Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Read online magazines that specialize in printed circuit boards

Electronics and PCB magazines online offer up-to-the-minutes news and information for the PCB professional and business. These sites give the industry instant information as to what is going on around the world in printed circuit board design.

I recommend: Read PCB 007 magazine for breaking news and highlights from around the world. They have over 35,000 articles online. They are a well-known magazine online for printed circuit board information and the businesses that serve this industry. SMT is another industry resource publication for printed circuit boards.

Find articles and news from companies that sleuth out printed circuit board information for you

These online news resource companies will help you locate relevant articles and information about PCBs. In addition, they offer other helpful resources like tips on training and software for PCBs.

I recommend: Triangle Circuits helps businesses keep up with PCB news with a resource page that helps you find relevant information to your business. EMSNow is another source for PCB and electronic circuit board news. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Go to EMSNow’s advanced search button and type in what you are looking for. Sunstone Circuits also provides research to articles in the PCB field. This company also offers free software downloads and other PCB solutions.

Find a forum and the latest printed circuit boards finance information

A forum can be very helpful to employees and managers of PCB businesses. Read more articles and look at what IPC says about PCB standards. There, you can also find the latest in finance news on PCBs.

I recommend: Online trade magazine Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture offers a PCB forum for PCB executives. Yahoo! Finance offers the latest PCB info in stock trades. IPC lets you know the latest in PCB standards.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Sometimes the Internet is a place where false information is replicated, repeated and passed around. Then people believe it and keep repeating the cycle. Keep up on accurate printed circuit boards (PCBs) news and trends with the latest and best news channel for the industry.

1. Request a detailed graphical report and instant quote for your printed circuit board design.
2. Identify problems associated with trace width, annular ring, inner clearance, and missing files.
3. Compare prices with other vendors.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Talk to professionals in the printed circuit board industry

The printed circuit board industry is growing rapidly overseas, but there are still manufacturers in the United States making quality PCBs. The key word here is 'quality.'

I recommend: Meet other designers and evaluate suppliers of printed circuit boards (PCBs). Apply for membership in IPC, the Association Connecting Electronics Industries. You will find this association a useful tool for networking with other designers, as well as learning and weighing the benefits of purchasing your circuit boards from suppliers in the printed circuit board industry.

Get ceramic circuit boards for best curing of your PCB

Ceramic circuit boards are by far the best printed circuit board PCB to work with if you are looking for a less conductive surface for your printed circuit board design. The application of epoxy, diodes, gold, wire bonding leads and other essential components of your PCB, are easy to cure on ceramic circuit boards. Ceramic circuit boards tend to handle heat very well.

I recommend: Purchase ceramic circuit boards at Global Sources. Global Sources has multisided and double layer PCBs of all kinds available for your circuit boards.

Shop for other PCB resources

Thomas Global has an extensive directory of industrial suppliers. You shouldn't have any trouble locating a PCB manufacturer on their search page.

I recommend: Locate a PCB manufacturer and compare shipping methods with other businesses. Thomas Global Guide is a great tool to get you started in the printed circuit board industry.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Ask if the PCB manufacturer is willing to sell to you directly. You can save a lot of money by cutting out the middle man.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Start your training with tutorials about circuit boards

Experience shows that often we forget the physics and science behind technical matters unless we teach it or work with it every day. Reviewing diagrams and concepts about PCBs will help you start your training off on the right foot.

I recommend: HowStuffWorks discusses electronic circuits and PCBs. Read down a little ways for the PCB part. Read the Lazar Rosenblatt information about PCBs and look at some of the tutorials on the website.

Find the right school for certification and intensive training in printed circuit boards

You can take courses and programs at a two-year colleges or a tech school. If you're already an electrical engineer or professional in the field, you can find training programs to help you brush up and to learn very specific skills in computer board assembly.

I recommend: Find specialized training and certification programs in PCBA at Training-Classes.com. Train to assemble circuit boards with the standard setters at IPC.

Learn to assemble a printed circuit board, PCB, with training kits, software and hands on tools

What better way to get printed circuit boards (PCBs) training than by using assembly and training kits for PCB fabrication. Use state-of-the-art software and tools and see immediate results for your efforts.

I recommend: Practical Components offers training kits for PCB assembly and other training tools and kits. Dynamix Technology has training materials for PCB fabrication from IPC. CA Design offers PCB software for training, layout and design. Learn to build PCBs with hands on training, or learn to train others at Advanced Microcomputer Systems.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Once you start the search, you are going to find all kinds of schools and training opportunities for ceramic circuit boards. Do you homework, research and test the waters to try to locate the best program.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Printed circuit board (PCB)

A printed circuit board is an electronics component that can contain one or several layers of an insulated material, with a conductive material on the surface. During manufacturing, part of the conductive material is etched off, leaving lines of conductive material that serve as 'wires' for electrical current.

I recommend: Lazar Rozenblat explains the composition of a PCB and its various parts.

Vias

Vias are holes in individual printed circuit boards through which copper conductors pass to connect the separate printed circuit boards.

I recommend: HowStuffWorks explains the role of vias in multi-layer PCBs.

Pad

Every component, such as a diode or capacitor, has a pin on it. The place where the pin contacts the PCB is the pad. The design and purpose of the PCB will determine the diameter of the pad, and the pad may have a hole drilled through it.

I recommend: PCBDesign.org discusses pads and their place on PCBs.

Etchant

An etchant is one of several materials that manufacturers use to remove the unwanted portions of conductive material from the printed circuit board surface. Two chemicals used as etchants are ferric chloride and ammonium persulfate.

I recommend: Robot Room discusses the use of etchant on copper printed circuit boards.

IPC

IPC is a global trade association that sets standards for its members in several areas of electronic interconnecting activities, including printed circuit boards. The generic standard set for PCB design is IPC-2221A.

I recommend: IPC discusses its mission in serving the design, assembly and manufacture of PCBs.

Optical printed circuit board (O-PCB)

The Optical printed circuit board (O-PCB) connects circuits at the micro- or nano-level. These circuits can be plasmonic structures, photonic crystals or made of silicon.

I recommend: IEEE offers more information on O-PCBs.