My 10 Days of real learning

Ten days of electronics, circuit simulations, PCB design, unexpected redesigns, and a little hostel adventure with ferric chloride.

Sometimes, the best way to learn something is to stop reading about it and start doing it yourself.

About a month ago, I had the opportunity to experience this firsthand during a 10-day electronics training programme as part of my placement training. As an Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) student, I had studied electronic components and circuits in college, but this training gave me the opportunity to explore how an electronic circuit moves from an idea on a computer screen to a physical printed circuit board.

Our project was a 5 V regulated DC power supply using the LM7805 voltage regulator. I worked on it with a team of four members, and what initially seemed like a straightforward electronics project eventually became a memorable learning experience.

And yes, it involved a plastic container, a leaking glove, brown-stained fingernails, and a lot of patience. 😂

Let's start from the beginning.

📚 Day 1: Back to the Basics

The training began with the fundamentals of electronics.

We spent the initial days learning about basic electronic components and understanding their functions. We also explored practical concepts, including resistor colour coding.

Resistor colour coding might sound like a small topic, but it's an important skill when working with actual electronic components. Those tiny coloured bands tell us the resistance value, tolerance, and, in some cases, other characteristics of a resistor.

It was a reminder that before building complicated circuits, we need to understand the basic components that make them work.

Little did I know that we'd soon move from identifying components to designing an entire PCB.

💻 Days 3–4: Discovering Proteus

Around the third day, we installed Proteus on our systems. The software was provided to us free of charge during the training.

This was where things started getting more interesting.

Instead of immediately building circuits using physical components, we began exploring the software and simulating our circuit designs.

Simulation is a useful stage in electronics development because it allows us to examine how a circuit behaves before committing to a physical implementation. It also provides an opportunity to identify potential problems early.

For me, this was an introduction to a different way of working with electronics. Rather than simply drawing a circuit diagram in a notebook, we could build a virtual version of our design and observe its behaviour.

Once we became more comfortable with Proteus, we moved on to the next major stage: PCB design.

🔌 Enter KiCad: What Am I Even Looking At?

After learning the basics of circuit simulation, we moved to KiCad to learn schematic design and printed circuit board layout.

We started by creating the schematic for our project. After checking our designs with the instructors, we proceeded to the PCB layout.

And honestly, my first reaction to the PCB layout was something like:

"What on earth am I looking at?"

I'd seen electronic circuit boards before, so the concept of a PCB wasn't completely new to me. But looking at a PCB layout inside the design software was a different experience.

There were lines everywhere. Red lines, blue lines, component footprints, tracks, connections, and all sorts of things that seemed to be going in different directions.

At first glance, it looked confusing.

But as our instructors gradually explained the different elements, things started making sense.

I began understanding how component footprints represent the physical mounting positions of components, how tracks connect them electrically, and how the schematic is translated into a physical board layout.

We also learned about routing techniques and the importance of choosing appropriate angles for PCB tracks. Rather than using sharp 90-degree turns, we practised routing tracks using 45-degree connections.

Slowly, the confusing collection of lines started looking like an actual circuit board.

And that was when PCB design began to feel interesting.

🛠️ Days 5–6: Our First PCB Layout

After learning the fundamentals of PCB design, we started working on our project's layout.

Our goal was to create a PCB for the 5 V regulated DC power supply using the LM7805 voltage regulator.

We arranged the component footprints and worked on connecting the circuit according to our schematic. Once we had a layout ready, we submitted

it to our instructors for review.

Getting the first version completed felt like a milestone.

But, as I was about to discover, getting a PCB layout approved isn't always a one-time process.

Sometimes, the first design is just the beginning.

🔄 The Redesign: Make It Smaller!

After reviewing our initial layout, our instructor suggested some corrections. One of the main objectives was to make the PCB more compact.

So, I went back to the design and started working on the layout again.

I reduced the board size and adjusted the track widths to 1 mm.

I thought I had done what was needed.

Then came the next instruction.

The board needed to be expanded again.

I remember thinking, Wait, didn't we just try to make it smaller? 😂

This time, I increased the track widths to 2 mm and reworked the layout to accommodate the required changes.

The experience taught me something important: designing a PCB isn't simply about making everything as small as possible.

Track widths, component spacing, hole sizes, fabrication constraints, and electrical requirements all influence the final design. A compact layout is useful only when the board remains practical to manufacture and suitable for its intended circuit.

What looks good on a computer screen also needs to work in the real world.

That was a lesson I understood much better after going through the redesign process myself.

⚡ Day 9: From the Screen to the Real World

By around the ninth day, we were getting closer to the fabrication stage.

We worked on the component holes and other layout details needed for the physical PCB. Since our design used through-hole components, the hole sizes and their corresponding pads needed to be considered carefully.

Once the layout was ready, we printed the design and prepared to transfer it onto a copper-clad board.

Until this point, most of our work had taken place on a computer.

Now, we were about to turn that design into something we could physically hold.

And this is where the story gets interesting.

😂 The Hostel PCB Experiment

We wanted to complete the PCB fabrication, but we were running out of time during the training.

So we decided to ask the staff whether we could get the materials needed to carry out the etching process ourselves.

Fortunately, they had some ferric chloride solution available.

We managed to get it, took it back to the hostel, and prepared to continue working on our project.

Now, before anyone asks, no, we didn't have a proper PCB fabrication setup in our hostel room.

What we had was our determination to finish the job.

And a transparent plastic container. 💀

We used the container to hold the etching solution and worked on transferring the printed PCB pattern onto the copper-clad board using a household iron.

The idea was to transfer the toner pattern onto the copper so that the required tracks would remain protected during etching.

Once the pattern was transferred, we began the etching process using ferric chloride.

Watching the unwanted copper gradually disappear was genuinely fascinating. The design that had existed as a collection of lines on our computer screens was finally becoming a physical PCB.

But, of course, there was a problem.

Actually, there was more than one.

🧤 The Leaking Glove Incident

At first, I used a plastic glove while handling the board during the etching process.

I thought my hand was protected.

Then I noticed that the glove was leaking.

And that was when I realised something had gone wrong.

My fingernails were turning brown, and I was standing there wondering what had just happened.

"Oh, come on! Seriously?" 😂

Looking back, it was a reminder that working with chemicals requires proper safety precautions. Ferric chloride can cause skin and eye irritation or burns, and a leaking glove is a sign to stop handling the solution, remove contaminated protective equipment safely, and wash any exposed skin thoroughly.

DIY electronics is exciting, but safety is part of the process, too.

⏳ Three Boards. Three Hours. One Goal.

We had three boards to etch.

And the process took much longer than we expected.

It took approximately two to three hours to get through all three boards.

There was waiting, checking the progress, and making sure the required copper tracks were forming correctly.

It wasn't the fastest way to manufacture a PCB, but it was certainly an experience I won't forget anytime soon.

When we finally inspected the etched boards, the results looked good.

The copper pattern was there, and the boards looked promising.

After all the confusion, redesigns, and effort, seeing the physical results of our work felt rewarding.

We had successfully moved from a digital PCB layout to the etched copper pattern on an actual board.

But there was still one final step standing between us and a completed project.

🔩 One Last Hurdle: The Drilling Problem

Even after etching the boards successfully, we weren't completely finished.

Our design used through-hole components, which meant we needed to drill holes in the PCB to mount them.

And guess what we didn't have?

A suitable drilling machine and drill bits.

Yes. After spending hours designing the circuit, correcting the layout, printing the pattern, and etching the boards, we were still waiting for the tools needed to drill the component holes.

The project wasn't abandoned, and we weren't missing any electronic components. We simply needed the appropriate drilling equipment to continue.

Once we get the required drill bits, we'll be able to proceed with the next stage of assembly.

The remaining steps include drilling the holes, mounting and soldering the components, and testing the completed power supply to verify that it delivers the intended regulated 5 V output.

So, while the PCB fabrication stage was a success, the complete project still awaits its final assembly and testing.

And yes, that means there will be an update to this story.

💡 What I Learned From These Ten Days

When I look back at this experience, the biggest takeaway isn't just that I learned to design a PCB.

It is that I got to experience several stages of the electronics development process within a short period.

1. Simulation before implementation
Using Proteus helped me understand how circuit simulation fits into the development process. Testing a design virtually can help identify problems before moving to the physical circuit.

2. PCB design requires patience
Learning KiCad showed me that PCB layout involves much more than connecting components. Routing, track widths, footprints, clearances, and fabrication requirements all matter.

3. Feedback is part of engineering
The redesign process taught me not to become too attached to my first attempt. A design can always be improved, and corrections are an important part of engineering work.

4. Practical work teaches things theory cannot fully explain
There is a difference between understanding how PCB etching works and actually carrying it out. The hands-on experience gave me a better appreciation of the process and its challenges.

5. Resourcefulness matters, but safety matters more
Working with limited resources forced us to find ways to continue the project. At the same time, the glove incident reminded me that improvisation should never come at the expense of proper safety practices.

6. A project isn't complete until it is tested
We had designed and etched the PCB, but we still needed to drill it, assemble the components, and test the output. A good-looking board is encouraging, but the final circuit must demonstrate that it works as intended.

🚀 Final Thoughts: Still a Work in Progress

These ten days were a valuable part of my journey as an ECE student.

I started with electronics fundamentals, explored circuit simulation using Proteus, learned schematic and PCB design with KiCad, and experienced the practical challenges of manual PCB fabrication.

The project itself was a 5 V regulated DC power supply using the LM7805 voltage regulator. It may be a relatively simple circuit, but the process of designing and fabricating its PCB gave me a much broader understanding of how electronic hardware comes together.

And the most memorable part?

It wasn't just the software, the circuit, or even the final PCB layout.

It was the experience of working through problems, learning from feedback, trying things with my own hands, and figuring out the next step when things didn't go exactly as planned.

We haven't finished the project yet. We still need the appropriate drill bits before we can assemble the components and test the power supply.

But that's part of the journey, too.

Not every project ends with a perfectly working circuit on the first attempt. Sometimes, the learning happens in the middle of the process, when you're trying to figure out what went wrong and how to move forward.

This was one small project, but one more step forward in my journey as an electronics engineer.

And when we finally power up that completed 5 V regulated DC supply, I'll have one more chapter to add to this story.

Until then, back to learning, building, and experimenting.

Because the best part of electronics isn't just seeing a circuit work. It's learning how to make it work.

— Afrin Riyo
ECE Student | Tech Enthusiast | Everyday with Afrin

Project status at the time of writing: PCB etched; drilling, component assembly, soldering, and electrical testing remain to be completed.