Andy Peters wrote on Fri, 06 August 2010 00:22 |
Ryan Garnett wrote on Thu, 22 July 2010 06:48 | Looking at that PCB, one has to wonder if they couldn't make the thing a quarter of the size?
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Because if the PCB was a quarter of the size, it'd likely have eight layers, and that's a lot more expensive than a larger four-layer board.
A larger PCB with the parts spread out doesn't get as hot as one with everything crammed all together.
Also, the stuff in the lower center/right are all parts of a switch-mode power supply, and they kept that stuff away from the analog electronics (top to the right). All of the digital stuff (the DSP, and FPGA, the Ethernet, their associated power supplies) and the mains power supply are on the other side of the PCB from the analog. Keeps everything quiet.
-a
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I addition to Andy's very real technical reasons, what would be the point? It is already a 1RU device, the box isn't going to get any smaller. Making the box shallow makes it hard to reach the connectors when it is mounted is a rack with other gear.
Mac
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