DipTrace

hello! Ive been working with Diptrace for a couple of days now. Its for sure better than Eagle, atleast in my experience. Howrever, right now I am stuck with the idea of a ground plane.

I followed a tutorial on line that used a battery connecter, a 7805 reg, couple of caps, a resistor and an LED...*the usual stuff*

- What is a ground plane and why do I need it. Ive read a lot of articles on it but nothing really dealt with the above question. I know that the circuit I have is simple and dont need a ground plane, but I do need to understand the concept.

-For first trail and error purpose, I did establish a ground plane (connected to the -ve terminal of the battery). But the layer chosen when I dropped the ground plane was "TOP" (in diptrace). So what does this mean? The top layer has the ground? and what about the bottom layer? Why cant I put the ground pour on the bottom layer?.

-Im going to make this PCB *hopefully* with the art of DIY at home. So im going to be applying the toner transer method using a hot iron. Now, when I print this circuit and transfrer it to the copper board, where will I place the components them selves? On the other side of the board which will be completely etched? On the side where the image had been transfered and etched accordingly?

I know these are basic and redundant questions, but I fialed to find an extensive explanation of ground plane in Diptrace (or atleast I couldnt find it). So im hoping that someone here would help me ..........PLEASE!!!

and also I think im going bald.ive pulled out my hair over these basic questions!!!!

really guys?..no input for this??..

Check out this document:
http://www.analog.com/static/import...14948960492698455131755584673020828AN_345.pdf

and this one:
http://www.hottconsultants.com/techtips/split-gnd-plane.html

and this one, especially page 6:
http://www.analog.com/library/analogdialogue/cd/vol39n3.pdf

I don't have any experience with Diptrace.

what is a pad height?

chimera said:

what is a pad height?

Click to expand...

Study this document. I believe it contains the answer.

okay..done that..but I still dont understand what does the word "height" refer to in any of the tutorials that I have seen. I feel like this is something really basic..and ppl are assuming that every beginner can understand what the word "height" means when talking about pad properties....(width, height and hole)

I don't know the first thing about Diptrace, but I was led to believe from the tutorial that a pad is defined as in the attachment.
I might be wrong. Why don't you play with Diptrace, change the parameters, and see what happens. It's only software. You won't break anything.

thank you!! yes..see this is what i was referring to. Now i can SEE what the height and width mean when it comes over to pads on pcb!!! Where did u get this diagram by the way??

chimera said:

thank you!! yes..see this is what i was referring to. Now i can SEE what the height and width mean when it comes over to pads on pcb!!! Where did u get this diagram by the way??

Click to expand...

I drew it on Paint.

I assume from your original post that you are going to attempt to make a PCB for the first time. If so, start out with a single sided board, i.e. copper laminate on one side only.
Your circuit traces will be on the bottom side, components on the top. There will be no ground plane.

I recommend leaving as much copper on the board as possible. It will be easier to etch. (If you wish this can become your ground plane.)

A ground plane is essentially a large expanse of copper connected to GND potential that sits underneath your components and can be either on the TOP side, BOTTOM side, or in between if it is a multi-layered laminated board.

Using a copper pour means that there will be a lot less copper that you will have to remove via etching, so the etching process will go a lot faster, and your etchant will last longer.

Many printers don't handle printing large expanses of black very well. If you find this to be the case, try using a crosshatch pattern for the copper pour fill; this works much better on my HP laserprinter than a solid fill.