[Cryptech Tech] Alpha layout done (not a joke)

[Peter Stuge]

Fredrik Thulin wrote:
> reviewing

Looking more at the gerbers I noticed some little things:

1. the open hardware logo is on the bottom copper layer and it would
be nicer to have it on the top silk, e.g. next to the cryptech logo.

2. soldermask apertures are not very uniform, some exactly match the
pads, some are larger. Some board houses automatically adjust this in
their CAM import step but maybe some need to be asked to do so
explicitly.

3. JP3, the AVR_ISP header, doesn't have a lot of space around it,
which could make it difficult or at least annoying to connect a cable
there. It would be nice to move it further in from the edge, and
there seem to be 2-3 mm free space there.

4. Same goes for J1, the STM32_SWD header. And I don't recognize this
pinout, but maybe it's a commonly used one. I guess the most common
SWD pinout is the 2x5 one from ARM.

5. JP4 it would be nice to have the legend include polarity of the
connector.


I'd like some feedback for the USB daughterboard layout:

Do you prefer it to extend down and align with the bottom edge of the
board, or rather for it to go in from the edge, not covering any LEDs?

Also: One PCB (for both ports) or two small ones? The smallest PCB I
can get cheap is 30mm which means two small boards would actually end
up covering a very large part of the alpha, and not have much on them.


//Peter