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What schematic drawing tool do you use ?

BrunoG said:
Hi,

Could you please advise me ? I'm looking for an electronic circuit schematic
drawing tool.

I tested the Capilano Designworks free evaluation version, which sounds good
to me, but it is expired now. The licence is out of my price, so I would
like to know if the same kind of tool exists in the range 40 to $100.


Have a look at

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

If you've got Linux on your computer, you might like to look at the
(free) gEDA package

http://www.geda.seul.org/
 
B

BrunoG

Jan 1, 1970
0
Joerg said:
Hello Bruno,

http://www.cadsoft.de/

No worries, it's in English.

Regards, Joerg

Hi Joerg, I had an old broken evaluation version of Eagle on my computer, I
thought I was not able to reinstall the latest one but it works 8-}
There are much changes; it seems that I can't load the schematics made with
DesingWorks but mines are not very sophisticated so I should quickly draw
them again. That is worth the case because Eagle seems much more powerfull.
I have to see now if the non-commercial licence would fit my needs within
this licence agreement.

Thanks for your reply !

Bruno
http://www.micro-examples.com/public/microex-navig/doc/200-pic-microcontroller-examples.html
 
B

BrunoG

Jan 1, 1970
0
J

Joerg

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hello Bruno,
Hi Joerg, I had an old broken evaluation version of Eagle on my computer, I
thought I was not able to reinstall the latest one but it works 8-}
There are much changes; it seems that I can't load the schematics made with
DesingWorks but mines are not very sophisticated so I should quickly draw
them again. That is worth the case because Eagle seems much more powerfull.
I have to see now if the non-commercial licence would fit my needs within
this licence agreement.

The eval is just for non-profit work. But Eagle isn't expensive at all.
If you create small circuits there is one version that costs under $100
depending on which country you are in.

Regards, Joerg
 
Q

qrk

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi,

Could you please advise me ? I'm looking for an electronic circuit schematic
drawing tool.

I tested the Capilano Designworks free evaluation version, which sounds good
to me, but it is expired now. The licence is out of my price, so I would
like to know if the same kind of tool exists in the range 40 to $100.

Thanks a lot !

Bruno

Old DOS Orcad SDT is still a viable schematic program, even 10 years
after it has been off the market. Modern video drivers are available.
Check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OldDosOrcad/
 
I

Ian Bell

Jan 1, 1970
0
BrunoG said:
Hi,

Could you please advise me ? I'm looking for an electronic circuit
schematic drawing tool.

I tested the Capilano Designworks free evaluation version, which sounds
good to me, but it is expired now. The licence is out of my price, so I
would like to know if the same kind of tool exists in the range 40 to
$100.


Try Kicad. It's free and runs on Widows and Linux. Find it at:

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

Ian
 
R

Richard Hosking

Jan 1, 1970
0
Agreed
Kicad is far ahead of gEDA
I have drafted a circuit with this - quite quick to learn and complete.
If this doesnt take your fancy I used the old Protel Autotrax in the old
days - this was a capable program and I think is now free. It wont run
on XP tho - you will have to use Win 98

R
 
B

BrunoG

Jan 1, 1970
0
D

Don Lancaster

Jan 1, 1970
0
BrunoG said:
Hi,

Could you please advise me ? I'm looking for an electronic circuit schematic
drawing tool.

I tested the Capilano Designworks free evaluation version, which sounds good
to me, but it is expired now. The licence is out of my price, so I would
like to know if the same kind of tool exists in the range 40 to $100.

Thanks a lot !

Bruno
http://www.micro-examples.com/public/microex-navig/doc/200-pic-microcontroller-examples.html


I do all my schematics in raw PostScript using my Gonzo Utilities.
Nothing comes remotely close for quality and flexibility.

Yeah, the learning curve is a bitch.
On purpose.

Hundreds of examples on my website.

Gonzo utilities at http://www.tinaja.com/post01.asp#gonzo

--
Many thanks,

Don Lancaster voice phone: (928)428-4073
Synergetics 3860 West First Street Box 809 Thatcher, AZ 85552
rss: http://www.tinaja.com/whtnu.xml email: [email protected]

Please visit my GURU's LAIR web site at http://www.tinaja.com
 
J

Jim Thompson

Jan 1, 1970
0
I do all my schematics in raw PostScript using my Gonzo Utilities.
Nothing comes remotely close for quality and flexibility.

Yeah, the learning curve is a bitch.
On purpose.

Hundreds of examples on my website.

Gonzo utilities at http://www.tinaja.com/post01.asp#gonzo

Can it write a netlist ?:)

...Jim Thompson
 
R

Rich Webb

Jan 1, 1970
0
On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 08:17:47 -0700, Jim Thompson

[snip...snip...]
Can it write a netlist ?:)

From what I recall of Don's Postscript articles back in the day, it can
probably do the netlist, auto-place and auto-route the circuit, create
the gerbers, create a BOM, get three bids, do the purchase orders, and
then place the orders for the boards and parts. ;-)
 
J

John Larkin

Jan 1, 1970
0
I do all my schematics in raw PostScript using my Gonzo Utilities.
Nothing comes remotely close for quality and flexibility.

Yeah, the learning curve is a bitch.
On purpose.

Hundreds of examples on my website.

Gonzo utilities at http://www.tinaja.com/post01.asp#gonzo


I use 22x34 blue-grid vellum, and a Berol Turquoise F pencil. Design
automation is a Bruning electric eraser and a Boston electric pencil
sharpener.

Learning curve is minimal.

John
 
W

Winfield Hill

Jan 1, 1970
0
John Larkin wrote...
I use 22x34 blue-grid vellum, and a Berol Turquoise F pencil. Design
automation is a Bruning electric eraser and a Boston electric pencil
sharpener.

I'm glad you identified the pencil sharpener, I was going to ask.
 
A

Ales

Jan 1, 1970
0
Kicad is far ahead of gEDA

I don't agree with that opinion but then again I'm heavily
biased. :)

gEDA is a collection of tools that have been successfully
interfaced together. gEDA is certainly not as well integrated
as Kicad, but this is actually a major strength for power users.
It is fairly easy to add/substitute different programs into the
design flow. The various interfaces (symbol, footprint, netlists,
netlisters, etc...) or file formats are fairly well documented, so
it is easy to customize/modify the design flow.

Three more things that gEDA has going for it: a very well
established and stable support and development community,
gEDA interfaces well with other design tools (non-free/commercial),
and it has been proven to work well on fairly complex designs.
Please see:

http://geda.seul.org/links.html#projects

for some successful projects

My humble recommendation is that newbies and people who want a
fully integrated suite should use Kicad, while others who need the
flexibility of an open design flow suite should take a look at gEDA.

-Ales
 
W

Walter Harley

Jan 1, 1970
0
BrunoG said:
[...] That is worth the case because Eagle seems much more powerfull.
I have to see now if the non-commercial licence would fit my needs within
this licence agreement.

Eagle is what I use too. It is reasonably powerful, but be forewarned:
there are a lot of bugs, limitations, and idiosyncracies that will have you
pulling your hair out until you figure them out. I highly recommend reading
the manual and the tutorial closely, even though they are not well written;
and spend some time reading through the Eagle support newsgroups, because
the same issues come up over and over again. Perhaps the two biggest issues
are: "Cut" in Eagle means what "Copy" means in any other Windows program,
and you need to use "Net" rather than "Wire" to create a wire in a schematic
or PCB layout. (The toolbar icon for "Net" is not intuitively obvious.)
Use the mouse scroll wheel to zoom in and out, to get rid of "screen junk"
like leftover lines and text caused by the graphics bugs.

Also, be aware that the libraries contain errors, such as parts with
incorrect PCB footprints. Never assume that the library part is correct -
always check. And do learn how to make your own library parts; it is often
faster to make the right part than to search through the Eagle libraries
trying to find something that is not quite right.

-walter
 
J

Joerg

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hello Walter,
Eagle is what I use too. It is reasonably powerful, but be forewarned:
there are a lot of bugs, limitations, and idiosyncracies that will have you
pulling your hair out until you figure them out. I highly recommend reading
the manual and the tutorial closely, even though they are not well written; ...


Absolutely. I had the "luck" that an injury made me lay flat on a bed
for a couple days after I bought the license. Oh drat, right before
Christmas and I was scheduled to usher one of the Christmas services. So
I had plenty of time to study the booklet that came with it numerous
times, cover to cover. That paid off. There are too many people who get
the software, jump right in and then moan and groan about the more
unusual stuff. For example 'cut' in Eagle is often like 'copy' in most
other software. That alone can really throw you a curve.

I found the book written ok. A bit of 'German English' but since i speak
German that wasn't an issue. The words they chose are sometimes a little
outlandish. Took me a while to realize that a 'thermal' is not an
ancient health spa back in the times of the Romans but a 'thermal relief'.

Got to be honest here. If I hadn't been forced to bed rest I'd have
jumped right in like most everybody else. After all, engineers tend not
to read manuals because it is not the manly thing...

Merry Christmas, Joerg
 
J

Jim Thompson

Jan 1, 1970
0
On Sat, 24 Dec 2005 20:57:51 GMT, Joerg

[snip]
Merry Christmas, Joerg

How's the weather up there? I had to turn on the air conditioning,
79°F outside right now ;-)

...Jim Thompson
 
M

martin griffith

Jan 1, 1970
0
On Sat, 24 Dec 2005 20:57:51 GMT, Joerg

[snip]
Merry Christmas, Joerg

How's the weather up there? I had to turn on the air conditioning,
79°F outside right now ;-)

...Jim Thompson
to cool or heat?

Merry FSMisms


martin
 
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