ORCAD Pspice (student version)

[TomH]

I just spent several hours trying to figure out ORCAD student pspice
circuit simulation ware. There's no tutorial, there's no "view from 30000
feet" explanation as to how all 8 sub-applications interact with each other,
you can't just create a file representing a circuit, you have to create a
workspace, then a component libraray, then a stimulus input file, there's no
explanation as to how get circuit "a" to be subjected to stimulus file 'b',
ahhh, I surrender.
Can someone recommend some intuitive circuit simulation ware suitable for
simulating basic RF circuits?
I suppose when you're dealing with concepts as abstract as AC circuitry,
intuitive software is a tall order, but still, how much is it to ask for
information that someone who has never seen the application before will
obviously need. It's tough when you're developing software to know what
someone is going to think when they see it for the first time, when you the
developer have spent hundreds of hours fiddling with its minutia, but that's
what they have software testers for.
Anyway, has anyone out there been confronted with this issue? How did you
solve it --- keep plowing away at pspice (because it's so comprehensive),
get a tutorial on pspice, or find another more intuitive package?

 

[TomH]

I just spent several hours trying to figure out ORCAD student pspice
circuit simulation ware. There's no tutorial, there's no "view from 30000
feet" explanation as to how all 8 sub-applications interact with each
other, you can't just create a file representing a circuit, you have to
create a workspace, then a component libraray, then a stimulus input file,
there's no explanation as to how get circuit "a" to be subjected to
stimulus file 'b', ahhh, I surrender.
Can someone recommend some intuitive circuit simulation ware suitable for
simulating basic RF circuits?
I suppose when you're dealing with concepts as abstract as AC circuitry,
intuitive software is a tall order, but still, how much is it to ask for
information that someone who has never seen the application before will
obviously need. It's tough when you're developing software to know what
someone is going to think when they see it for the first time, when you
the developer have spent hundreds of hours fiddling with its minutia, but
that's what they have software testers for.
Anyway, has anyone out there been confronted with this issue? How did you
solve it --- keep plowing away at pspice (because it's so comprehensive),
get a tutorial on pspice, or find another more intuitive package?

 

[Glen]

A quick search on google led me to several free copies of the v9.1
manual as well as component guides and the v9.1 free download. I
remember it being a PITA to learn at first, but once you figure out
the analysis aspect it's not that hard.

http://www.electronics-lab.com/downloads/schematic/013/

-Glen

 

[TH]

Thanks, Glen.
I followed your links and dnloaded 40 - 50 Mb of pdf files that seem apropos
for my level of expertise (introductory). I've committed myself to
mastering pspice, now. After browsing all the other software packages for
circuit modeling, the choice is clear: either be limited to super-basic DC
type stuff with little cartoons of batteries and components (which are
admittedly just the thing for children, though), or learn pspice. Pspice is
clearly the 1000 pound gorilla in the field of circuit modelling and
therefore a must-have skill, so, it's a question of just sitting down and
doing it, I guess.
The files you identified will be useful, I'm sure.

 

[Jim Douglas]

What about CircuitMaker, I am a complete novice and was able to get a
circuit simulated within an hour. My problem was then I would build it and
the measurements between the computer/circuit were different? Not by a great
deal but different, component specs I expect?

 

[TH]

I just looked at circuitmaker. I don't know how far you can go with it
before you have to learn one of the more advanced tools. I'm making
progress with pspice now that I've located some tutorial material --- I
don't mind admitting that it was a pretty tough go, at first, for a guy with
no formal training and no tutorials!
The issue I had with orcads spice tool was that it isn't just one
application, its several, and altogether you're going to wind up a whole
array of different files per project. It's like microsofts c compiler with
the project file, and the object files, and the header files and the main
module, and the executable, and blah blah blah. If you approach it
thinking, "OK, this is an application that I open up, put stuff in, and out
comes an executable file." --- you're right, of course, but there's a
significant amount more to it than that, that unless you have an over-view
tutorial, or a teacher, or experience with a similar tool, you better pack
some supplemental O2 because you're in for an ascent up a pretty steep
learning curve.
thx for the advice, though, it's appreciated.

 

[richard]

I just spent several hours trying to figure out ORCAD student pspice

circuit simulation ware. There's no tutorial, there's no "view from 30000
feet" explanation as to how all 8 sub-applications interact with each other,
you can't just create a file representing a circuit, you have to create a
workspace, then a component libraray, then a stimulus input file, there's no
explanation as to how get circuit "a" to be subjected to stimulus file 'b',
ahhh, I surrender.
Can someone recommend some intuitive circuit simulation ware suitable for
simulating basic RF circuits?
I suppose when you're dealing with concepts as abstract as AC circuitry,
intuitive software is a tall order, but still, how much is it to ask for
information that someone who has never seen the application before will
obviously need. It's tough when you're developing software to know what
someone is going to think when they see it for the first time, when you the
developer have spent hundreds of hours fiddling with its minutia, but that's
what they have software testers for.
Anyway, has anyone out there been confronted with this issue? How did you
solve it --- keep plowing away at pspice (because it's so comprehensive),
get a tutorial on pspice, or find another more intuitive package?

The CAD tool TARGET3001 has a nice graphic interface for the simulation
part.
Have a look at it. You will also find an intro course, newsgroup, free
evaluation version and so on ..richard

 

[TH]

If I'd known about it a few days ago I would have gone with it, but now that
I've got the documentation for orcad's tool, I've been able to figure it
out --- it took work, but the steepest part of the learning curve is behind
me now.
What seemed like an unnecessarily complicated way of going about things,
using netlists and component libraries and multiple applications, actually
makes sense now that I know what the rationale is behind it.
Hate to admit it, but I got intimidated by what seemed like an
overwhelmingly complicated software suite. I should have just taken a deep
breath and calmly looked around for documentation, but instead I got all
panicky and posted a premature SOS.
In any case, I downloaded Target and saved all the zipped files for future
use, to teach someone else how to use a PC to simulate circuitry it'll
probably be easier for them to do it with Target than orcad's pspice.