Good morning folks!  I have a few questions and would appreciate some feedback
from others.  I'd like to find out what others in the field are doing to either
support our practices or re-vamp them.

(1) Could someone explain why pad to conductor spacing is greater than
conductor to conductor?  If I only need to stay 8 mil away for the conductor,
why do I need 10 mil or more from a pad on the same net?  Or is this just one
of the quirky things we do here?

(2) We are starting to use breakaway tabs on panelized boards more frequently
but do not have a set keepaway distance.  I'd like to know what others are
using so that I can amend our guidelines.  (Yes, I'm still trying for those
brownie points!  Reviews are next week.)

(3) What size via (drill and pad) are you using for low current signal track?
We are using  a .018 drill with a .038 pad diameter.  It would be nice to be
able to justify a smaller via and gain a little real estate.

I think this will do for now.  I know there are no simple answers to these
questions but if I could just get a feel what "the real world" is doing then
maybe I can convince the others that it's not 1985 any longer.  Of course I do
still have one co-worker who INSISTS on using the RS-274D format for his Gerber
files.  He's been in the field alot longer than I have and I guess has a
difficult time believing that I (a mere woman) could *possibly* know something
he doesn't.  Oh well.............

Thanks in advance!

JoAnn L. Amerson
Design Librarian
Red Lion Controls, Inc.
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Voice: (717) 767-6961 ext 6308

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