Schematic and PCB design...?

[Bryan]

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.

 

[Leon Heller]

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

Have a look at Pulsonix:

http://www.pulsonix.com

and join the Pulsonix users group:

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

Leon

 

[Severi Salminen]

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.

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.

 

[Joerg]

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

 

[richard]

Hello Bryan,

have a look at the CAD program TARGET3001! (www.target3001.com). It has
all the functions of schematic entry, layout, simulation, gerber
generator and more. I like the one window user interface and there is a
trial version.
...richard

 

[[email protected]]

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.

 

[Paul Burke]

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?

 

[[email protected]]

Has he pinched it off Terry Pinnell?

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

 

[Jim Douglas]

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?

 

[Terry Pinnell]

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

That's OK, Bill. Too much of the dry white last night?

 

[Peter Bennett]

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.

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

 

[Roger Johansson]

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.

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..

 

[Rikard Bosnjakovic]

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..

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.

 

[Roger Johansson]

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.

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.

 

[Rikard Bosnjakovic]

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.

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.

 

[Roger Johansson]

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.

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.

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.