Well after a handful of suggestions from Mike and the DIYC community, I have re-spun the PCB without resistors and without a top plane and a couple other changes.

Here’s a list:

• All traces are on top without using a polygon for a power plane.
• Bottom is not cut by any traces (other than the version text) since all traces are on top.
• J1-6 is no longer ground
• No 45° angles coming off non-round pads for under-etching.
• Trace from U1-8 to decoupling C1 is very short.
• Removed resistors and reduced size after testing breadboard reliability without resistors.
• Squished the U1 placement silkscreen so it’s not on the solder pads

DIYC Tester PDF

Version 0.2 has been made. For good design practice, my friend Mike Lane suggested I get the decoupling cap as close to the power pins as possible. He suggested a 90° clockwise turn of U1 and moving C1 below to be near the power pins to increase the effectiveness of the capacitor. Here’s the result to be reviewed.

DIYC Tester PDF

For my new hephaestus project I’m getting to learn and play with eagle. I have thrown together the first rev of my basic BOB that I’ll be seeking help on DIYC for. Here’s a JPEG and PDF:

DIYC Tester PDF

I’ve been wanting to create a stand-alone Renard/DMX tester for quite a while and I finally made time for it. I have made a page for the progress and will post updates to the blog, the page itself, as well as github.

Page: Hephaestus
GitHub Source: github.com/Materdaddy/hephaestus

Mandatory Picture: