Nice suggestions..
Let me ask a few questions.. and add a few comments..
- Series resistors for DI lines.. (good idea, I'll add them)
- Some 100nF decoupling caps..at all pads & terminals (will do)
- Beef up the width on 5v traces. - (How much bigger should the be? they are .5 width currently I believe!)
- how about some mounting holes? - (another good idea!, I need to find out where/how these are to be mounted)
** difficult to tell if the GND is going where it should. - I'm sure what you mean here? (I also provided the .brd file if needed)
** vias bigger. - (why?.. I am compliant with the fab house design rules.. no errors. Is there another angle to understand here?)
** thermo vias under regulator... (can you expand on this? I have never added a 'thermo via' before? Where does one find this part? In Eagle?)
- Nano pads could be bigger - (bigger than the default Nano EAGLE part?.. why?).. and should these be changed out the female header components I have there?
** maybe diode in the Vin line for reverse protection... I actually had one in there (you can still see the two conjunctions in the wires by the regulator).. but I removed it, because of the voltage drop. I am trying to allowed a wider range or battery sources to be used.. (roughly +6v - +7.4v packs).. if I add a diode.. +6 packs wont be an option any more....right? (I struggle with this.. as I always like to have reverse polarity protection)
The over all size of the board is only (roughly) 1.5in. x 3in.... do you still think all the decoupling is needed? I'll still be adding the cap to the Neopixel terminals as well as the resistor too.
Thanks for the time & eyes LarryD (appreciate it)