Tag Archives: design

All Quiet on the Wilsonville Front

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Mike

A timely piece from the hometown paper of Mentor Graphics looks at how Carl Icahn has calmed down now that Mentor’s stock price has doubled since he started accumulating shares of the company a couple years ago. The legendary investor … Continue reading →

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LEDs: Seeing Double

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Duane

Like I do so often, I’m being a bit redundant. While I’m all for stamping out and eliminating redundancy, this is redundancy with a purpose (not a porpoise). Not long ago, in a galaxy not far away, I blogged about … Continue reading →

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‘Board Talk’

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Mike

Today we launched Board Talk, the bulletin board for the Printed Circuit Board industry, a service brought to you by UP Media Group, Printed Circuit Design & Fab and CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY magazines. The bulletin board — the URL is www.theprintedcircuitboard.com … Continue reading →

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Riding High on Design

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Mike

The herd is riding on the EDA vendors, almost all of which are at or near 52-week high share prices. In the past week, Cadence, Mentor and Synopsys hit or were trading just pennies off their yearlong highs. National Instruments … Continue reading →

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Designing for Dollars

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Mike

The results are in from our latest PCB designers salary survey, and we will happily reveal them next week in the May issue of PCD&F. Until then, we can say that designers did better in 2011 than 2010, and we … Continue reading →

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Design Costs, But How Much?

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Mike

Lots of studies find that most of the cost (75%-plus) of an electronics product is determined in the design phase. Here’s my question: Do those studies take the BoM costs into account as part of the design cost? Or are … Continue reading →

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Design Costs, But How Much?

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Mike

Lots of studies find that most of the cost (75%-plus) of an electronics product is determined in the design phase. Here’s my question: Do those studies take the BoM costs into account as part of the design cost? Or are … Continue reading →

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Designers Salary Survey Now Open

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Mike

Designers, our latest salary survey is ready for your participation. Log on and help us get the best data possible!

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QFN Custom Stencil Layer in Eagle

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Duane

It’s been said over and over that you don’t want to leave the solder paste opening wide open for a QFN center pad. A 50 to 75% paste coverage will get the best results. With full coverage, your QFN can … Continue reading →

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Done and Done

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Duane

And … (drum roll, please) … it works. I put in a couple of batteries, programmed the MCU and turned it on. It works. I’m always surprised when something I design works on the first try. This being such a … Continue reading →

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