What is Bare Printed Circuit Board?

A “Printed Circuit Board or PCB” for short, is the material used as a platform where the electronic components are embedded. 

But when it is “bare”, it means that the PCB is yet to be etched or the patterns aren’t yet made.

The board is simply a plain layer of copper laminated on a thick layer of non-conductive material. What I am referring here is what they call as the “single-sided PCB board”. 

It’s because there is a “double-sided PCB board”.

A double-sided PCB has its one side coated with copper so as the other opposite side. But, in between them is a sheet of layer material that is a non-conductive substrate.

Anyway, the most common PCB used by students for their projects so as enthusiasts is the single-sided only. It’s because it is a lot easier to understand the layout of the circuit on this manner.

Why you need to cut your Bare PCB Board?

When you are going to buy a bare PCB board especially online, there is a standard size. You can’t actually buy the specific size that you only need.

The supplier where I am buying mine has the size of 70 x 100 x 15mm with a thickness of 15mm.

You can actually use the entire standard size panel of the PCB that you bought and there is nothing wrong to that. 

However, cutting just the appropriate size that you need will do you much better at improving your circuit design skill.

In school, particularly students who are taking up Electronic subjects, they are trained by their instructors to use the least possible size of PCB boards on their projects.

Etching a Bare PCB Board

The most troubling part of working on a bare PCB is etching the circuit diagram or blueprint that you designed. 

If this is your first-time to do it then you have a huge chance of committing a mistake.

In most cases, the common error that usually happen is that, there are lines that got cut or shorted with one another.

Anyway, there are now many methods on how you can achieve a properly etched PCB. 

But for beginners especially students, they are required to use a copper dissolving chemical known as, “Ferric Chloride”.

Prototype Universal Circuit Board

If you do not like etching your PCB then you might want to check out the “Prototype Universal Circuit Board”. 

Unlike the PCB that we discussed above, universal board are composed of ready-made copper slots with mounting holes.

All you have to do is to mount your electronic components on the universal board and use wirings to connect them all through a soldering process.

Although, the use of prototype boards is now obsolete because it has been replaced by “breadboards”.

Conclusion

Before you start using a PCB board on your project, I highly recommend that you should use a prototype board or much even better, a breadboard. This is to ensure that your circuit design is properly working.

If you got your circuit design to work, then that will be the time that you can finally etch it on a PCB board.

And finally, complete your project by properly embedding on the board all the necessary electronic components.

Radio Broadcasting Services

In the past, long distance communication was in the form of sending telegraphic messages. The information that are sent and received needs to be processed on a method called “Morse code”. 

This is a method of transmitting textual information with varied combinations of ON and OFF which can be generated by tones, light or clicks. 

Any well trained interpreter can decode the message through listening provided that the transmitted data is in the form of a sound. If it is in the form of a light then good observational skill is required.

Have you watched the movie Titanic?

It was a romantic film that involves disaster pertaining to the sinking of the RMS Titanic ship. The movie was released on 1997 and it has achieved great commercial success. 

The movie was awarded with fourteen Academy Award and eleven Oscar Wins. Moreover, it was in the year 1912 when the real tragedy occurred with the RMS Titanic ship. 

This tragic incident was what made marine telegraphy so memorable in the past since it has allowed communications between the operators of the sinking RMS Titanic ship and the rescuers.

From the classic telegraph now comes radio communications and they are introduced in various forms which includes Mobile Communications, Radio Broadcasting, Wireless Networks and etc… 

Among these mediums, the most popular of them all is the television where you can watch news, music, action, drama, comedies, variety show and other newly introduced form of entertainment.

Apart from the television, the following are the other radio broadcasting services that are used by various sectors;

Marine Radio

It is very important for a ship to be equipped with Marine Radio since it serves a lot of purposes such as rescue missions and communications with the harbors. 

However, it is mainly used as a basis of Radar Navigation System for the purpose of avoiding any collisions from obstacles.

Aeronautical Radio

Radio communication is also important in the field of space exploration particularly on air navigation which includes radar, automatic landing equipments and etc…

Government Radio

Almost every radio stations are operated by the federal government serving both civilian and military needs.

Industrial Radio

Industrial machines, medical equipments and scientific tools are using radio waves on their applications.

Amateur Radio

It is also known as “Ham Radio” and considered as the largest non-commercial radio broadcast service. The communication device comes with transmitters and receivers which allow the users to establish communication with one another at an assigned amateur radio band. 

Amateur Radio has been beneficial for rescue operations and emergencies which has already saved countless lives in various instances.

Latest Digital Devices that we can use in our Daily Lifestyle

There seems to be no limit on the improvement of our technology where there are always new devices that are kept on being introduced to all consumers. 

Let’s discuss some of these electronic gadgets particularly those devices that suits your daily lifestyle.

1. MP3 Players

They say that listening into your favorite music can cure your bad mood. Thus, MP3 player would just be the perfect device which allows you to store hundreds of different songs of your choice. 

Keep yourself entertained from those lists of music by listening to them at any given free period of your time.

2. Mobile Phones

It has now become an important part of our daily life to use our mobile phones. You can use it any time to call your family, friends and anyone whom you know. 

Other than calling, you can simply send text messages which cost you less as compared to making a call. 

Phones that are sophisticated even lets you connect on the web allowing you to check your emails, facebook, twitter account and etc…

3. Computer/Laptop

If you are studying, it is now important for you to have a Laptop. It allows you to store important school projects and search for information that answers your questions. 

As for those business minded individuals, PC/Laptops are used for presentation and storage of important records.

4. DS Nintendo

The Nintendo DS is a portable handheld video game system perfect for entertainment purposes. 

If you are invited to a certain occasion and you find it boring, make sure that you brought along with you this portable gaming device. Enjoy playing a lot of entertaining games from Nintendo.

5. Tablet Personal Computer

From PC to Laptop comes the Tablet Personal Computer. It has the full features of a standard PC but everything is controlled through touch screen.

6. GPS

GPS stands for Global Position Systems and it is a device used for navigation. 

If you are the type of person who enjoys going out for a trip into various places then this device can record those places that you have visited as well as guide you on your way around.

More interesting digital electronic devices will surely be introduced in the future but on this current date that this post has been posted, these are the best items that you may want to consider to use in your daily lifestyle.

The Latest Electronic Technology to Buy

The holiday season is fast approaching which means, it is the perfect time to spend your hard earned money according to your needs. And at some point, you may have the urge to buy one of those latest and amazing model of an electronic technology which is either for self-use or as a gift to someone special.

The main reason why the holidays particularly the longest one which is during the Christmas to New Year is that, majority of shops will give promotions, free give-aways and large discounts. However, visiting into the shop can be quite hassle because you are not only one who wants to take advantage of those promotions. So if you do not want to go through such hassle then there is an alternative solution which buying from an online store.

I would like to recommend Amazon which is currently the biggest and most trusted online store today. You can actually buy almost any kind of item from them including perishable food products. Since I mentioned Amazon, I would like to inform you that I am an affiliate partner where I promote their products through this blog where I earn advertising fees for every products that got sold. More about this is explained on my Disclaimer Page.

Here are the following list of the latest electronic technology that you should consider buying:

1. High-Definition Television Sets

There is nothing more relaxing than sitting on your couch at home then watching your favorite movie or TV show. Aside from relaxing, it is also more fun if you are watching as a whole family. A Television Set is actually one of the common electronic devices that you can find in every household due to the entertainment value that it provides.

Today top manufacturers of Television Sets are multi-million dollar companies and there are several of them that are competing with one another. Some of these companies are Panasonic, Samsung, LG and Sony.

Before you buy a Television Set, it is a common practice that you need to know its features. If you are going to ask me, I would like to suggest a TV Set with good HDTV feature that has excellent shadow detail, anti-reflective screen, 1080p/24 cadence, accurate primary colors and provides access to the internet.

2. Digital Cameras

Preserve every bit of enjoyable experiences through your favorite cameras that can capture high quality of photos. In fact, cameras should be the number one the list because this is the only technology that is capable of preserving past events.

Today, digital cameras is the trend because unlike those old analog cameras, digital models has a lot of improvements. You can basically capture and store quite a lot of photos taken at a high-resolution. Other than that, high-end digital cameras have a lot of features particularly for enhancing your photo shots. These are apps or applications that allows you to edit that photos that you captured on your camera itself without connecting it into a computer.

3. Laptop

Laptops is now an important device for almost everyone dealing with complicated tasks relating to calculations, information and any other forms of paperwork or documents. Without it, you will surely be left behind especially when you are a student. Of course, a desktop computer also works just the same but with a laptop, it allows you to continue your work at any places due to its portability.

In the past, laptops were quite expensive that only few individuals can manage to afford it. But now, some of these gadgets are at an affordable price. You can even buy secondhand if you don't have enough budget that you can spend.

4. Desktop Computers

In comparison to laptops, a desktop computer can actually be more powerful like it can run games smoothly. However, you cannot carry these machines around and use it as you please due to their sizes and electrical power requirement.

5. Mobile Phones

Perhaps the most important technology that became a part of everyone's daily life on this generation of ours are the mobile phone devices. Through these gadgets, people can now communicate with one another no matter how far the distance between the two of them.

Due to high demand of mobile or cellar phones, many manufacturers came out into existence to compete with one another. As a result, there are many of these devices in the market that are available at very affordable prices.

Moreover, we are all aware that the best electronic technology to buy is the latest model because it has already undergone improvements and advance developments. But the main problem is that, brand new models are usually the most expensive ones as compared to their older versions. So if you are on a tight budget, you should purchase the secondhand or older model.

Our needs for electronic technologies can sometimes never be avoided that once it got broken, you need to immediately replace it such as your mobile phone. As a result, this cost could hurt your pocket. Therefore, the best way to save your expenses from electronic technologies is to learn how to properly take care of them so that they could serve you a longer and lasting period of time usage.

Using Electronics in Our Daily Life

What could our world be today if we don’t know anything about "Electronics"?

We do not have any cooking appliances that could help us in our kitchen, music that can keeps us entertained or any electronic components that we can rely on our daily life. Everything would be done manually which is tedious and more time spent all just to get the job done.

We are so really lucky today that the innovation of technology makes our daily life easy and simple. All we just have to do is to press buttons and the machines will do all the hard work for us. As a good example is the innovation of mobile or cellular phones which is the best gadget used to communicate other individuals particularly those that are far from your location. But in the past, they used post mail which could take several days for your letter to be received by your recipient.

Look Around You

Right now, try to look around you and identify every electronic components from your surroundings. I am pretty sure that there will be more than just one. If you are at home, you may have a Television Set, Radio, Microwave Oven, Refrigerator and etc... At school, you may have your laptop computer and calculator. And where ever you are, there is your personal mobile phone that some can't even live without it.

Mobile Phones, iPod and Tablets

When mobile or cellular phones got popularly introduced with the main purpose of providing immediate communication for all users, this technology made a huge leap in just a matter of few years where iPods and Tablets followed through. Now, through these amazing and sophisticated gadget, we have limitless access to various forms of media such reading this blog, watching videos, listening to your favorite music to purchasing product and services.

Wi-Fi and the Internet

Another one of the great breakthrough of our technology on this age of our generation is the internet. The internet is the one responsible for transferring data from the servers to your computer or vice-versa. This is why you can send private messages on your FaceBook or email accounts.

As for the Wi-Fi, this is another form of data communication but in its local form. Local means, the connection is limited to certain users particularly the owner and allowed users that he granted permission for access. Wi-Fi is actually a device that is more commonly used to distribute or share internet access to others via wireless means.

Digital Sound or Music

The invention of radios was already been a long time ago but all throughout those period of time, the room for improvement never stopped. Now, you can literally listen to all of your favorite music through a small device that you can carry with your hand or place it inside your own pocket. As compared to those old and traditional cassette tapes containing just a few number of songs, MP3 or MP4 portable players, smartphones and iPods can store hundreds or even thousand of sound tracks.

Digital Camera

Another electronic device that we commonly use in our daily live is a camera. I can say that this technology has an importance since it can actually preserve those unforgettable memories of the past. If you got kids then those photos you took from their younger age would be a treasure of the future. In the past, not so many people can own a camera because of its expensive price. You can also take very limited shots so errors or mistakes of capturing a photo must be avoided. Thankfully, we are so lucky today due to the invention of digital cameras. Through this device, you can take a lot photo shoots then choose the best ones that you want to keep and delete those that you don't like.

Smartphones, mobile phones, iPods, tablets and other similar devices now have built-in cameras (photo and video) in them. And currently, they are all competing in terms of providing the best or highest quality of resolution.

Food Industry

Food is actually a lot more important than electronics in our daily life. Without food, we won't be able to survive and thrive into this world. In the past, there was a huge issue with the food supply around the world due to the fast growing rate of human population. But through technology, machines got invented where we manage to cope up with those food demands. Today, these machines are now completely automated requiring less human intervention.

Science and Health

In the field of science, electronic technology is quite heavily used. All scientists actually rely on these technology allowing them to perform further research and observation that has never been done before. As for the health industry particularly at the hospital, there are a lot of machines (such as in the operating room) to help doctors and nurses be able to cure health problems.

As a conclusion, electronics has now become a part of our daily life on this current generation that we are living in.

Recycling Electronic Junks

At any place, when you look around, you will realize that electronic devices are almost everywhere. In fact, you are already using one of them right now which is either your PC, Laptop, iPod or Mobile Phone in browsing the content of this blog. Even if you go into the mountain side, you can't live without electronic gadgets on your side.

The inventions of electronics actually made our generation achieve a more comfortable and less effort daily life styles. One good example is washing your laundry. In the past, people had to manually wash their laundries with their own hands. But today, we have "Washing Machine" that does the job for us.

Now, what if your old washing machine suddenly got broken and you replaced it with a new one. Did you know that by doing this, you are contributing to the pollution of our global environment?

Let's have a better example that is more damaging to our environment which are the mobile phones. This hand held device actually proves useful to our daily activities because it allows us to communicate to our families, friends and business associates at any given period of time. Thus, it is an electronic product that is always on high-demand in the market.

Judging from the looks of these small devices, they seem completely harmless to our environment. What you really do not know is that, mobile phones are made out of electronic components such as batteries, headphones, chargers, speakers and etc... One of the most damaging part of all devices is actually their batteries.

If you are going to look into the battery of your mobile phone, some manufacturers have placed some details about its harmful chemicals. By the time that your mobile phone got finally broken, you will most likely throw it away because it is now worthless and considered as an "electronic junk". Environmental pollution occurs when the harmful chemical of the batteries leaks out and seeps down into the earth. Worst case is that, when the trash containing the batteries are thrown into the bodies of water.

Thus, the best possible solution into this issue is donate (working unwanted electronics), proper recycling or disposal procedures.

1. Donating

If you have bought a new replacement of your old laptop then you should consider donating your replaced laptop to those who needs it. There are many non-profit organizations out there that needs computers particularly local schools.

2. Proper Recycling

If you think that you need some electronic parts to build or repair something then you should consider checking your electronic junks for any reusable components that you need. Through recycling, it can actually save you some money while helping the environment at the same time.

3. Proper Disposal Procedure

Electronic junks are unlike any ordinary garbage that you can just throw in the trash can. The best thing for you to do is to consult your local solid waste management district for the proper disposal procedure in your area.

What to do with your Common Electronic Junks?

Here are some suggestions on what you have to do with your common electronic junks:

1. Mobile Phones

An unused or out-of-date working mobile phones can be donated to people who needs them. If it no longer works then proper disposal is best advised.

2. Fluorescent Bulbs

It is important for you to know that fluorescent bulbs contains traces of mercury. So don't dump them in your household trash where it requires proper disposal.

3. Television Sets

Old outdated TVs are sadly not recyclable because the parts inside them are no longer re-usable. Thus, they are best disposed in a proper way.

4. Computers

As stated above, you can donate working computers that you no longer need or use. If not, it can be recycled because there are many metal parts that can be recovered and re-used.

5. Batteries

How batteries can pollute our environment has already been discussed above. So the best way to deal with batteries is through proper disposal procedures.

Moreover, due to the growing threat of environmental pollution contributed by electronic junks, some countries have now implemented laws about recycling policies. They made such law to let everyone become aware about electronic junks problem of the world.