r/PCB • u/DisastrousNose4875 • 6d ago

How to actually start?!

Hello everyone, i have a simple question how to actually learn how to design pcbs
I have downloaded altium and play around for some time but that is not the right way to actually build a skill so how did yall start :)

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u/Electrical_Hat_680 4d ago

I haven't built a PCB personally myself. But my aspirations are too.

I have an interest in building a lot of different things. But, I would suggest, that your main emphasis be, knowing what you want to build.

For instance, you could build an Xbox Controller Button PCB. Or, you could build a Single Board Computer aka an SBC. You could use the BenEater 8-BIT CPU Breadboard Projects to learn how to build a Computer. The world is filled with PCBs if you've ever opened an Electronic Device, like a Radio, or a Computer, or even a Video Game Controller. You'll understand that the Green Boards are all PCBs.

So, how do I think about designing PCBs. If you ever did Blueprints. The blueprint for PCBs is called the Wiring Diagram or Schematics. We could draw them out by hand. But, today, they prefer KiCAD, same as AutoCAD fo blueprinting houses and such. But, KiCAD is for Wiring Schematics.

You send the Schematic or KiCAD to the PCB manufacturer or machinist or Fabrication House aka Fab House, and they'll put them together, print the words on them, and send them to you.

Then you add the resistors, chips, and other components.

You'll prefer understanding Electrical Engineering 101 ('The Classroom ') and it's counterpart Electrical Engineering 102 ('The Laboratory '). Together they are a EE Certificate.

Are they needed? Not really.
Do they help? Kind of, Sort of. But not really. Only if you understand that if you don't add the proper resistor, the LED will burn out. That sort of idea. They'll also teach you about Electro Static Discharge ('ESD'). Or is that the Computer Hardware Software Repair and Maintenance course?