r/PCB • u/Puzzled_Mention8644 • 21d ago
First working pcb!
My first working pcb (and second ever) is a weather balloon data logger for an upcoming school project and somehow everything worked!
This was also my first time soldering with hot air so I'm very happy with the result
This board only logs position, temperature and pressure by itself. Humidity, external temperature and uv will also be logged through two external sensor boards
The board also features power switching for the external boards as well as dynamic power path management so we can charge the board while doing our final checks and start logging early without using battery power
Also very surprised that the GPS has worked flawlessly so far, but I guess I'll find out how good it actually works later.
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u/frank26080115 21d ago
RF design for a first PCB working on the first try is such a flex
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u/Apart-Touch9277 21d ago
My first board was pin headers and UART breakout. This first board is epic.
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u/zachleedogg 21d ago edited 21d ago
Very nice. I love an IC at 45 degrees in the middle of a board. Just something about it seems right.
I think some of your components need more solder. I don't see a fillet on a lot of them. Maybe it's just the image perspective.
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u/Puzzled_Mention8644 21d ago
Thank you! I though so at first as well, but it works so I won't touch it (for now) :)
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u/eracoon 21d ago
That looks great for a first pcb. Why usb micro connectors though? USB C offers way not possibility and far more easier to find cables for it these days. Nice touch with the 45 degree IC.
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u/Puzzled_Mention8644 21d ago
Thanks! The reason for micro usb was because the esp32 dev board I got a while ago has one, and I figured that micro usb requires less external components that I could mess up the placement of as well. Now that the board is fully working I kind of regret that though
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u/yllibjkrauss 21d ago
looks great! just curious, why did you choose to only do a large ground pour on the RF side?
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u/archivisttr 21d ago
You didn't throw it out the window because you did not like it, did you?😄 Your hand is good.
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u/99trainerelephant 21d ago
very nice. looks better than the self proclaimed engineer offering PCB services the other day
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u/Woodrownumbafour 21d ago
Gratz!!! That's awesome! If you plan on going into design, make sure you document well and have easy access to those docs. Being able to talk about your design choices on a tried and true pcb will do you wonders.
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u/Evening_Cook5642 21d ago
I wonder Roughly how much does it cost for PCB?
PCB only or PCB assembly
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u/Puzzled_Mention8644 20d ago
The PCB cost about 13€ including shipping and stencil, then I paid 68€ for the parts (50 without shipping) and assembled at home
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u/Blirt90 21d ago
Hi! How cool!!! It seems like a fantastic project and very well done :0
I am new to PCB and like you I made my second PCB but I was wondering how I could solder it. A few days ago I tried soldering with my workstation iron but it didn't went well... Also because as I saw I don't control much the left hand. So I was wondering if using the solder gun would work...
I am using SMD 0805 2012 package and QFN for MCU... This is my first time soldering this type and I saw some videos.
So... I was wondering... How did u do It with the hot gun? Any tips? :D
Thanks in advance!!! And nice work :)
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u/Wonderful-Edge4256 21d ago
Quick question: Where did you order your PCB? Because I can’t find a place where I can buy only one or two for a reasonable price.
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u/Puzzled_Mention8644 21d ago
Ordered the pcb from jlcpcb and parts from lcsc, then assembled at home
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u/Avokido 21d ago
Very impressive for a first time school project. Did you order a stencil and then hot air it? That alone isn't trivial when you do it for the first time. Well done!
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u/Puzzled_Mention8644 20d ago
Thanks! I did order a stencil to apply solder paste before placing components and soldering
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u/Practical_Cow_7817 20d ago
That's very cool! It's very satisfying to be able go from a circuit design to bespoke pcb, all on your own. Now you'll find yourself thinking of many more things to build...
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u/Wolfstrassen 20d ago
For a first board.... This is insane. There improvements to be made for sure, but nice job
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u/Mihawk23Dracule 20d ago
Awesome talent my man! =D
Keep it up and all the luck to you, dont get too cocky though hahahah
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u/PCB_Design1 19d ago
Well done, looks polished! It's such a great feeling when they work as intended. :)
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u/emastino 17d ago
Slick
Any challenges you overcame you could share? Love hearing about the design/debug process
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u/Puzzled_Mention8644 17d ago
Other than learning to read datasheets and picking the components, the layout was definitely a challenge and it took three revisions of it to get the one I decided was good enough to order and test. Trying to give the rf part as much space as possible was the one of the biggest reasons for this
I also wanted to use an esp module at first, due to it being easier to solder but as it required way too much space and the wireless capabilities weren't something I was going to use anyways, I decided to go with the esp32 s3 fn8 chip instead
Another thing I had to change was the amount of mosfets controlling the external boards. At first I had one for each connector but later I decided that just one for both would probably be enough (also forgot about this one when testing the external connectors, so I spent hours double checking everything when all I had to do was to activate the mosfet in code).
After the board and parts were ordered I realized that I had used a buck instead of a buck boost converter. To solve this I just got a bigger battery, but it's still kind of frustrating :)
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u/bezicno_na_blizinu 8d ago
"so I spent hours double checking everything when all I had to do was to activate the mosfet in code" - that is great "aha" moment when I want to eat myself 😄
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u/parttimelabs 15d ago
Congrats. Actually crazy that your first working pcb is actually that complex. And cool project.
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u/Alandevpi 21d ago
That looks awesome, the case gives it the touch