[sdiy] I could use a few pointers on doing a board layout

[Bert Schiettecatte]

Hi Jeff,  


While we're talking about eagle, I've still got a few pressing
questions.  I've got some nice schematics drawn up (like the ARP 4035
ladder filter module) and believe I'm ready to being making a board.
And here the process comes to a screeching halt.  I've now made several
attempts, but really can't get anything remotly exceptable.  Should I
try to lay down traces for the supplies and ground first?  why don't the
icons for supply show up as something on the board screen?  I'm using
the freeware version so I don't have the autorouter, is this worth the
money?
 
The autorouter is not worth the money IMHO. Looking at the board i'm
working on, it would be very unlikely if the autorouter did something
like this all by itself. it's an algorithm, it can't replace common
sense.
 
I think you should lay down ground and power first. you can use the
command line and type commands like "show gnd" or "show vcc" to
highlight the airwires you need to lay down. if you're doing a 4 layer
board, draw polygons in the gnd/vcc layer first and don't mark the
layers as power supply layers because this gives you less freedom (don't
name them $gnd or $vcc).  name the polygons so they are connected to the
appropriate net. 
 
i'm still impressed with Eagle, i am finishing my PCB in probably 1/2
the time it took me with Protel, and this design is more complicated.
 
bert

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://synth-diy.org/pipermail/synth-diy/attachments/20050908/3baaf1ca/attachment.htm>