Rockford Fostgate PCB etching

[Dakine_surf]

So as someone who isn't an engineer but likes to pretend to be one on the weekends, I typically take shit apart and put it back together to get an understanding of how things work.

I do this with almost everything, I really love to DIY and I enjoy expanding my knowledge on anything (Case in point, I am teaching myself, with the help of youtube, to sew with a machine) but one thing I really like is to see how PCB boards are organized, the chips and parts used and just overall quality. A lot can be learned by opening something up and seeing how clean the PCB is.

So, today I ripped open a DSR1 that I have had sitting on a shelf forever and took a gander. I was thinking I might use the boards and do a cool install with a custom housing... Wow, this is really nice was my first thought, then I started noticing some details, and figured I would snap a quick pic (sorry for the bad iphone pic). Really nice attention to detail in a spot that 99% of people will never see.

Maybe Justin Zazzi can explain the etching art a little better, I figured it is the initials of the lead designers and engineers??? I just though it was cool and wanted to share.



A little closer inspection reveals a couple slightly obscured by the barcode on the bottom and some sort of flashlight in the top right.

[Justin Zazzi]

Yes sir! The white markings are on the silkscreen layer and are usually used as hints of what part numbers are, or where to place components, and so on. I always enjoy pretending the big circular parts are apartment buildings, the connectors are rocket engines, and the circuit board is a spaceship.

Sometimes you'll find them used for artwork like this. Each of the little graphics is a signature from one of the engineers on the project. These are the people whom I share an office with here in Tempe Arizona.

Sometimes you can get really clever and make a circuit board become something else entirely, like a ruler for example.

Neat find! I always wonder if these details are noticed : )

[Dakine_surf]

Sometimes you can get really clever and make a circuit board become something else entirely, like a ruler for example.

Neat find! I always wonder if these details are noticed : )

Noticed and appreciated! That ruler is straight up cool!

Thanks Justin, I figured they were the the engineers signatures. My buddies dad is an engineer at Raytheon and they did the same thing on the PCB boards of the Mars Rover... Kind of cool cause its gonna sit there up for the foreseeable future and someone/thing to eventually find.

[diy.phil]

Lol those are neat.

[Grinder]

So as someone who isn't an engineer but likes to pretend to be one on the weekends, I typically take shit apart and put it back together to get an understanding of how things work. ....

In case you're not already familiar, I think AvE is right up your alley. Very cool. Check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/c/arduinoversusevil2025/videos

[Justin Zazzi]

AvE has a circuitboard ruler too and it was the first one I thought of, but it's nsfw though haha.

[Grinder]

AvE has a circuitboard ruler too and it was the first one I thought of, but it's nsfw though haha.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJSa4reIYkU

[Ge0]

So as someone who isn't an engineer but likes to pretend to be one on the weekends, I typically take shit apart and put it back together to get an understanding of how things work.

I do this with almost everything, I really love to DIY and I enjoy expanding my knowledge on anything (Case in point, I am teaching myself, with the help of youtube, to sew with a machine) but one thing I really like is to see how PCB boards are organized, the chips and parts used and just overall quality. A lot can be learned by opening something up and seeing how clean the PCB is.

So, today I ripped open a DSR1 that I have had sitting on a shelf forever and took a gander. I was thinking I might use the boards and do a cool install with a custom housing... Wow, this is really nice was my first thought, then I started noticing some details, and figured I would snap a quick pic (sorry for the bad iphone pic). Really nice attention to detail in a spot that 99% of people will never see.

Maybe Justin Zazzi can explain the etching art a little better, I figured it is the initials of the lead designers and engineers??? I just though it was cool and wanted to share.



A little closer inspection reveals a couple slightly obscured by the barcode on the bottom and some sort of flashlight in the top right.

I've spent 25 years of my life designing printed circuit boards and releasing them into production. I estimate I have over 100 million parts active out in the field. Everything from military, to consumer, to medical, and now most recently automotive electronics. I live and breath this technology. What would you like to know? You mentioned etching. Did you mean copper trace routing?

FYI: trace routing is a design decision. Etching is the process of making the PCB.

Ge0

[Ge0]

So as someone who isn't an engineer but likes to pretend to be one on the weekends, I typically take shit apart and put it back together to get an understanding of how things work.

I do this with almost everything, I really love to DIY and I enjoy expanding my knowledge on anything (Case in point, I am teaching myself, with the help of youtube, to sew with a machine) but one thing I really like is to see how PCB boards are organized, the chips and parts used and just overall quality. A lot can be learned by opening something up and seeing how clean the PCB is.

So, today I ripped open a DSR1 that I have had sitting on a shelf forever and took a gander. I was thinking I might use the boards and do a cool install with a custom housing... Wow, this is really nice was my first thought, then I started noticing some details, and figured I would snap a quick pic (sorry for the bad iphone pic). Really nice attention to detail in a spot that 99% of people will never see.

Maybe Justin Zazzi can explain the etching art a little better, I figured it is the initials of the lead designers and engineers??? I just though it was cool and wanted to share.



A little closer inspection reveals a couple slightly obscured by the barcode on the bottom and some sort of flashlight in the top right.

From what I can see in your photos of this board is that some designer is under challenged and has enough time on his hands to doodle in solder mask on his circuit board designs. Justin, you may want to bring this up to your management . Just kidding.

PCB design is an art form in combination with some extremely technical topics. Sometimes it's nice just to sit back and have some fun...

Ge0

[Ge0]

One thing that might blow you away about this circuit board is what you CAN'T see. This board probably has 4 to 8 layers of copper trace patterns. That means there are circuit board patterns stacked in the middle of this design. This is needed to properly route power and ground to all of the little components you see on the board. It also helps link connections between components where you could not fit all those connections on a top or bottom layer. Let me dig up one of my designs and I can show you later...

Ge0