first pcb try

Oops, forgot to put those.
Ok, i'm going to do a little research on that.

Ok, now it's where i start to freak out LOL
I already connected the crystal load capacitors ground directly to arduino gnd instead of going through the switch.
I added decoupling capacitors, is it like that? :cold_sweat: (attached image)

About ground plane/pour, i couldnt find anything that would make me understand what i need to do.

(i've attached fritzing project just in case someone has it installed and is willing to show me how it can be done)
thanks

master1_another.fzz (59.7 KB)

A "Net" is a set of interconnected points like ground. Nets get names from 2 primary places one is the symbols connected. For example a ground symbol is enough to create a net called 'ground'. The second source is the pin numbers assigned to an IC or other part.In the example I pointed out the error was in not editing the net created by interconnecting those 4 symbols, 2 caps a crystal and a processor.
Finally there will from time to time be net names you will create or modify to fix/add/modify circuit connectivity (the netlist).

Bob

Ok, I took a few minutes and did the most painful think I can think of... I used Fritzing. OK, My opinion of this tool is 1) it fills a need 2) It doesn't do a great job of filling that need 3) it needs to get beyond what I consider DUPLO block stage. It lets you do bad things. Ok, lets just say... I am not a fanatic about Fritzing and leave it there...

Step 1, I tried to make sense of you schematic... and realized it was unfinished. Anyway... I will post what I did to see what it should have looked like. Schematics are not always about "showing ALL wires" even though that is what you might think. Using the convenient GND "net" and +5V "net" can greatly simplify a schematic... see my example. Your drawing, sadly, showed signs of thing being moved and creating "crazy wires". (Note: Fritzing file still has an error in Schematic... see if you can find and fix it.)

Step 2, I cleaned up your PCB. Here's some tips... always try a few routing paths not just the first one you see... your first pass might not be ideal. be prepared to "rip up" work. When doing single sided boards... always strive to keep jumpers to a minimum.

Also note: My "fixes" are not the BEST I can do... I only have so much time on my lunch hour. I just wanted to show a cleaner PCB layout. Notice that I use more of the board. If you are going to have that much "real estate", no sense making all kinds of bendy wires...

master1_3rd_try.fzz (47.3 KB)

Nice rework. I'm 100% sure all my remaining complaints are directed toward the tool, not the designer. :wink:

OP: Do yourself a huge favor and give some dedicated PCB design packages a shot. There are a few common ones that get mentioned around here. Eagle being the most popular, but possibly most complicated, of the free(-ish) ones. Fritzing is a nice tool to graphically depict a design you have on a real-world breadboard for others to look at, but IMO, not much beyond that.

Nice job pwillard. That's way more than I am willing to do with that toy.

Carlcox89, are you planning to use the Analog pins? If so, you should disconnect pins 20 & 21, and connect 20 to a capacitor to Gnd.
The connection to 5V will be made internally if used, or you could use the internal 1.1V reference.
If the pin is hardwired to +5, you lose that option.

Many thanks pwillard for taking your hours :wink:
It'll really help me understand what i did right and wrong.

@CrossRoads , i dont intend to use analog pins now, but maybe i need to use them in the future.
So i would have to break the 20&21 pins connection, and connect a capacitor (how much uf ?) to pin 20 (AVCC) to ground ?
thanks

Yes on Aref. 0.1uF to Gnd, no other connection.

CrossRoads:
Yes on Aref. 0.1uF to Gnd, no other connection.

Aref ?
you said "connect 20 to a capacitor to Gnd."
pin 20 is AVCC :o
AREF is 21
So which one should i connect with a capacitor to GND?

Both!

Vcc needs to connect ACVV, and connect both to +5V. Put a 0.1uF cap on both pins.
Put a 0.1uF cap frpm Aref to Gnd.

Is this what you mean ?

Almost - don't connect Aref to +5, just a cap to Gnd. It has internal connection to +5, or +3.3, under software control.
Connect pin 7 to 20.
This where a view of the schematic comes in handy.

If you can do a ground pour, or ground fill, or whatever the program you are using calls it, then you can delete the all over the place ground traces and just connect those pins to the ground plane instead. That will make for quieter signals too.

You have room on the board - I would add a diode in parallel with the reset resistor - anode to the reset pin, cathode to +5. This will keep any spikes that occur from making the chip think its going into High Voltage programming mode (and look liket its just hung up to you). 1N4158 type of diode is sufficient.

Looks like you have 2 regulators? Would recommend caps on the 2nd regulator also. 1uF on input, 0.1uF on the output.

Do you have any plans to add pin names (D0, D1, etc) or part names (C1, C2, etc)? That really helps to make the boards look sharp.

I've added capacitors to 2nd regulator and added label names for them.
you mind checking? :wink:

Looks pretty good. Trace for pin 20 is kinda thin compared to the rest. Maybe indicates it has not been routed yet?
Schematic turned out pretty good.
Still recommend a diode across R4 for reasons described before. At least put pads in for it if you don't want to install it to start.

I was kinda afraid of modifying the schematics because first i suck at understanding them... but i think i can understand them by now.
About the thin wire, yes i didnt double click so it was a rastnest line instead of being a wire (corrected now)
diode just like that?

Looks good.

No obvious mistakes ? Like wrong connections or such ?
i'm ready to try my first pcb etch

You mind also take a look at http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php/topic,149447.0.html
it's related to this pcb i'm making

None that I see.
I still recommend a ground pour - that will save on etching material also as you only etch enough to isolate the pads & traces, and not clear out whole big sections of the board.

Is this what you are saying ?
i've choose GND as a ground seed and then did Ground Fill
i cant understand how it works and how i'm gonna etch my pcb like this