Component Placement

[Kevin Amadiva]

Hi, am going through this component placement video, and wondering how do you manage to highlight that layer, and then when u use the probe tool, do you "esc" then go direct to choosing the capacitors, because am trying to do the same but i can see the "component placement under tools
"

[robertferanec]

Hi Kevin Amadiva. It still should work as shown in the video, only difference is, that Altium works a little bit differently with Highlight now. See this post: http://www.fedevel.com/designhelp/fo...ent-with-probe

[Kevin Amadiva]

That link u gave is the exact problem am facing the masked sections reset when I start to select the components. Hope it gets fixed. Thanks for ur help.

[Kevin Amadiva]

hi robertferanec so i asked my PCB manufacturer to provide me with the impedance detail sheet for calculating my 100 ohm and 90 ohm diff pairs on a 2 layer board. And i was surprised the they told me they don't have such a sheet. the only thing they offered was this PCB condition sheet below. So is this normal coming from a PCB manufacturer. Is there a way i can generate/ calculate those trace details from the pcb capabilities sheet below i would gladly appreciate your help. because that is the only part am remain to sort out.

[robertferanec]

100 ohm and 90 ohm diff pairs on a 2 layer board

If you would like to follow impedance rules, you may need to use at least 4 layer PCB. If the signals are important I would not route them on 2 layer PCB. If you have no choice (you have to use 2 layer PCB), you may need to ignore the 100/90 OHM impedance rule .... but maybe try to keep the tracks as short as possible.

For impedance calculation we often use Saturn PCB Toolkit (it's free software)

[Kevin Amadiva]

the signals are for HDMI, Ethernet and USB

[robertferanec]

I would probably use at least 4 layer PCB.

[Kevin Amadiva]

can someone place a QR code on the top overlay.

[mairomaster]

You can easily place a barcode (place a string and in the options choose barcode in the font category). I don't think there is an option to place a QR code though.

You can place it the same way you can place a logo or all sorts of images. Generate the QR code with whatever software you like and save is as an image (preferable in a lossless format - bmp, png, or similar). Open it in Paint, select and hit Ctrl+C (copy). Go to the PCB in Altium and press Ctrl+V (paste). If the layer is not right, just change it from the properties. To be able to easily move it the QR code, select the whole of it and create an union from the selection (right click menu -> Unions). After that again from the right click drop down menu you can select resize union, which helps you to properly resize the QR code.

[robertferanec]

Kevin Amadiva, exactly as mairomaster explained, I would insert it as a picture. I have never tried that, but I think it could work oki.

[Kevin Amadiva]

the problem is i dont know how to put it in a script format. i saw a video of someone using a picture in a script format.

[mairomaster]

If you do it the way I explained, you don't need it in a script format, you need it in a standard image format - .bmp, .png, etc. I recommend using lossless formats for better quality, especially if the resolution is not great.

[Kevin Amadiva]

i did it thanks guys.

[robertferanec]

Did you import it as mairomaster explained (as an image, CTRL+C & CTRL+V)?

[Kevin Amadiva]

yap exactly as mairomaster explained. But i had to invert the color so that it appears as a normal QR on the overlay, otherwise it will b the inverse of the intended QR when placed on the board. Also one has to play around with the dimensions to make sure the shrinking of the QR image doesn't affect the QR info