First board done with Circuit Studio - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: mrtn
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 13, 2016, 07:28:45 pm
content: I just received the first board I designed using Circuit Studio. It's a high power PFC booster. The board is very simple which is why I thought it would be a good way to get started.The notable strong points of Circuit Studio for this board are that:1. The interactive router (all manual here) works really well.2. Making components in Circuit Studio (or Altium Designer) is super simple. You could chalk it up to experience but I haven't made a single incorrect footprint since I started using Altium a few years ago.3. I like how you can use fills and solid regions to add copper to nets that already exist. This saves a lot of time vs. specifically defining polygons.(see attached images)

author: technotronix
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 17, 2017, 01:48:25 pm
content: Nice board. I don't have much experience in making board in Circuit Studio. What is the purpose oof this board?

author: mrtn
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 18, 2017, 12:58:28 am
content: Quote from: technotronix on January 17, 2017, 01:48:25 pmIt's a PFC preregulator to boost AC line voltage to high voltage DC while creating a unity power factor.The chip is a FAN9673 which you can read about here:https://www.fairchildsemi.com/products/power-management/power-factor-correction/interleaved-pfc-controllers/FAN9673.html

author: mash107
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2017, 03:58:40 am
content: Very nicely done. How easy was it to drop those stitching vias? Find that it's a tad difficult in PADs

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2017, 04:38:28 am
content: Quote from: mash107 on January 19, 2017, 03:58:40 amDriven from a rule in altium. Simply draw the bounding box and altium will fill it according to your rules. You alter the bounding box at will and it will recreate them.

author: ebclr
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2017, 06:52:01 am
content: On next bath rotate C4 90 degree, processor tracks will short a lot, same for C1 and C8

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2017, 07:13:48 am
content: Quote from: ebclr on January 19, 2017, 06:52:01 amAnd now you have a nice big hole smack in the middle of your high current trace.

author: ebclr
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2017, 07:28:32 am
content: You mean high current Path short, and with low resitance path

author: Harvs
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2017, 07:54:01 pm
content: Quote from: free_electron on January 19, 2017, 04:38:28 amInteresting. I'm guessing this is another thing that they've masked off in CS. However, could you share what the rule is? So I can try it in CS and see if it works. Best yet share a rule export of it.

author: mrtn
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2017, 10:00:20 pm
content: Quote from: Monkeh on January 19, 2017, 07:13:48 amC1/4/8 are film caps (see image)The large round caps are rotated the way they are so I can run the bottom side buses vertically. Yes might be better the other way.. good news is that it appears to work the way it is so far. The thin current sense tracks are differential and it doesn't make a big difference if they're an extra 25mm long.Sorry the via stitching was just manual. I set the grid size to the via distance and just drop a bunch of vias where I want them.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2017, 10:02:51 pm
content: Quote from: mrtn on January 22, 2017, 10:00:20 pmOh, yes, we both misread that silk.It's fine the way it is.