Hi folks,
I just finished a design that uses the NRF24L01+ transceiver IC, using the Sparkfun eagle part and then found it fails the Sparkfun design rules check!
Has anyone used one of these on a board from BatchPCB? I figured that since Sparkfun sold the part it would be something that BatchPCB could work with but is that not the case?
Cheers,
kos
There isn’t any reason why Nordic Semi should design their chips so that they can be used with Batch PCB’s design rules. Find another supplier, or adjust the footprint so that it meets the Batch PCB requirements, and hope that your board works OK.
I wasn’t suggesting that Nordic should design anything with BatchPCB in mind, that doesn’t really make sense :>
But it’s not a stretch to ask whether the IC’s sourced and recommended by Sparkfun are compatible with their pcb prototyping service. If it’s not then cool I guess not everything can be, but it’s a shame considering the apparent popularity of the Nordic transceivers.
As you suggested I’ve altered the smd pad dimensions for the QFN20 package in the Sparkfun library from 0.65mmx0.3mm to 0.65mmx0.29mm. This passes the DRC and I guess we’ll find out whether it comes out ok!
I’ve run into problems with through-hole parts where the restring parameters in the DRC rules forced the pads to be larger than the footprint in the lbr specified, breaking the rules. It’s really annoying that Eagle depends on the restring parameters for “auto” sized holes, but doesn’t provide a way to specify that pads cannot be enlarged when laying out the footprint in the lbr.
I learned this the hard way as well. I did a four-layer board with 6 mil trace and space, and used a connector that wouldn’t fly on a two-layer board with 8 mil trace and space.
Unless your board is very large, it might be worthwhile to consider 4-layer anyway. The power distribution properties are much better, and the board can act as a heat sink. Otherwise, a small 4-layer breakout board to spread the signals out is always an option.
I made my own footprint for the nrf24l01+ in gEDA, and it passed the DRC (and came out just fine on the board)… so hopefully your modified footprint will work!