SA828 VHF Module Symbol & Footprint

Schematic Library Symbols
1

Hi,

I am new to KiCad and was wondering if anyone has access to the symbol & footprint for the NiceRF SA828 VHF module.

I don’t have all the skills yet to create my own and I need some help.

Best Regards,
James

2

I think you have to create it manually.

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As stated above, I dont have the skills and am looking for help.

4

If you don’t have the skills, you have the chance to aquire them:

1 Like
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I started with google and in a few steps ended up here.

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We were all in your position once upon a time . . . there is a way to get from where you are to where you want to be, read the manual, try to make a symbol & footprint, read some more, try again.

When you get stuck come back here and ask a specific question and many users here will be more than happy to help.

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7

Creating a symbol is very easy: draw a rectangle, add pins with correct numbers and names. Extremely basic.

The footprint is a bit more complex. For this one you don’t have to learn much. Most probably you will use 2 mm pitch pin headers between your board and the module. Find and open the corresponding 10 pin header footprint from the KiCad library. Select everything inside the footprint, or only the pads if you want a minimal footprint. Keep that in the clipboard, don’t override it. Create a new footprint in a personal library. Paste the clipboard content there and move it to the wanted location there. Paste again and move the second set to the location where it’s correctly positioned relative to the the first pin row. Renumber the pads as needed.

You can also create a new personal library and copy and paste the original footprint there directly in the library list. Then open the new footprint, copy the row of pads and paste it to form the second row.

If you already can edit schematics and PCBs there should be nothing new here except creating new empty library items or copying old symbols/footprints and pasting them in personal libraries.

These things should be covered in the Getting Started document. If you have a specific question about my described workflow, about the Getting Started instructions or something after that, you can ask.

8

Hi James:

Welcome to the kicad forum! As folks have said, creating symbols is a pretty easy task. Footprints take a bit more time, but making your own library parts is a critical skill.

What is your application? This is not the same module, but here is a Dorji DRA818x RF Module footprint which may give you some ideas:
Z_module_dorji_DRA818X.kicad_mod (11.4 KB)

I used it for an aprs tracker I put on some AF7EZ high-altitude balloons.