Slinky Question

[Chaos Master]

Quoting the poster called 'Stephan Rose' that posted
<8eqr5051pia9ud4lg12aahl1dbht7hdd5p@4ax.com> in sci.electronics.cad at Sun, 21
Mar 2004 14:18:43 -0500 .

Got a question for everyone,

currently I'm supporting ACCEL ASCII import...simply because those are
some files I had available. But, what are some other ascii imports,
primarily just for the schematic libraries that are common?

If someone can send me some other files, I'd be happy to write an
importer for the format and broaden the compatability a bit, and allow
more people to try out their own libraries. ASCII files only though
unless you happen to have detailed documentation to the binary format
and can send it along.

..slb files from PSpice schematics are also ASCII.


[]s

--
Chaos MasterŽ - Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
irc.brasnet.org - #xlinuxnews and #poa
marreka.no-ip.com (ainda năo pronto)
LRU #327480

 

[Stephan Rose]

Ok, issue with the static framebuffer in software rendering mode
fixed. New build is 90.799

So, be it hardware accelerated, or software...everyone should be good
to go!

Let me know what you think...

Stephan

 

[Chaos Master]

Quoting the poster called 'Kevin Aylward' that posted <tcc7c.26$cw6.1@newsfep3-
gui.server.ntli.net> in sci.electronics.cad at Sun, 21 Mar 2004 08:17:25 -0000 .

Models often don't have to be that accurate to enable a pretty good
worst case estimate to be made. For example, in SS, if WC models are not
specified, guestimated defaults are made for the main parameters that
effect say, 99% of the response. e.g. capacitances +/- 30%.

If the final design looks then a bit suspect, one can then try and get a
better model or, preferable, try a different design.

As I like to quote from the help file of 5Spice:

"Simulation is a [...] process which requires the computer between your ears. If
this computer is not engaged, the results of the second one * (software) will be
useless. "

[]s

--
Chaos MasterŽ - Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
irc.brasnet.org - #xlinuxnews and #poa
marreka.no-ip.com (ainda năo pronto)
LRU #327480

 

[Chaos Master]

Quoting the poster called 'Stephan Rose' that posted
<qgrr50l3kljmo75i43og70p9eslg9ragqo@4ax.com> in sci.electronics.cad at Sun, 21
Mar 2004 14:45:13 -0500 .

Awesome, thank you.

Do you happen to have any you could send my way? No luck so far on
google... eda@nospam.somrek.net if you do!

OK. The file is 'MAXIM.SLB'. Subject is "Schematic Libraries".

[]s

--
Chaos MasterŽ - Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
irc.brasnet.org - #xlinuxnews and #poa
marreka.no-ip.com (ainda năo pronto)
LRU #327480

 

[Chaos Master]

Quoting the poster called 'Chaos Master' that posted <c3l34n$27revm$2@ID-
88878.news.uni-berlin.de> in sci.electronics.cad at Sun, 21 Mar 2004 18:57:02 -
0200 .

OK. The file is 'MAXIM.SLB'. Subject is "Schematic Libraries".

Sorry. I couldn't send the file, as my ISP' SMTP server seems to be down.

Anyway, you can download it from http://www.sidsapcb.com/Descarga/maxim.zip and
unzip just the MAXIM.SLB file.

[]s
--
Chaos MasterŽ - Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
irc.brasnet.org - #xlinuxnews and #poa
marreka.no-ip.com (ainda năo pronto)
LRU #327480

 

[Stephan Rose]

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 19:28:40 -0200, Chaos Master <slakker@brasnet.org>
wrote:

Quoting the poster called 'Chaos Master' that posted <c3l34n$27revm$2@ID-
88878.news.uni-berlin.de> in sci.electronics.cad at Sun, 21 Mar 2004 18:57:02 -
0200 .


OK. The file is 'MAXIM.SLB'. Subject is "Schematic Libraries".

Sorry. I couldn't send the file, as my ISP' SMTP server seems to be down.

Anyway, you can download it from http://www.sidsapcb.com/Descarga/maxim.zip and
unzip just the MAXIM.SLB file.

Awesome, thank you.

I'll look into this

Stephan

 

[Stephan Rose]

On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 16:38:57 +0200, "pil" <pil@webmail.co.za> wrote:

When I run tango PCB on my PC the whole menu is messed up. It displayes
random characters. I am using an intel motherboard with onboard video (ati
rage pro turbo)

Anyone know how to fix this?

PS using a normal PCI card solves this but the PCI card won't run in WINXP

Yup...get yourself a win98 machine and run it from there. That's what
we do. We are running Tango SCM & PCB as well and keep a win98 machine
around just for that.

Stephan

 

[oar]

On 28 Jan 2004 15:58:02 -0800, Bassman59a@yahoo.com (Andy Peters)
wrote:

"Helmut Sennewald" <HelmutSennewald@t-online.de> wrote in message news:<bv6kkk$qph$02$1@news.t-online.com>...
you have made the wrong conclusion.
EAGLE is so easy to use, that even people having no clue of CAD can use it.
The other fact is that there are properly x times more user of EAGLE
than of most other PCB-CAD programs.

Eagle is so cheap, that even people having no clue of CAD can use it.

Eagle may very well be sufficient for simple boards.

mmmm simple boards ..... well I've done boards with 5 BGA's ... just
did my first burried via board ..... have done microwave boards with
complex geometries / copper poor / special component rotations that
had nasa asking what kind of exotic cad system i used ... ah yes
simple boards

( i get sick of the dumb ass eagle bashers )

 

[Blake]

Thanks to all of you for answering. You gave me the clue I needed.

I had tried reinstalling 99SE, but it hadn't occured to me to reinstall SP6.
I did, and it works fine.

Cheers,

Blake


"Blake" <KiwiXPlant@NoSpam.adelphia.net> wrote in message
news:Yu-dnXz-U7Fj5MfdRVn-jg@adelphia.com...

My employer has a policy; Every pc has to be updated after three years.
Well, I was just upgraded to a new machine with XP Pro today, and now my
copy of Protel99SE won't run. Error messages about "unable to find
VCL50.BPL" and "unable to find CRSTL50.BPL". Protel (now Altium) no longer
"supports" 99SE, so I'm left to look for support from my fellow users.

Does anyone have experience with this combination of software and
operating
system? Will it be a simple matter of inserting a few run time libraries
into my system directory, or is it a hopeless cause? I'm only an
occasional
user, so I don't want to invest the $3500 in a software upgrade.

Your suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

 

[Don Prescott]

mmmm simple boards ..... well I've done boards with 5 BGA's ... just
did my first burried via board ..... have done microwave boards with
complex geometries / copper poor / special component rotations that
had nasa asking what kind of exotic cad system i used ... ah yes
simple boards

( i get sick of the dumb ass eagle bashers )

"dumb ass eagle bashers"..... Mmmm, a bit strong! I had a look at
Eagle again recently after several years absence. My assessment is
it's a dated product now. In comparison with more modern systems it
is not particularly easy to use. Maybe they do have a lot of users,
but I would suggest that's for historic reasons, like why there's
thousands of Protel users.

I'm a Pulsonix user - this is a modern system. This makes Eagle look
prehistoric by comparison. I see the latest version reads-in Eagle
designs, so I guess there must be other "dumb asses" who are moving
away from Eagle..!

Don Prescott

 

[Paul Burke]

Don Prescott wrote:

I'm a Pulsonix user - this is a modern system. This makes Eagle look
prehistoric by comparison. I see the latest version reads-in Eagle
designs, so I guess there must be other "dumb asses" who are moving
away from Eagle..!

I've been using EasyPC for a few years now, and it's getting better all
the time, but can I persuade them that it's just as valid to start a
project with the PCB as with the schematic? They don't support back-
annotation except for component names. And I can't persuade them that
hierarchical schematics are useful either. Eagle, Ranger and numbers of
others have had those since the year.

Paul Burke

 

[Kevin Aylward]

Paul Burke wrote:

Don Prescott wrote:

I'm a Pulsonix user - this is a modern system. This makes Eagle look
prehistoric by comparison. I see the latest version reads-in Eagle
designs, so I guess there must be other "dumb asses" who are moving
away from Eagle..!


I've been using EasyPC for a few years now, and it's getting better
all the time, but can I persuade them that it's just as valid to
start a project with the PCB as with the schematic?

I should hope not. Suck it and see would be a gross underestimation of
this type of approach. You should be lined up against a wall and shot.

They don't

support back- annotation except for component names. And I can't
persuade them that hierarchical schematics are useful either.

That's quite a serious omission. In my view, that makes it pretty much
useless.


Kevin Aylward
salesEXTRACT@anasoft.co.uk
http://www.anasoft.co.uk
SuperSpice, a very affordable Mixed-Mode
Windows Simulator with Schematic Capture,
Waveform Display, FFT's and Filter Design.

"quotes with no meaning, are meaningless" - Kevin Aylward.

 

[Leon Heller]

"Paul Burke" <paul@scazon.com> wrote in message
news:c3rre8$2c51f8$1@ID-128611.news.uni-berlin.de...

Don Prescott wrote:

I'm a Pulsonix user - this is a modern system. This makes Eagle look
prehistoric by comparison. I see the latest version reads-in Eagle
designs, so I guess there must be other "dumb asses" who are moving
away from Eagle..!


I've been using EasyPC for a few years now, and it's getting better all
the time, but can I persuade them that it's just as valid to start a
project with the PCB as with the schematic? They don't support back-
annotation except for component names. And I can't persuade them that
hierarchical schematics are useful either. Eagle, Ranger and numbers of
others have had those since the year.

Pulsonix supports hierarchical designs. Westdev probably don't want the two
products to overlap too much.

Leon

 

[Stephan Rose]

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 16:32:34 -0200, Chaos Master <slakker@brasnet.org>
wrote:

Quoting the poster called 'Stephan Rose' that posted
8eqr5051pia9ud4lg12aahl1dbht7hdd5p@4ax.com> in sci.electronics.cad at Sun, 21
Mar 2004 14:18:43 -0500 .
Got a question for everyone,

currently I'm supporting ACCEL ASCII import...simply because those are
some files I had available. But, what are some other ascii imports,
primarily just for the schematic libraries that are common?

If someone can send me some other files, I'd be happy to write an
importer for the format and broaden the compatability a bit, and allow
more people to try out their own libraries. ASCII files only though
unless you happen to have detailed documentation to the binary format
and can send it along.

.slb files from PSpice schematics are also ASCII.


[]s

Awesome, thank you.

Do you happen to have any you could send my way? No luck so far on
google... eda@nospam.somrek.net if you do!

Thanks again,

Stephan

 

[Stephan Rose]

Actually on second thought...I almost forgot.

You *can* get VirtualPC from Microsoft....and run it via VirtualPC.

Bring along at least a 1GHz or better machine though.

That does work flawless, that is the solution we used to get tango
running on our WinXP laptop. The dongle will work fine too as long
as you enable LPT1 from Virtual PC (disabled by default I believe).

You will also need to get yourself a copy of DOS or similar. When you
setup VPC, it simulates a complete machine including bios bootup,
everything. Hence...its virtual drive will not have an OS and it's up
to you to install one.

It's freaky to type format C: and install dos, then tab back to your
WinXP Desktop!!

Stephan

 

[Christian Zinner]

Hello there!

"pil" <pil@webmail.co.za> wrote in news:H4WdndBPtbnoqMbdRVn-uw@is.co.za...

I am trying to manufacture a PCB for the leach amp. I printed the PCB
layout
in the pdf file but it seems that two tracks are too close to each other.

I need to modify the PCB

How do I get the PCB out of the PDF file while keeping it a cad drawing. I
don't want to copy and paste cause then it gets turned into a photo.

The pcb in the pdf seems to be a postscript file

Maybe it's not the solution that helps you by now, but if anyone is
interested in doing pcb rapid prototyping with isolation engraving, these
screenshots may be quite impressive:
http://www.platincnc.com/temp/example.htm
I created a complete CAM dataset for drilling, isolation engraving and
contour milling of your pcb layout (I took it from the link posted by Spehro
Pefhany) with my application. It took me less than 15min, without employing
any other image manipulation program.

I did not announce this software broadly until now, but this is such a
typical application for it that I could not withstand ;-)

Best regards,
--
Christian Zinner
Vienna, Austria
Email: chris@PlatinCnc.com
Web: http://www.PlatinCnc.com

 

[Chuck Harris]

Hi Christian,

I looked over the information on your website, and as near as I can
tell, your tool doesn't take Gerber RS274X files as its input. Is
this true?

Does your program automatically figure out the milling paths, or is
this done manually?

Does your HPGL output format allow for use on machines that define
one step as 1/1000th inch, rather than 1/1016th inch?

Also, as near as I can tell, your demo won't allow any milling to be
done at all. I cannot tell anything about your output translation
accuracy unless I can mill.

-Chuck Harris



Christian Zinner wrote:

Hello there!

"pil" <pil@webmail.co.za> wrote in news:H4WdndBPtbnoqMbdRVn-uw@is.co.za...

I am trying to manufacture a PCB for the leach amp. I printed the PCB

layout

in the pdf file but it seems that two tracks are too close to each other.

I need to modify the PCB

How do I get the PCB out of the PDF file while keeping it a cad drawing. I
don't want to copy and paste cause then it gets turned into a photo.

The pcb in the pdf seems to be a postscript file


Maybe it's not the solution that helps you by now, but if anyone is
interested in doing pcb rapid prototyping with isolation engraving, these
screenshots may be quite impressive:
http://www.platincnc.com/temp/example.htm
I created a complete CAM dataset for drilling, isolation engraving and
contour milling of your pcb layout (I took it from the link posted by Spehro
Pefhany) with my application. It took me less than 15min, without employing
any other image manipulation program.

I did not announce this software broadly until now, but this is such a
typical application for it that I could not withstand ;-)

Best regards,
--
Christian Zinner
Vienna, Austria
Email: chris@PlatinCnc.com
Web: http://www.PlatinCnc.com

 

[Christian Zinner]

Hi!

"Chuck Harris" <cfharris@erols.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:406e2341$0$3077$61fed72c@news.rcn.com...

Hi Christian,

I looked over the information on your website, and as near as I can
tell, your tool doesn't take Gerber RS274X files as its input. Is
this true?
It can take Gerber as input for drill import, but currently not for the

conduction tracks. As I see from some other feedback, I decide to add this
functionality very soon. I personally prefer postscript. Are there still so
many pcb layout programs out there that rely on gerber only?

Does your program automatically figure out the milling paths, or is
this done manually?
This is done automatically with the opportunity to define a set of up to 4

different engraver diameters which has the andvantage that the smallest
(=slowest, most expensive and least enduring) engraving tools are only used
where it is necessary. Some other neat features let you either remove any
surplus copper or widen the isolation gaps what makes soldering a lot
easier.
It should be mentioned that the drills were automatically extracted from the
pdf, too, including a useful suggestion for the drill diameters, although
the source image's drills were only intended as an aid for manual drilling.

Does your HPGL output format allow for use on machines that define
one step as 1/1000th inch, rather than 1/1016th inch?
This is user definable. G-Code format is heavily user adjustable, too.

Also, as near as I can tell, your demo won't allow any milling to be
done at all. I cannot tell anything about your output translation
accuracy unless I can mill.
You can export drill data with the demo, and if you use the 'emulate drills

with cutter' functionality, you can export milling paths for such drills,
too.
If you take the program seriously into account, you can send me a project
file that you prepared with the demo and I will provide you with the output
of the full version.

Best regards,
--
Christian Zinner
Vienna, Austria

Email: chris@PlatinCnc.com
Web: http://www.PlatinCnc.com

Christian Zinner wrote:
Hello there!
Maybe it's not the solution that helps you by now, but if anyone is
interested in doing pcb rapid prototyping with isolation engraving,
these
screenshots may be quite impressive:
http://www.platincnc.com/temp/example.htm
I created a complete CAM dataset for drilling, isolation engraving and
contour milling of your pcb layout (I took it from the link posted by
Spehro
Pefhany) with my application. It took me less than 15min, without
employing
any other image manipulation program.

 

[Boris Mohar]

On Sat, 3 Apr 2004 10:41:48 +0200, "Christian Zinner"
<nospam308@antispamalias.ath.cx> wrote:

Hi!

"Chuck Harris" <cfharris@erols.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:406e2341$0$3077$61fed72c@news.rcn.com...
Hi Christian,

I looked over the information on your website, and as near as I can
tell, your tool doesn't take Gerber RS274X files as its input. Is
this true?
It can take Gerber as input for drill import, but currently not for the
conduction tracks. As I see from some other feedback, I decide to add this
functionality very soon. I personally prefer postscript. Are there still so
many pcb layout programs out there that rely on gerber only?

Still? Most of them use Gerber274X




Regards,

Boris Mohar

Got Knock? - see:
Viatrack Printed Circuit Designs http://www3.sympatico.ca/borism/

 

[Chuck Harris]

Hi Christian,

I have never heard of a professional PC layout package that
didn't use Gerber RS274X, or D, as its standard output. It has
been more than 15 years since I have used a PC board house that
didn't expect Gerber RS-274X, or D, as its preferred input. Prior
to that, they wanted 1-to-1 film overlays. I have been making PCB's
for more than 20 years (back then, a Gerber photoplotter was really a
photoplotter!).

Certainly there are other formats available, but for the US,
market, Gerber RS274X is the standard for the board files,
and Excellon is the standard for the drill files.

If you are going to add Gerber to your package, and I think
that you must, download gerbv, and look at its gerber file
translation routines. The RS274X standard was written by idiots,
and as such has lots of room for conflicting interpretations.
The gerbv (a gnu project) programmers have done an excellent
job of making a universal parser for RS274X. It works on everything
that is out there.

G-Codes are only used for general purpose machine tools, such
as milling machines, lathes and punches.

A large number of the PCB mills and Vinyl cutters use a variant
of HPGL as their driver language. Some use 1/1000th inch as their
minimum step size, some follow the HP standard and use 1/1016th inch.

Some of the older PCB mills that use HPGL will get totally hosed
if you send more than 256 characters without a CRLF, so commands
like:

PDxxxx,yyyy,xxxx,yyyy,xxxx,yyyy,xxxx,yyyy,xxxx,yyyy,.......;

That extend for more than 256 characters without a ";" and
CRLF will crash the mill. It is always ok to send them out as:

PDxxxx,yyyy;
PDxxxx,yyyy;
PDxxxx,yyyy;
....
PDxxxx,yyyy;

Some of the older PCB mills will get totally hosed if you send
decimals in the inch mode:

PUxxxx.0123456789,yyyy.0123456789;

How do I know this? I have an old IBC-912, and it is one of
those mills.

I will look at your package. It sounds pretty good, but I have
a feeling that it is not yet ready for prime time.

Thanks,

-Chuck Harris

Christian Zinner wrote:

Hi!

"Chuck Harris" <cfharris@erols.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:406e2341$0$3077$61fed72c@news.rcn.com...

Hi Christian,

I looked over the information on your website, and as near as I can
tell, your tool doesn't take Gerber RS274X files as its input. Is
this true?

It can take Gerber as input for drill import, but currently not for the
conduction tracks. As I see from some other feedback, I decide to add this
functionality very soon. I personally prefer postscript. Are there still so
many pcb layout programs out there that rely on gerber only?


Does your program automatically figure out the milling paths, or is
this done manually?

This is done automatically with the opportunity to define a set of up to 4
different engraver diameters which has the andvantage that the smallest
(=slowest, most expensive and least enduring) engraving tools are only used
where it is necessary. Some other neat features let you either remove any
surplus copper or widen the isolation gaps what makes soldering a lot
easier.
It should be mentioned that the drills were automatically extracted from the
pdf, too, including a useful suggestion for the drill diameters, although
the source image's drills were only intended as an aid for manual drilling.


Does your HPGL output format allow for use on machines that define
one step as 1/1000th inch, rather than 1/1016th inch?

This is user definable. G-Code format is heavily user adjustable, too.

Also, as near as I can tell, your demo won't allow any milling to be
done at all. I cannot tell anything about your output translation
accuracy unless I can mill.

You can export drill data with the demo, and if you use the 'emulate drills
with cutter' functionality, you can export milling paths for such drills,
too.
If you take the program seriously into account, you can send me a project
file that you prepared with the demo and I will provide you with the output
of the full version.

Best regards,
--
Christian Zinner
Vienna, Austria

Email: chris@PlatinCnc.com
Web: http://www.PlatinCnc.com


Christian Zinner wrote:

Hello there!
Maybe it's not the solution that helps you by now, but if anyone is
interested in doing pcb rapid prototyping with isolation engraving,

these

screenshots may be quite impressive:
http://www.platincnc.com/temp/example.htm
I created a complete CAM dataset for drilling, isolation engraving and
contour milling of your pcb layout (I took it from the link posted by

Spehro

Pefhany) with my application. It took me less than 15min, without

employing

any other image manipulation program.