Good advice, Jim. I've been using Eagle for awhile now, but I'm also
now learning DipTrace, base on a thread a few weeks back. The support
in the diptr group, like here in homebrew_pcbs, is instantaneous. In
the case of the diptr group, as you well know, it also comes from the
DipTrace development group.
For a person new to CAD and PCBs, I'd hesistate to recommend Eagle,
though I find it difficult to abandon, having plumbed it's depths and
capabilities (to a moderate extent, but still learning). I would
recommend DipTrace, because although the functions are not as tightly
knitted together as in Eagle, it is much more intuitive to use for a
newcomer.
Diptrace has hundreds of familiar parts that I use, but they are
sometimes not where one would expect them to be. Some fairly generic
transistors are located in the manufacturer libraries, for example,
and the diodes library is almost all Zeners. Personalized custom
libraries are a real time saver in DipTrace, as they are in Eagle.
I'll continue to do most of my near-term work in Eagle, and at the
same time, continue to pick up on DipTrace. In a few months, I doubt
if I'll still be using Eagle.
Regards,
Ted
--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "jriggen55" <jriggen55@...> wrote:
>
> Several months ago I was looking for a PCB design and layout software
> package. I wanted to draw the schematic and lay out the PCB. A
> friend at work told me about CadSoft Eagle. I found that they had a
> freeware version so I got it.
---snip---
> I was able to muddle through the process and finally got my schematic
> and PCB completed. It seemed to be an uphill battle all the way. It
> seemed that few of the processes in Eagle are intuitive at all but
> rather some obscure method that is difficult to discover and equally
> difficult to remember.
>
> I then went on to my second project which needed a larger circuit
> board. It wouldn't fit within the constraints of Eagle freeware
> version, so I started looking for another software package and found
> DipTrace.
>
> As with Eagle, DipTrace comes with a tutorial and libraries. I went
> through the tutorial and while reading, realized that the processes
> and techniques in DipTrace seemed very intuitive in nature. Quite
> different from Eagle. I then started on my project. I was amazed at
> the size of the supplied libraries. I found all but a couple of my
> components in the supplied libraries. For the few components I could
> not find, it was easy to create them in DipTrace.
>
> Comparing DipTrace to Eagle is like comparing night and day. Going
> from point A to point B can be done in both, but the trip is so-o-o
> much easier in DipTrace.
>
> Help with DipTrace is also very readilly available. They've got a
> yahoo group called 'diptr'. The DipTrace staff is very involved with
> all of the discussions on the group and you get quick answers to all
> of your questions.
>
> My bottom line is:
> If you're looking for PCB software, give DipTrace a try.
> If you use Eagle, give DipTrace a try.
> If you're fed up with Eagle, give DipTrace a try.
---snip---