--- In
Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, mlerman@... wrote:
>
> <Sigh> It's bastardized Eagle. I have no patience for drawing schematics the way Eagle wants me to. I just use it as a drawing tool, with no regard for netlists and the like, since I always just hand route my boards, using whatever mixture of ligitimate library objects and hand made footprints works.
>
> I'm not an engineer by trade, though I've done a number of commercial products in a very narrow niche. I'm actually a Veterinarian in private practice, though I do have a couple of other companies that design and sell microcomputer controlled products for Veterinarians. My brothers and father are all engineers, so I come by this naturally.
>
> I'm also probably older than anyone on the list.
>
> Mark
>
It took me quite a few failed attempts to wrap my head around the whole schematic/netlist/PCB concept. I have to say though, once I got the hang of it, things started going SO much more smoothly. Once you have more than a small handful of parts, it starts to get very difficult to remember what all connects to what and the ratsnest makes it easy to tell. Time taken now to get over that hurdle will save much more time later.
Eagle was one of the first packages I tried and at the time it seemed horrible. I'm sure if I went back to it now it would be ok, but there are other less limited packages out there. ExpressPCB is still the one I'd recommend cutting one's teeth on, but there are better choices once you get going.