[sdiy] PCB/Schematic software

[Harry Bissell]

fond the following quote in FreePCB docs...


"If you have any doubt about the speed and efficiency of the "left hand on keyboard, right hand on
mouse" approach, just spend a few minutes watching someone play one of the popular first-person shooter games for
the PC, such as Doom, Quake, Unreal Tournament, Half-life, Tribes, etc. They ALL use this style of user interface.
And routing a PCB is usually easier than circle-strafing a horde of rampaging Nazi mutants while dodging flying
chainsaws in zero-G!"

gotta love that  :^)

H^) harry



----- Original Message -----
From: megaohm <megaohm1 at gmail.com>
To: Harry Bissell <harrybissell at wowway.com>
Cc: synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
Sent: Thu, 01 Sep 2011 10:30:58 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: [sdiy] PCB/Schematic software

I use two freebies: TinyCAD and FreePCB.
TinyCAD = schematic and netlist
FreePCB = layout

I regularly make amendments while laying out the pcb. You can add and change
things regardless of the schematic. You can add nets and change nets for
anything, too.


On Thu, Sep 1, 2011 at 7:39 AM, Harry Bissell <harrybissell at wowway.com>wrote:

> 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
> >
> > Business: http://www.smiffytech.com
> > Blog:     http://www.smiffysplace.com
> > Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/smiffy
> > Flickr:   http://www.flickr.com/photos/msmiffy
> > Twitter:  http://twitter.com/smiffy
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
> >
>
>
>
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> --
> Harry Bissell & Nora Abdullah 4eva
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-- 
Harry Bissell & Nora Abdullah 4eva