[sdiy] Schematic and PCB software

[Tim Stinchcombe]

Hi Thomas,

> I am currently screening the market for electronic design 
> software for Windows. I have found a couple of programs that 
> seem interesting:

There's a really nice list of ECAD sw here, and it seems fairly
comprehensive:

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

> What software are you using? Remember that I'm a beginner and 
> I was planning on using this software for experiments. (It's 
> cheaper to fry components on the screen than in real life). ;-)

That's exactly what I use it for - they are really good for bashing a
circuit in and seeing if you can understand what makes it work! After a bad
experience with EWB Multisim I'm now using SIMetrix by Catena Software Ltd
(was Newbury Technology), but it is for simulation only (no interface to
layout or routing tools). If you are not keen to part with cash, some of the
free demo downloads are more than adequate for beginner-type tinkering. The
sci.electronics.cad newsgroup is a good place to get help on such things.

Tim

__________________________________________________________
Tim Stinchcombe 

Cheltenham, Glos, UK
email: tim102 at tstinchcombe.freeserve.co.uk