Homebrew PCBs

Dennis

Thanks again. Actually the ground plane was created in paint shop pro.
I just created a negative image. Made a selection set with magic wand
then used the command selection-modify-contract to place a copper
removed trace around the circuit. Then just made the ground trace
copper removed area black.

Regards
Dennis Waggoner




--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "dl5012" <dl5012@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Dennis,
> 
> I've found making your own components in Eagle to be quite awkward; 
> whereas doing that in ExpressPCB is a piece of cake.
> 
> What I do to make pads larger is I just route over them with a wide 
> trace.  For a typical resistor pad, I use 40 mils; set the grid to a 
> small enough value where I can extend the pad by routing from one side 
> of the hole to the other.
> 
> I didn't realize Eagle had an option to create a ground plane.  Is the 
> space to other features controllable?  What version are you using?  
> I'm using the Lite version (probably around 4.13) and am to "cheap" to 
> pay for the full featured version.  When I need a larger board than 
> the lite version allows, I just place vias and route manually.  I 
> usually route manually anyway.  I'm a better router than Eagle...
> 
> As Stefan mentioned, there's some artistic aspect to board layout.  I 
> like to keep traces on multiples of 45 degree angles and don't push 
> spaces or feature sizes so the boards are easy to transfer, etch, and 
> drill.  Take a look at the first picture in my album (dl5012).  That 
> was drawn with Eagle, but I just placed pads and routed manually.  
> That board is actually a bad example of upsizing pads for ease of 
> drilling.  That was my prototype and I fixed the pad sizes in rev1.
> 
> Regards,
> Dennis
> 
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "sbdwag" <sbdwag@> wrote:
> >
> > Stefan
> > 
> > Thanks for the tips on the solder pads. Unless I create my own 
> library
> >  objects is there any easy way to increase the pad size/hole size in
> > Eagle.
> > 
> > Regards
> > Dennis Waggoner
>