case I applied solder paste tinning.

rub the tip of a hot soldering iron across the surface
of the board

rinse the board and dry with a paper towel

tin the top layer then stick the paper with the top silkscreen to the pcb
carefully align the hole drilled previously.

Pass it through the laminating machine. Immerse in water when it becomes hot
peel of paper.

Peace Mr. nisol.

You've done a great job with the two threads (MPPT thread and this one) you have so far. It's a commendable thing you're doing....more of it please smiley

I am an Electrical/Computer Engineer. I am also an electronics/embedded systems enthusiast. I would like to believe that i am quite
adept in this area of endeavor, and from the look of things, you are too. I would love for us to use this medium to to exchange ideas and
hopefully, this might spur some individuals to develop interest in this wonderful area of technology.

I wish we had more folks interested in this too. I have made few contributions in the past and i think there are other folks(Israel777, Ikenna and..... ) who made contributions too but who seem to have gone AWOL. If they are reading this, I will appreciate it if they come
on board. Let's come up with product oriented designs to show case what we can achieve to fellow Nairalanders.


Thanks Usisky, it would be good if we have more people putting up "useful" technical articles as it will help with improve the skill-sets of everyone. I think the recent loss of data on nairaland is responsible for some past contributor's absence.


@topic

It is nice to see that you design printed circuit boards(PCB) too. I do too but my design is still very amateurish. I use the ARES PCB design
tool that comes with Proteus VSM software. My recent pcb design for my works are :


All mordern pcb design software follow the same principles and they usually come with a lot of help documentation included. Youtube is also a great source for learning quickly.

@topic
1) digital voice record/playback with storage on an SD card(did it for a final year university undergraduate).
2) A PIR based Intruder Alarm Unit(Also for an undergraduate's final year project).
3) Pure Sine Wave Inverter unit I have been working on of recent(Personal).


these are interesting topics. it would be nice to have them online.


Prior to this, I have been designing my works with prototype boards. I only just got kicking with the pcb designs some two months ago.

I will upload some pictures later.


I have equally built an LCD based digital LC meter with the main code written by me from ground up. It is completely menu driven
and has auto ranging function added to it. I am looking to Incorporate an ESR measurement function to it. I will make this available soon for all to use and tinker with as desired.






I have got some questions for you though:

1) Where do you get you copper board from,single or double sided? And is it the high grade type? Like FR4 fiber glass..
2) What area(s) of electronics do you specialize in? or you go wherever the wind blows you just like I am?



1. Single sided boards are cheaper and easier to come by. Double sided boards are costlier and only Oshodi is where I know of getting them
for now, maybe other people would be willing to provide information on where to get them from.

2. I graduated with a BSc in Elect Elect more than ten years ago. My background covers software programming, telecoms and my interest for now which is power electronics.

PCB assembled with components

Beautiful job, Nisol. That completed board is very professionally made, and if I hadn't been following your progress all along, I would have assumed that the board was manufactured by a dedicated commercial outfit.

Your skill demonstrated here could earn you some good money down the road, if you can just decide on a product that would be widely used in Nigeria, perhaps in the area of solar power to reduce dependence on Nigeria's still unreliable mains power, or maybe a device that can harness the energy generated by the turning wheels of a motorcycle, for the purpose of charging a cell phone battery.

Best of luck my brother. Standing by to read about any further projects that you embark upon.

By the way, the most heavily visited internet website for electronics technicians and engineers is All About Circuits (AAC). There are some very brilliant and highly experienced circuit geniuses there, who are most generous in providing design tips to anyone who posts an intelligent question, ALONG WITH the relevant schematic. If you ever seek advice at the AAC website, do not forget to thank all who share with you their free design approaches and ideas.

Once more thanks Jakumo for your comments, hopefully more contributors would help us with details
of projects they have undertaken everyone stands to gain from this.

In addition to All circuits there are other useful sites like diyaudio, diysmps, edaboard, avfreaks among others.

Good jobs guys. PCB board simulations made easy.

nisol:

PCB assembled with components

Very professional job well done.