Thanks to a comment from Michael yesterday, I think everything is now cool with my Geiger counter. I had left the AT2313 default fuse setting at clock/8. That dropped the RS232 speed from 9600 to 1200 and it made the clicking sound into more of a tone, which just didn’t sound right for a Geiger counter. I still need a good radiation source though. I think I’ve picked up just a few clicks of background radiation, but that could just be wishful thinking.
Wishful thinking or not, that’s not the point. The point is that this was an example of migrating from through-hole parts to SMT. I managed to get virtually everything into SMT. The connectors, the power switch, the buzzer, batter holder and fuse clips for the tube stayed through-hole. Although I’m sure I could have all but the battery holder and fuse clips into SMT had I wanted to. I tend to keep switches and connectors that will get a lot of use as through-hole just for the extra staying power. If they aren’t used frequently, then SMT is just fine.
There are a number of things to consider when switching from thru-hole to SMT:
- Everything is smaller, so you can fit more in the same space or the same in less space. I took advantage of the extra board area to add in a RS232 line driver so I could connect directly to a serial port. I also added in a power-on LED.
- Everything is smaller so your layout is more critical. Most PCB houses will build 8mil trace and space as standard process these days. That gives you a lot of flexibility in squeezing your routing into tight areas, but it doesn’t give complete freedom. You have to be core careful because you frequently do have to route a bunch of traces into a pretty small area. When you get into the really fine pitch parts, like 0.5 or 0.4mm center to center, you have to be extra careful.
- Some parts are dimensioned in metric and some in SAE units. If all are one way or the other, it’s easy. But when you’ve got both, you may have to tweak with your grid spacing off and on to make sure your traces are centered in the SMT pads they connect to. It usually isn’t a horrible problem, but it can make even spacing more difficult and can make you more likely to violate a design rule.
- You don’t have automatic “vias” on each component leg so routing can be more difficult. You’ll likely have to spend more time tweaking the part locations and the trace routing to get a decent layout. A lot of times everything’s too close so it’s not practical to just plant a lot of vias all over.
- Hand soldering is less or not practical. Some people do hand solder some pretty tiny parts, but it’s not practical in more than isolated cases. If you’re a hobbyist or on a tight budget, this might limit you to through-hole or some of the largest SMT parts. For commercial work though, SMT is the way to go.
Some things to think about. But what do you get in return? Typically lower cost – especially if you want your design to go into volume manufacturing. You also get access to the newest parts that only come in SMT packages. And, many designs are space constrained, so you can cram more in while still keeping your board size down.
Duane Benson
I shot a neutrino into the air
And where it landed I already knew