Homebrew PCBs

On Tue, Oct 29, 2013 at 10:50 AM, <beefyzee@...> wrote:

Hi Mukundan,

the last two or three weeks I've been learning Diptrace. The free version has a 300 pin limit but no board size limit, and you get a pretty good auto-router too (I like that bit). There's 2 pdf books available, the tutorial guide and the training manual.

The main thing I found about this software is EASY TO LEARN. Year ago I tried the very popular Eagle but gave up on it. With Diptrace I was on my way in a very short time.

Good luck with your choice.

---In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, <homebrew_pcbs@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Dear Experts,

I intend to start using a PCB tool to make my own homebrew PCBs. I have used PADS long ago, and even PCAD. But I'm looking for a free E-CAD tool (primarily schematic and PCB). I have looked at various options, but am unable to decide which is best worth the investment in time to learn the tool.

I need a tool that has the shortest learning curve, but not at the expense of features. Could someone please advise me? I have sort of narrowed down on DesignSpark and KiCad.

Thank you in advance!

Mukundan

I spent about a 1 1/2 years with eagle, then a friend turned me on to diptrace and in about 4mos I was running at about the same speed I was with eagle. Another friend does this stuff for a living and I have had the chance to use Altium and I still feel diptrace is, out of those 3, the most intuitive software for my way of thinking. The only issue is so much stuff is already out in eagle, but no worries as diptrace gives you ulps for both schematic & board layout, and the work very well. I Hope this helpsd use diptrace but learn enough about eagle to be able to convert to diptrace.

Hope this helps you out :)

---In homebrew_pcbs@yahoogroups.com, wrote:

Diptrace is easy to learn and pretty powerful. ;I definitely found it easier to learn then Eagle. In the end though, I ended up switching to Eagle because it has a much larger library of components and has become a defacto standard with the Arduino community. Eagle is definitely more powerful then Diptrace.

I never tried DesignSpark. KiCad never worked properly on my OSX box.

--
Aaron Turner
http://synfin.net/ Twitter: @synfinatic
https://github.com/synfinatic/tcpreplay - Pcap editing and replay tools for Unix & Windows
Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary
Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
-- Benjamin Franklin

On Tue, Oct 29, 2013 at 10:50 AM, <beefyzee@...> wrote:

Hi Mukundan,

the last two or three weeks I've been learning Diptrace. The free version has a 300 pin limit but no board size limit, and you get a pretty good auto-router too (I like that bit). There's 2 pdf books available, the tutorial guide and the training manual.

The main thing I found about this software is EASY TO LEARN. Year ago I tried the very popular Eagle but gave up on it. With Diptrace I was on my way in a very short time.

Good luck with your choice.

---In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, <homebrew_pcbs@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Dear Experts,

I intend to start using a PCB tool to make my own homebrew PCBs. I have used PADS long ago, and even PCAD. But I'm looking for a free E-CAD tool (primarily schematic and PCB). I have looked at various options, but am unable to decide which is best worth the investment in time to learn the tool.

I need a tool that has the shortest learning curve, but not at the expense of features. Could someone please advise me? I have sort of narrowed down on DesignSpark and KiCad.

Thank you in advance!

Mukundan

On Oct 29, 2013, at 2:19 PM, dubob4432@... wrote:


>
>I spent about a 1 1/2 years with eagle, then a friend turned me on to diptrace and in about 4mos I was running at about the same speed I was with eagle. Another friend does this stuff for a living and I have had the chance to use Altium and I still feel diptrace is, out of those 3, the most intuitive software for my way of thinking. The only issue is so much stuff is already out in eagle, but no worries as diptrace gives you ulps for both schematic & board layout, and the work very well. I Hope this helpsd use diptrace but learn enough about eagle to be able to convert to diptrace.
>Hope this helps you out :) 
>
>
>---In homebrew_pcbs@yahoogroups.com, <synfinatic@...> wrote:
>
>
>Diptrace is easy to learn and pretty powerful.  I definitely found it easier to learn then Eagle.  In the end though, I ended up switching to Eagle because it has a much larger library of components and has become a defacto standard with the Arduino community.  Eagle is definitely more powerful then Diptrace.
>
>
>I never tried DesignSpark.  KiCad never worked properly on my OSX box.  
>
>
>-- 
>Aaron Turner
>http://synfin.net/         Twitter: @synfinatic
>https://github.com/synfinatic/tcpreplay - Pcap editing and replay tools for Unix & Windows
>Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary
>Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. 
>    -- Benjamin Franklin
>
>
>
>On Tue, Oct 29, 2013 at 10:50 AM, <beefyzee@...> wrote:
>>
>> 
>>> Hi Mukundan,
>>> 
>>>
>>>the last two or three weeks I've been learning Diptrace. The free version has a 300 pin limit but no board size limit, and you get a pretty good auto-router too (I like that bit). There's 2 pdf books available, the tutorial guide and the training manual.
>>> 
>>>
>>>The main thing I found about this software is EASY TO LEARN. Year ago I tried the very popular Eagle but gave up on it. With Diptrace I was on my way in a very short time.
>>> 
>>>
>>>Good luck with your choice.
>>>
>>>
>>>---In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, <homebrew_pcbs@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>Dear Experts,
>>>
>>>
>>>I intend to start using a PCB tool to make my own homebrew PCBs. I have used PADS long ago, and even PCAD. But I'm looking for a free E-CAD tool (primarily schematic and PCB). I have looked at various options, but am unable to decide which is best worth the investment in time to learn the tool.
>>>
>>>
>>>I need a tool that has the shortest learning curve, but not at the expense of features. Could someone please advise me? I have sort of narrowed down on DesignSpark and KiCad.
>>>
>>>
>>>Thank you in advance!
>>>Mukundan
>>
>
>

On Tue, Oct 29, 2013 at 12:41 PM, KeepIt SimpleStupid <keepitsimplestupid@...> wrote:

One capability, I'm looking for is the ability to define the boad outline by a DXF or similar file. The Instruction for Eagle doesn't mention it. I don't think DIPTRACE can do it. I can't remeber if DesignSpark can do it. I also looked at the free version of Target.

I'm basically having issues with making components and having a spacial idea of how big they are.

I need a program that must allow dxf import. I'd also like to have another dxf as a reference layer. The PCB I want to eventually design has a large area, but few components

A lot of programs give the impression that they are easy until you have to create a component from scratch.

On Tuesday, October 29, 2013 3:23 PM, Sam Rod <mail4sam@...> wrote:

All,

I have used both Eagle and Diptrace. I started with Eagle lo000ong ago and then switched over to Diptrace.

Neither one is a bad choice. I however prefer Diptrace. I have seen it mentioned that Eagle has a larger symbol base.

this use to bother me when I could not find the right symbol. (if it even existed) I now just draw up my own.

it was a bit tough in the beginning. But now I can draw anything I will ever need and pretty fast.

I give Diptrace my THUMBS UP!

Ill leave this by saying again. Their are no wrong choices.

You will one get out what you put in.

Sam

On Oct 29, 2013, at 2:19 PM, dubob4432@... wrote:

I spent about a 1 1/2 years with eagle, then a friend turned me on to diptrace and in about 4mos I was running at about the same speed I was with eagle. Another friend does this stuff for a living and I have had the chance to use Altium and I still feel diptrace is, out of those 3, the most intuitive software for my way of thinking. The only issue is so much stuff is already out in eagle, but no worries as diptrace gives you ulps for both schematic & board layout, and the work very well. I Hope this helpsd use diptrace but learn enough about eagle to be able to convert to diptrace.

Hope this helps you out :)

---In homebrew_pcbs@yahoogroups.com, <synfinatic@...> wrote:

Diptrace is easy to learn and pretty powerful. I definitely found it easier to learn then Eagle. In the end though, I ended up switching to Eagle because it has a much larger library of components and has become a defacto standard with the Arduino community. Eagle is definitely more powerful then Diptrace.

I never tried DesignSpark. KiCad never worked properly on my OSX box.

--
Aaron Turner
http://synfin.net/ Twitter: @synfinatic
https://github.com/synfinatic/tcpreplay - Pcap editing and replay tools for Unix & Windows
Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary
Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
-- Benjamin Franklin

On Tue, Oct 29, 2013 at 10:50 AM, <beefyzee@...> wrote:

Hi Mukundan,

the last two or three weeks I've been learning Diptrace. The free version has a 300 pin limit but no board size limit, and you get a pretty good auto-router too (I like that bit). There's 2 pdf books available, the tutorial guide and the training manual.

The main thing I found about this software is EASY TO LEARN. Year ago I tried the very popular Eagle but gave up on it. With Diptrace I was on my way in a very short time.

Good luck with your choice.

---In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, <homebrew_pcbs@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Dear Experts,

I intend to start using a PCB tool to make my own homebrew PCBs. I have used PADS long ago, and even PCAD. But I'm looking for a free E-CAD tool (primarily schematic and PCB). I have looked at various options, but am unable to decide which is best worth the investment in time to learn the tool.

I need a tool that has the shortest learning curve, but not at the expense of features. Could someone please advise me? I have sort of narrowed down on DesignSpark and KiCad.

Thank you in advance!

Mukundan