software for drawing schematics on a PC

H

Heywood Jablome

Guest
I know there are many packages that design PCBoards and have all the bells
and whistles, and I don't want to start one of those really long threads
about which program is better. I'm designing a one-off type project, which I
have finished on paper, but I would like to draw it on the computer.

I just need a package for a once-off project, so I'd prefer if it was free,
and easy to get a hang of.
My key requirements are therefore 1. Cheap or free, 2. Easy to learn, 3.
Able to be printed out 4. Prefer something running on Windows XP. 5. I only
want to DRAW THE DIAGRAM. Not make a PCBoard.

Has anyone any suggestions based on the above?

To give you an idea of the complexity/simpleness, the circuit I want to draw
is this:

http://www.netbay.com.au/~haxby/circuitOSCA.JPG

Thanks for your time.
 
"Heywood Jablome" <nomail@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:dv3lhp$ekq$1@news-01.bur.connect.com.au...
I know there are many packages that design PCBoards and have all the bells
and whistles, and I don't want to start one of those really long threads
about which program is better. I'm designing a one-off type project, which
I have finished on paper, but I would like to draw it on the computer.

I just need a package for a once-off project, so I'd prefer if it was
free, and easy to get a hang of.
My key requirements are therefore 1. Cheap or free, 2. Easy to learn, 3.
Able to be printed out 4. Prefer something running on Windows XP. 5. I
only want to DRAW THE DIAGRAM. Not make a PCBoard.

Has anyone any suggestions based on the above?

To give you an idea of the complexity/simpleness, the circuit I want to
draw is this:

http://www.netbay.com.au/~haxby/circuitOSCA.JPG

Thanks for your time.
Click to expand...
Strewth, your freehand circuit drawing skills are worse than mine.
www.expresspcb.com has two free CAD programs. ExpressPCB for drawing a PCB
and ExpressSCH for drawing a circuit diagram.
It fulfils all five of your criteria.
There are quite a number of similar websites like www.pcb123.com
f'rinstance. ExpressPCB just happens to be the one I use. The pcb/schematic
editors from these various pcb making websites are lookalike/workalikes.
Only catch is that they all produce their own proprietary output files, none
of which are industry standard. However this is not an issue for you because
you only want to draw a diagram, not make a board.
I find these simple little editors very intuitive to learn and use, more so
than the editors which DO output industry standard files like Eagle and
Protel.

PH
 
Hi,
If you find ExpressSCH a little confusing then you could always draw the
thing in MS Paint,
its free and as you are only using a few symbols it would not take up that
much time.

But I think ExpressSCH is the best option, I use ExpressPCB for doing board
layouts and it works very well.

Thanks

"Heywood Jablome" <nomail@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:dv3lhp$ekq$1@news-01.bur.connect.com.au...
I know there are many packages that design PCBoards and have all the bells
and whistles, and I don't want to start one of those really long threads
about which program is better. I'm designing a one-off type project, which
I
have finished on paper, but I would like to draw it on the computer.

I just need a package for a once-off project, so I'd prefer if it was
free,
and easy to get a hang of.
My key requirements are therefore 1. Cheap or free, 2. Easy to learn, 3.
Able to be printed out 4. Prefer something running on Windows XP. 5. I
only
want to DRAW THE DIAGRAM. Not make a PCBoard.

Has anyone any suggestions based on the above?

To give you an idea of the complexity/simpleness, the circuit I want to
draw
is this:

http://www.netbay.com.au/~haxby/circuitOSCA.JPG

Thanks for your time.
Click to expand...
 
Richard Harris wrote:
Hi,
If you find ExpressSCH a little confusing then you could always draw the
thing in MS Paint,
its free and as you are only using a few symbols it would not take up that
much time.

But I think ExpressSCH is the best option, I use ExpressPCB for doing board
layouts and it works very well.

Thanks
Click to expand...
MS Paint? You truly have a taste for horror. :)
I concede for novelty value one could draw a schematic in it but have
you clicked on the link the original poster has provided? That would be
cruel and unusual punishment.

To answer the original question:
A lot of non-free EDA (electronic design automation) software out there
is available for free with some restrictions like the number of
components one can put down or the number of pads one can have.
The first answer lists two. I haven't used them before, I don't know if
they allow printing out or have any restrictions. Here are a couple
more, in case the other two dont work out:

Eagle at http://www.cadsoft.de/ I use it. A little tricky but OK for
drawing a schematic. The freeware has restriction in that one can only
design 8x8 (or is it 10x8) inch board. There is no restriction on
schematic size though and there are extensive component libraries in
case you need them.

TinyCad http://tinycad.sourceforge.net/ Open Source, totally free. Very
simple, only does schematics. Might be just the thing you are looking for.
 
I downloaded tinycad. Works just fine for my purposes.

Thanks!!


"ER" <ugn@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:121b50a8rm187a3@corp.supernews.com...
Richard Harris wrote:
Hi,
If you find ExpressSCH a little confusing then you could always draw
the
thing in MS Paint,
its free and as you are only using a few symbols it would not take up
that
much time.

But I think ExpressSCH is the best option, I use ExpressPCB for doing
board
layouts and it works very well.

Thanks

MS Paint? You truly have a taste for horror. :)
I concede for novelty value one could draw a schematic in it but have you
clicked on the link the original poster has provided? That would be cruel
and unusual punishment.

To answer the original question:
A lot of non-free EDA (electronic design automation) software out there is
available for free with some restrictions like the number of components
one can put down or the number of pads one can have.
The first answer lists two. I haven't used them before, I don't know if
they allow printing out or have any restrictions. Here are a couple more,
in case the other two dont work out:

Eagle at http://www.cadsoft.de/ I use it. A little tricky but OK for
drawing a schematic. The freeware has restriction in that one can only
design 8x8 (or is it 10x8) inch board. There is no restriction on
schematic size though and there are extensive component libraries in case
you need them.

TinyCad http://tinycad.sourceforge.net/ Open Source, totally free. Very
simple, only does schematics. Might be just the thing you are looking for.
Click to expand...
 
JVG wrote:
Although it seems that you have already selected a program, I would
recommend you (and anybody interested in free and open EDA software)
Kicad. As a plus, it works both in Windows and in Linux.

Check it at:

http://www.lis.inpg.fr/realise_au_lis/kicad/

3-D PCBs are a real plus!

Regards,

JOSE
http://jvgavila.com
Click to expand...
Yeah good call, its a nice piece of Open Source software. I have only
worked with it a little bit but it looks good. Maybe not for this
application as it weights in at 70Mb but if anyone wants a full design
path from schematic to PCB, should be looked at. The problem with it is
that not many people seem to know about it.

Eugene.
 
"ER" <ugn@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:121k19s25lk5ccf@corp.supernews.com...
JVG wrote:
Although it seems that you have already selected a program, I would
recommend you (and anybody interested in free and open EDA software)
Kicad. As a plus, it works both in Windows and in Linux.

Check it at:

http://www.lis.inpg.fr/realise_au_lis/kicad/

3-D PCBs are a real plus!

Regards,

JOSE
http://jvgavila.com


Yeah good call, its a nice piece of Open Source software. I have only
worked with it a little bit but it looks good. Maybe not for this
application as it weights in at 70Mb but if anyone wants a full design
path from schematic to PCB, should be looked at. The problem with it is
that not many people seem to know about it.

Eugene.
Click to expand...

Yes, a little too heavy for me, but looks like a great program. I love the
3D images.

Too late anyway, I have used the TinyCad program and won't be needing
anything better for a while now.
 
rg26ce1991@hotmail.com wrote:
I wasn't looking for a CAD program, but after reading the previous
posts, I downloaded Tinycad and Expresspcb.

The Expresspcb program runs fine on my Win98 pc and it is quite easy to
learn and use.
One problem I do have is the frame around the schematic. I know there
are a few options for the page size, but I can't change the frame to
the size that I would like it to be.

It would be nice to delete it completely.

Sometimes when I right click on the frame a menu appears that might let
me change the frame, but the menu items disappear or will not work when
I try to select them.




When I try to run Tinypcb, I get a runtime error, even after installing
a JET program that they recommended installing from Microsoft.

Russell Griffiths

you need a copy of multism 7
Click to expand...



should I mention torrent ?
 
rg26ce1991@hotmail.com wrote:
I assume you mean multisim 7.
I have just researched it a little and found out the free version has a
limit of 50 components.

But I don't know what you mean by "torrent".

Russell Griffiths.

google for it .
Click to expand...
 
gEDA suite if you have a Linux machine.
I run it on Linux serevr while running X-Client on my Windows PC

Rudolf

"atec77" <atec77**@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:441e24c5$1@dnews.tpgi.com.au...
rg26ce1991@hotmail.com wrote:
I wasn't looking for a CAD program, but after reading the previous
posts, I downloaded Tinycad and Expresspcb.

The Expresspcb program runs fine on my Win98 pc and it is quite easy to
learn and use.
One problem I do have is the frame around the schematic. I know there
are a few options for the page size, but I can't change the frame to
the size that I would like it to be.

It would be nice to delete it completely.

Sometimes when I right click on the frame a menu appears that might let
me change the frame, but the menu items disappear or will not work when
I try to select them.




When I try to run Tinypcb, I get a runtime error, even after installing
a JET program that they recommended installing from Microsoft.

Russell Griffiths

you need a copy of multism 7



should I mention torrent ?
Click to expand...
 
Rudolf wrote:
gEDA suite if you have a Linux machine.
I run it on Linux serevr while running X-Client on my Windows PC

Rudolf

"atec77" <atec77**@hotmail.com> wrote in message
Ill take a look , solaris ?
Click to expand...
 
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