[sdiy] PCB/Schematic software

[Harry Bissell]

What I "like" about Hiwire II is that it does not force you to connect traces
per the schematic while you route. You can make changes on the fly without going
back and updating the schematic before proceeding. Eventually, the schematic and layout must
be reconciled (netlist check).

I really DON'T like to be forced to follow the schematic. Often I find while doing the layout that I
want to do part of a circuit differently.

I'd sat the short list for me is Kikad, gEDA, or DesignSpark.  Any comments on how the design flow
is for these tools ?

Eagle $$$ and other commercial products are out for me . (I have children now :^)

H^) harry



On Thu, Sep 1st, 2011 at 6:42 AM, Matthew Smith <matt at smiffytech.com> wrote:

> Quoth Harry Bissell at 01/09/11 04:29...
> ...
> > What does anyone like these days ?
> 
> When this was discussed last - which I think is when Neil drew up that 
> list - I did a quick re-evaluation. My first criterion was that the 
> package had to run on Linux, as I'm an all-Linux shop, here.
> 
> I had been using Eagle for quite some time and had upgraded from the 
> freeware to the not-for-profit paid version, in order to get a bit more 
> board space to work with. But that license was strictly non-commercial. 
> I needed something where there would be no license restrictions 
> regarding selling stuff created with the package.
> 
> My third key requirement was that everything would go through schematic 
> capture - there is no way in the world that I would consider laying out 
> a boar directly.
> 
> At the time, I was looking for Spice integration, but I still haven't 
> gotten round to using that - I'd far rather build something and test it 
> than sit staring at a computer screen (which I do all day anyway) 
> fiddling with simulations.
> 
> My shortlist came down to Eagle Pro, Kicad and GeDA/PCB.
> 
> After a quick look at Kicad, I decided that it simply wasn't for me - 
> didn't suit the way I work/think.
> 
> Next off the block was GeDA/PCB. Whilst I wasn't impressed by the 
> integration of the tools, I realised the sheer power of it and knew I 
> could script a lot of tasks. The two real issues it presented were 1) 
> learning curve and 2) no reliable way to turn my rather large Eagle 
> components library into the GeDA/PCB format.
> 
> I thought about this for a few months and finally worked out that 
> forking out a grand for Eagle Pro would actually be cheaper, when 
> considered in a commercial context, than having to learn a totally new 
> package and then convert a lot of previous work over to the new format. 
>   As I'm not *that* happy with parting with my money - even when the 
> "me" is "my business," I got onto my distributor - Element14 - and, 
> after some negotiation, secured what I thought was a pretty good discount.
> 
> So, now I am running Eagle Pro (schematic capture and board layout only 
> - no auto-router) and am happy with that. The effort of changing was 
> simply a case of adding a new license file - no learning, no conversions.
> 
> As regards Spice integration, I believe there may be a ULP (User 
> Language Programme) or two that will export netlists in a form that can 
> be read by/imported into Spice software. But I haven't tried to do it.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> M
> 
> -- 
> Matthew Smith
> 
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-- 
Harry Bissell & Nora Abdullah 4eva