Transistor Coaster PCBs

I have a confession: As an engineer and technical journalist with many years of experience, I still get NPN and PNP BJT transistors confused.

I also work at a desk with one or multiple drinks in front of me at any given time, resting – and potentially dripping – on this precious wood and/or faux wood surface.

My solution? A set of Transistor Drink Coasters (in use on my desk at this very instant) now funding on Kickstarter for less than 3 more days as of this writing!

One side of each coaster features a large diagram of an NPN or PNP transistor in the form of a conductive footprint. The other side is adorned with a current flow illustration, along with various transistor facts to help when designing circuits... or when someone asks you who invented the BJT (William Shockley in 1948).

Prototypes are shown in green with lead-free HASL. However, they are also available in a matte black and ENIG gold as a premium edition, which should look fantastic. Coasters measure in at 3.35 inches square, or 85 x 85mm.

If you're wondering how I made these coasters, or the PCB illustration/art process in general, check out my Circuit Boards as Art write-up here. In that post, you'll find several other artistic PCB examples, along with very basic instructions on making your own PCB art in KiCad.

While the KiCad image import process is actually pretty simple, creating art, or clear illustrations, takes a bit more finesse. With the incredible capabilities of PCBs, as well as their limitations, the possibilities are both limitless and challenging/interesting.

As for my NPN/PNP BJT transistor art/illustration, it did take a bit of thought and research to boil things down to an 85mm square! Check out the promo video below to see the results in action.