Theme: Symbol, component in schematic
How do I handle a connected component that is not mounted on the PCB?
If you have a power transistor on a heat sink for example or an external stepper motor, these components belong to the schematic but not directly to the PCB. The best thing is to insert a connector in between the schematic of the PCB and the external component:
(Image 1: A dashed line illustrates the end of the PCB)
If the wires of the external component are soldered directly without a connector, you could use vias to stick the wires in and to solder them. Unfortunately these vias are not documented in the schematic and you have to check that tey are not covered with solder stop varnish.
The external component can be placed and connected in the schematic, but you should take care that TARGET does not expect a package in the PCB. So click the handle cross of the component with M11 and set the property PROPOSED_PACKAGE to an empty string. If this property is cleared, TARGET does not expect a package for this component. So it is "schematic only":
(Image 2: Property cleared)
