EEVblog #1129 - Creating a Nice Readable Schematic

How to turn a horrible unorganised schematic into a nice readable modular schematic with proper signal flow.
Tips on industry standard and expected layout techniques.

Using the open source Haasoscope oscilloscope as an example.

Please do NOT complain about the length of this video. I know. It is what it is.

9:28 LED configuration
12:28 Single Page Vs Multi page schematics
14:24 Net lines and bus lines
25:25 Connection stuff
36:32 Consistent component symbols
37:29 Signal flow from left to right (schematic reorganisation part 1)
44:15 The great nF debate
46:18 Text designation (Part II)
47:57 Net line Vs Port (for blocks)
49:43 Description on blocks
50:02 Signal f low from left to right (schematic reorganisation part 2)
1:08:38 Don't put junctions on line cross-overs (Don't cross the streams)

Support the EEVblog through Patreon!

Buy anything through that link and Dave gets a commission at no cost to you.

Stuff I recommend:

Donate With Bitcoin & Other Crypto Currencies!

[EEVblog]

Please do NOT complain or comment about the length of this video. I know. It is what it is.

[finkelmana]

Of course the labels were upside down, you are in the southern hemisphere. I also hear that electrons flow the other way down under.

[deanrobert]

A longer vid means more information to me
thanks Dave

[Jeff-Russ]

This video needed to be made. The maker movements is great but led to so many pile-of-mess schematics floating around on the web.

[DrPepeG]

Dave, can you do a PCB version of this video? With proper industry standards and usual conventions! These type of videos are really helpful for students like me. Thanks, Dave!

[ralphmills]

Dave Thanks for the video. Back when I was in a 2 year ET course in the '70's we had a course called "Blueprint Reading and Sketching" which was an obsolete name even then for a mechanical drawing/drafting class. It is amazing how we went from drawing tube circuits by hand to using CAD schematic software to draw the connections to Integrated circuits. But the basics remain the same; signal paths go left to right, Input voltages connections point up, ground connections points down, label everything neatly and clearly but most of all be consistent across the drawing.

[AdamQueen]

Not only the newer one is easier to read, but also very modular, like properly structured code.

The engineering part is indeed shared between software and hardware.

[MattHollands]

I was never taught this stuff, but you naturally pick it up from looking at other people schematics. It's like reading a book, it just makes sense to do it this way.

[randycarter]

This is an excellent tutorial on schematic drawing conventions. They never teach this stuff in college. 100 thumbs up.

[sjholmesbrown]

Electrician here, not electronicist, but I'll put my $0.02 on the 'multiple sheets' ledger. I regularly fault find machines with 40+ sheets in their schematics, often with one physical component of the machine (i.e. a VFD or PLC I/O card) per sheet. Providing the inter-sheet labels are done properly, it's easier flipping through a booklet than trying to manhandle an A1 page around.

[rownadoherty]

That original schematic seriously has to have been a "prank" to elicit a response from Dave.

[gigglesaregood]

This is a great intro for people like me who are just starting to design electronics. It's like a whole chapter in a textbook on electronics design in an hour or so long video with examples and advice laden throughout. Thanks a lot, huge fan of the channel.

[spanglecraftworks]

There was an amazing amount of good information in this video for those of us who are teaching ourselves. Information not only on making, but on reading schematics. I watched it once, and will probably return to watch it, again. Thank you!

[km]

fantastic! is simply no substitute for a veteran in the industry to show you how its done!

[panopolis]

excellent video, its very helpful to learn tips from a pro like this, since often books and tutorials don't explain minor details and real-world conventions, its often taken for granted that you already know such things.

[Batiquijun]

Very informative. This kind of hands on practical information is pure gold for a newly graduated electrical engineer such as myself. Thanks a lot Dave!

Excellent, that this comes up for discussion! When we developed the first stepper motor controller with PC GUI in 1994, I knew that good readability of electronic schematics will be very important.

[johnfrancisdoe]

Around 4:00 I always hated that touching but not connected possibility in Eagle, shocked it's also in the expensive Altium. This kind of misapplication of mechanical drawing concepts to the schematic editor is just wrong. Schematics are logical, not mechanical and the exact placement of lines is formatting, not data. Either draw wires as connected or automatically show a clear distance of one grid step, especially if overlapping / touching lines would otherwise result from an editing operation such as moving or copying.

[wernerfritsch]

1:05:15 In that case a 45° crossover is suitable to indicate the symmetry here. The eye catches that easily and interprets it as a swap of the signals. It's like drawing flipflops.

[georgebitsworth]

This video is much appreciated. It is good to hear from someone who has a lot of experience give instructions on how to draw a schematic.