Schematic and PCB design...?

B

Bryan

Guest
I know I am throwing a lot of questions to the group and will try to cut
down after this. lol

What is the best PC program for designing circuits as well as PCBs? A was
told there is a program that can convert a schematic into a pcb design
(within proper PCB size) and make it printable. Cost is not really an issue
but I would like to download a trial version to see if it works.

Thanks in advance for any help

BA Sr.
 
"Bryan" <abel6479@cox.net> wrote in message
news:MZk_d.14803$Fy.661@okepread04...
I know I am throwing a lot of questions to the group and will try to cut
down after this. lol

What is the best PC program for designing circuits as well as PCBs? A was
told there is a program that can convert a schematic into a pcb design
(within proper PCB size) and make it printable. Cost is not really an
issue
but I would like to download a trial version to see if it works.

Thanks in advance for any help
Click to expand...
Have a look at Pulsonix:

http://www.pulsonix.com

and join the Pulsonix users group:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PulsonixUG/

Leon
--
Leon Heller, G1HSM
http://www.geocities.com/leon_heller
 
Bryan wrote:

What is the best PC program for designing circuits as well as PCBs? A was
told there is a program that can convert a schematic into a pcb design
(within proper PCB size) and make it printable. Cost is not really an issue
but I would like to download a trial version to see if it works.
Click to expand...
What do you mean by "the best"? That can mean a lot of things.

I use Eagle - as do many others. There is a freeware version available
which is limited to 2 signal layers (top and bottom) and the maximum
board size is 100 x 80 mm. That is great for hobbyist. I just finished a
very good quality RIAA-preamp that I designed 100% with Eagle -
including printing the mask for light sensitive PCB board. Designing was
easy and the result works - just listened some old Annie Lenox LPs :)
The final board size was 40x60mm so there is plenty of room to grow :)

You can find out more here:

http://www.cadsoft.de/

Of course you can buy unlimited versions that don't have board size
limitations, that can handle multiple layers and schematic sheets and
can be used for commercial purposes.

There are also other very good programs available as you can imagine.
Check out this thread and use Google for more:

http://tinyurl.com/5e92t

Severi S.
 
Hello Bryan,

Also, you could check out Eagle at:

http://www.cadsoft.de/

It does what you want to do and there is a free test version (hobby
only) that is restricted to a certain PCB size but otherwise functional.
There are even some board houses that accept the Eagle output file so
you don't necessarily have to generate Gerber files.

Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
 
Bryan wrote:
I know I am throwing a lot of questions to the group and will try to
cut
down after this. lol

What is the best PC program for designing circuits as well as PCBs? A
was
told there is a program that can convert a schematic into a pcb
design
(within proper PCB size) and make it printable. Cost is not really an
issue
but I would like to download a trial version to see if it works.

Thanks in advance for any help

BA Sr.
Click to expand...
Take a look at the combination of gEDA and PCB. They will not run on
M$ Windows, but will run on GNU/Linux, BSD, MacOS X, and most other
unix like operating systems. If you try it make sure to get the most
recent version (particularly PCB) since features are constanly being
added. The licence is the GPL. All file formats are plain text so
scripting can be done. There is an active mailing list where other
users are very helpful. One time I found a bug and the developers
patched it in the same day. One complaint I do have is that the
autorouter just makes a mess. I never use it.

I have used gEDA and PCB to design some fairly complex 4 layer boards.
An example of one can be found here:
http://dlharmon.com/sbc.html

gEDA:
http://geda.seul.org
PCB:
http://pcb.sourceforge.net

Some help getting started is available here:
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/billw/gsch2pcb/tutorial.html

Note: some cross posting removed

Darrell Harmon
 
Have a look at Terry Given's list of free ECAD programs

http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/ECADList.html

and do a bit of lurking on sci.electronics.cad - where they used to
like Protel when Iast looked. I quite like gEDA/PCB.

--------
Bill Sloman, Nijmegen
 
bill.sloman@ieee.org wrote:
Have a look at Terry Given's list of free ECAD programs

http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/ECADList.html
Click to expand...
Has he pinched it off Terry Pinnell?
 
Paul Burke wrote:
bill.sloman@ieee.org wrote:
Have a look at Terry Given's list of free ECAD programs

http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/ECADList.html


Has he pinched it off Terry Pinnell?
Click to expand...
Sorry - got that seriously wrong! My apologies to Terry Pinnell!

--------
Bill Sloman, Nijmegen
 
I recently purchased $49.95 PCB Wizard 3. It's the one I liked the most from
the various products that are out there, the Eagle was way more than what I
needed. It's not going to do huge projects but I believe is more for the
home type user?


"Bryan" <abel6479@cox.net> wrote in message
news:MZk_d.14803$Fy.661@okepread04...
I know I am throwing a lot of questions to the group and will try to cut
down after this. lol

What is the best PC program for designing circuits as well as PCBs? A was
told there is a program that can convert a schematic into a pcb design
(within proper PCB size) and make it printable. Cost is not really an
issue
but I would like to download a trial version to see if it works.

Thanks in advance for any help

BA Sr.
Click to expand...
 
bill.sloman@ieee.org wrote:

Paul Burke wrote:
bill.sloman@ieee.org wrote:
Have a look at Terry Given's list of free ECAD programs

http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/ECADList.html


Has he pinched it off Terry Pinnell?

Sorry - got that seriously wrong! My apologies to Terry Pinnell!

--------
Bill Sloman, Nijmegen
Click to expand...
That's OK, Bill. Too much of the dry white last night?

--
Terry Pinnell
Hobbyist, West Sussex, UK
 
On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 12:35:07 -0700, "Bryan" <abel6479@cox.net> wrote:

I know I am throwing a lot of questions to the group and will try to cut
down after this. lol

What is the best PC program for designing circuits as well as PCBs? A was
told there is a program that can convert a schematic into a pcb design
(within proper PCB size) and make it printable. Cost is not really an issue
but I would like to download a trial version to see if it works.
Click to expand...
I think you should reduce your expectations somewhat.

I don't know of any program that will "convert a schematic into a pcb
design" automagically. However, there are many PCB layout programs
that will take the netlist from the schematic, and assist you in
laying out a PC board to match the schematic - but the process is far
from automatic.

--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI
peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca
new newsgroup users info : http://vancouver-webpages.com/nnq
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca
 
Jim Douglas wrote:

I recently purchased $49.95 PCB Wizard 3. It's the one I liked the most from
the various products that are out there, the Eagle was way more than what I
needed. It's not going to do huge projects
Click to expand...
http://www.new-wave-concepts.com/wizard.html

It looks good on the web page...

I have a preference that many PWB design packages cannot handle.
Could you check and see if PCB Wizard 3 can do the following?

Consider the average schematic and PWB.

How often do you start with a component on the PWB and try to find
it on the schematic? Not often. Maybe if a part smokes.

How often do you start with a component on the schematic and try
to find it on the PWB? All the time. That's how most people
troubleshoot.

So you should make things easy to find on the PWB by having R7 right
between R6 and R8, even if that makes them far apart on the schematic.
Alas, most PWB design packages do the opposite.

To get it right, you need the ability to number the parts on the PWB
and back-annotate them to the schematic.
 
Peter Bennett <peterbb@somewhere.invalid> wrote:

I don't know of any program that will "convert a schematic into a pcb
design" automagically. However, there are many PCB layout programs
that will take the netlist from the schematic, and assist you in
laying out a PC board to match the schematic - but the process is far
from automatic.
Click to expand...
10 years ago Electronics Workbench was very popular, especially among
beginners and hobbyists.

And EWB version 5 is still used by some because it has a very good
interface to work with.

The EWB company changed the program and it became very buggy, so it has
had a bad reputation for some years.

They have a complete system from design-simulation to pcb.

I got a demo CD from them a 3 years ago, but I gave up, it was still
too buggy.

We are just waiting for some brave soul who is willing to test the
current version and tell us if it works. They cannot be buggy forever,
and maybe they will get their act together one day..




--
Roger J.
 
Roger Johansson wrote:

10 years ago Electronics Workbench was very popular, especially among
beginners and hobbyists.
[...]
We are just waiting for some brave soul who is willing to test the
current version and tell us if it works. They cannot be buggy forever,
and maybe they will get their act together one day..
Click to expand...
I'm using latest version of Multisim (the schematics-program) on a daily
basis. I'm however still a novice in the world of electronics so I bet I
haven't even tried 10% of the features in the programs, but I can say this:

* The interface has got some annoying (but not unresolvable) quirks,

i.e. some of the toolbars are moved around when you maximize/restore
the main window

* The simulator sometimes abruptly quits without giving a
understandable error. Example: Connect a 9v-battery directly to a

led and simulate. The program will stop and say something
incomprehensible (atleast to me) like "Timestep too small". If you
add a resistor of an appropriate value and run the test again, it
works like a charm.

There are probably more but these two are the only major PITAs I've seen
so far. If anyone wants me to test something else, feel free to send it
over.


--
Rikard Bosnjakovic
 
Rikard Bosnjakovic <bos@REMOVETHIShack.org> wrote:

There are probably more but these two are the only major PITAs I've
seen so far. If anyone wants me to test something else, feel free to
send it over.
Click to expand...
They have a bunch of programs covering the whole process from design to
board layout, and maybe that could be an alternative to other ways to do
it. But it is probably more expensive than what it is worth.

It would be better to find freeware programs which do the same things.

I just miss the natural way schematics are drawn in EWB, click and drag
from point to point. Other programs are less intuitive, like you have to
click on one point, let up and move and then click again, or something.


--
Roger J.
 
Guy Macon wrote:
Jim Douglas wrote:


I recently purchased $49.95 PCB Wizard 3. It's the one I liked the most from
the various products that are out there, the Eagle was way more than what I
needed. It's not going to do huge projects


http://www.new-wave-concepts.com/wizard.html

It looks good on the web page...

I have a preference that many PWB design packages cannot handle.
Could you check and see if PCB Wizard 3 can do the following?

Consider the average schematic and PWB.

How often do you start with a component on the PWB and try to find
it on the schematic? Not often. Maybe if a part smokes.

How often do you start with a component on the schematic and try
to find it on the PWB? All the time. That's how most people
troubleshoot.

So you should make things easy to find on the PWB by having R7 right
between R6 and R8, even if that makes them far apart on the schematic.
Alas, most PWB design packages do the opposite.

To get it right, you need the ability to number the parts on the PWB
and back-annotate them to the schematic.
Click to expand...
Orcad Layout has a feature to do just this. Make sure to make a full
backup of the entire project (schematic and PWB) before doing so,
though. Low single digit percent chance that, in the process, it
shatters entirely the connection between the two, leaving you to spend
two days hand back-annotating (not that I'm bitter).
 
Roger Johansson wrote:

I just miss the natural way schematics are drawn in EWB, click and drag
from point to point. Other programs are less intuitive, like you have to
click on one point, let up and move and then click again, or something.
Click to expand...
I second that. Earlier today I tried Eagle out. Free is nice, ofcourse,
but I missed tons of stuff in that programs. Many menus didn't have
shortcuts, there were no context menus for the layouts, annoying
you-must-click-a-button-before-doing-this-and-that.

Comparing the interfaces, EWB is miles away and way better than Eagle.
But ofcourse, its price is miles away too. It's definately not cheap.


--
Rikard Bosnjakovic http://bos.hack.org/cv/

Anyone sending unwanted advertising e-mail to my address will be
charged $250 for network traffic and computing time. By extracting
address from this message or its header, you agree to these terms.
 
Rikard Bosnjakovic <bos@REMOVETHIShack.org> wrote:

I just miss the natural way schematics are drawn in EWB, click and
drag from point to point. Other programs are less intuitive, like you
have to click on one point, let up and move and then click again, or
something.

I second that. Earlier today I tried Eagle out. Free is nice, ofcourse,
but I missed tons of stuff in that programs. Many menus didn't have
shortcuts, there were no context menus for the layouts, annoying
you-must-click-a-button-before-doing-this-and-that.
Click to expand...
I think the people who make these programs have never understood the
principles of modern computer program interfaces. They have learnt to use
old programs like Autocad, and they see nothing wrong in an interface you
have to learn for hundreds of hours before you can work naturally in it.

Comparing the interfaces, EWB is miles away and way better than Eagle.
But ofcourse, its price is miles away too. It's definately not cheap.
Click to expand...
Maybe that is the reason why EWB5 is the most pirated spice simulator in
the world. It is usually easy to find in napster type networks and warex sites.



--
Roger J.
 
In article <d1mtcl$qdg@gazette.corp.bcm.tmc.edu>,
Rob Gaddi <rgaddi@bcm.YUMMYSPAMtmc.edu> wrote:
[...]
Orcad Layout has a feature to do just this. Make sure to make a full
backup of the entire project (schematic and PWB) before doing so,
though. Low single digit percent chance that, in the process, it
shatters entirely the connection between the two, leaving you to spend
two days hand back-annotating (not that I'm bitter).
Click to expand...
Well at least it didn't rework your schematic so that every point had a
wire going to every other point or start silently removing traces from the
layout. (not that I'm bitter either)


--
--
kensmith@rahul.net forging knowledge
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Welcome to EDABoard.com

Sponsor

Back
Top