Homebrew PCBs

On Fri, 12 Jan 2007 21:56:58 +0100, David McNab <rebirth@...>  
wrote:

> Some questions here:
>  - do people here consider it lame to use autorouting?

YES! YES! and YES!
It's almost as lame as thinking the component libraries that come with a  
software will be of much use.

>  - are there any other free PCB design progs that have autorouting?

Yes, but autorouting is lame in all of them.

>  - can eagle (or any other free progs) do auto-placement?

Some may do , but autoplacement is hundred times crappier than autorouting  
because placement is hundred times more important than routing.

My opinion is (i repeat - MY OPINION, as in "MY" and "OPINION", just to  
make that clear to those people not liking what i say)- my opinion is that  
if you use an autorouter you shouldn't even be making boards. If you don't  
have the patience to give the task the attention it deserves you are not  
worthy of doing it. In short, i consider you a lazy git if you use an  
autorouter, but at least i have the thought to console me that you will  
never ever have the satisfaction of producing a decent board this way.

I can't stand badly routed boards, and i have yet to see an autorouter  
that can do an acceptable job. 99% of layout is parts placement, once i'm  
finished placing parts it is no work at all to route a board, i have no  
need at all for an autorouter then which will at best make a mess of my  
hard-won parts placement. I consider layout an art (of the real kind, not  
modern art), and i won't have to say something good about autorouters  
unless i see one do a decent job, which so far i have not.

I can see some use for autorouters (very high quality ones), with heavy  
cleanup and constant human intervention and control, but even then the  
result will not be fantastic. When working on large circuits they may  
potentially be an aid to some. I won't go as far as calling them useful  
though.

So, that was _my_ opinion, and i can't put it into strong enough words.  
Other people have _other_ opinions.

ST