--- In
Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Stefan Trethan <stefan_trethan@...> wrote:
>
> My apologies for the first link, I merely glanced at it and did not
> notice the dimensions given are for the key slot not the fingers.
You have my apologies for my abruptness.
> I'm was not sure if you looked or not, because it was really easy to
> find. Since you don't seem to be picky about any particular socket
> (the recommended finger width is not the same even if the pitch is) it
> would have been easy to pick just any recommended pattern. It
> certainly took a lot longer to ask than to find.
Of course I looked. You do know me, right? I'm Mr. retentive, the guy who runs the list and twenty others. The one who posts loads of stuff in the Links. The one who writes and rewrites those monthly reminders and tips for newbies.
I scanned websites and PDFs 'til my eyes ached. Again, knowing exactly the right term to include can make all the difference. I tried many combinations but obviously I either didn't use the correct words or missed the links.
> You can probably fake the card edge connector by using traces in any
> software. All you need is the option to place soldermask free areas
> and you are set. I'd avoid Eagle if you are in a pinch, that software
> is missing a few bytes.
DipTrace doesn't seem to want to allow me to fake the edge fingers. I tried. I got help on figuring out how to draw arbitrary copper shapes in the signal layer, but it won't let me attach an air-wire to it. I tried dropping a pad on one end of the shape and then just ignore the error warnings, but it will route all but the last airwire I laid down.
Ack! Eagle is the one I changed to yesterday. I have to say, as others have said on the Eagle Yahoogroup, the schematics are not really "publication ready".
For the class, I need to be able to do the whole nine yards - the copper, of course, and the solder mask, BoM, silkscreen, drill file, etc. and either be able to export in a format I can load into AutoCAD, or be able to build my own title blocks and borders in whatever PCB program I end up using. And I have to figure this all out very quickly.
I'm sure there are probably very simple ways to get around these limitations. I very much like Diptrace, very intuitive to get started in. But I don't know what those workarounds are, and have very little time to figure them out. And more than half the boards I must draw in this chapter have edge connectors.
Steve Greenfield