Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Homebrew PCBs

Not specifically to Wayne.
I have been using KiCAD now for a couple of months. I'm currently
using it for a four layer PCI-104 board that uses an ADV202 J2K
compression chip to do the hard work. It has a BlackFin 535P handling
the PCI interface.
My experience with KiCAD has been mainly positive (other than when I
mentioned it on this group). It has some rough edges, but it is only
a few years old. People are just starting to get it up and running as
an opensource/multiple developer project, so the burrs should be filed
off fairly soon.
What I don't like about it: The component construction system is not
as clean as Eagle, which is already not as clean as DipTrace or
WinQCad. You can not selectively grab a block of components and
traces and 'rubber-band' the connections to a new location.
I have not gotten it working as a project under VC++.NET, so I have
not broken anything trying to fix these issue yet.
What I like: Clearly, the price is right. It handles 16 layers,
which has allowed me to build a 6 layer board and optimize it down to
4 layers. It is unlimited size and pins (though a '104 board would
pretty much work in free Eagle).
It does allow block moves, but any segment of trace with an end that
falls conpletely or partially within the block get moved completly,
but reappear as unconnected in ratsnest. I much prefer Eagles
approach of violating DRC, but letting the connections remain intact.
KiCAD is a multi-platform system, running on Windows, Linux and Mac.
It uses an UI framework that handles all three OSs, so the interface
is not Windows specific.
I had fewer troubles learning how to use it than Eagle. That could be
because it is easier, or it could be I have a better understanding of
the concepts. Eagle was the first schematics and board layout program
I used. I had to learn both what to do, and how to do it in Eagle.
In KiCAD, I understand what I want to do, I just need to figure out
how to make KiCAD do it.
Hope this helps anyone trying to decide.
Richard