Jason,

You are experiencing nothing new.  Most designers, at least the
older ones, have never recieved any formal training.  There was
none available.  It was always on the job training.

In all probability, the older boards you are going to convert, are
analog circuits and don't require the same expertise that the
boards of today require, with their higher speeds and digital
circuitry.  Yes, it was more aesthetic than it is today, but not
necessarily a bad board.  I think you'll have a harder time
regenerating them into surface mount components than
anything else, simply because the routing will have to be so
different.  You might as well not look at anything except the
schematic and revised parts list.

As you said, your company has been in the business a long
time, so the boards generated over the years must have been
good.  Don't forget that something that may appear to be an
asthetic design could have other reasons too, such as a height
requirement, heat (thermal), weight or vibration.  The same rule
applies today as it did 10-15 years ago.  Let 10 people design
the same board and you'll get 10 different layouts.

I would recommend to you to read anything you can get your
hands on.  IPC specs, trade magazines and such.  Get some
formal training if you can (It's still hard to do, even today).  Talk to
your board vendor(s) and assemblers.  They can give you advice
as to what they can, or cannot do and what they need from you.
Pick the old guys brains for their advice and help.  Most of it is
still just as useful today as it was yesterday (unless the laws of
physics has changed and nobody told me).

Good luck with your endeavor.

Larry Campbell

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