Eagle footprint

[SubhumanRecords]

Anyone happen to have an eagle footprint/symbol for some greyhill concentric switch’s? Some like CAPI’s eq uses? I’ve tried doing my own in eagle , but can’t get it right. Thanks everyone.

 

[Khron]

https://www.diymodules.org/eagle-show-object?type=std&file=switch.lbr&device=50-2POLE30
https://github.com/robertstarr/lbr_user/blob/master/switch-grayhill.lbr

 

[SubhumanRecords]

https://www.diymodules.org/eagle-show-object?type=std&file=switch.lbr&device=50-2POLE30
https://github.com/robertstarr/lbr_user/blob/master/switch-grayhill.lbr

Thanks Khron, I’ll check them out.
Are you pretty well knowledge in Eagle? I have a great project needing help on. Before Brunno2000 passed away, he and I was working on a project he designed and gave me the eagle files on his 312/550b combo. My laptop was stolen with the only copy of the project files. So I’m trying to redo them. Having trouble working out the switches on the project.
Thanks for your help.
Myke

 

[Khron]

I'm "ok enough", i'd say, but I've yet to have any reason to venture past two-layer boards.

Can't comment on whether / how much time i may have to help; I've recently moved house, and i've got a bit of a back-log of my own projects

 

[Bo Deadly]

You need more than just a footprint. You need to symbol and device to go with. Being able to create custom parts for schems / layouts is critically important for serious builds. You're just not going to get very far trying to use whatever not-quite-right part you download from somewhere. It's a pain in the boot to export those parts. If I had an infinite amount of time and resources I would go through my eagle lib and remove everything except for the parts that are useful and post that somewhere. Then someone could just import the entire library of parts. Unfortuantely eagle is a little expensive for DIY. DIY boards tend to be big (huge in some cases) but the free version offers very limited space. I wish Autodesk had an intermediate cost version with unlimited size but limited in other ways like 3 layers or maybe a limited number of nets per circuit. DIY stuff tends to be 2-3 layers and not a lot of digital that requires hundreds of nets. So, for these reasons, you might consider taking the time to learn how to create custom footprints, symbols and devices for one of the free schem / layout packages like KiCad or whatever.

 

[Khron]

Except for single side boards, you can only get even-number layer boards. All the others are very valid points though.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

In the context of industrial production, a 3-layer board is just a particular case of 4-layer, for which one the layer is missing.

 

[SubhumanRecords]

Thanks for the replies, I won’t give up though. Still trying to make the symbols and footprints.

 

[MidnightArrakis]

Thanks Khron, I’ll check them out.
Are you pretty well knowledge in Eagle? I have a great project needing help on. Before Brunno2000 passed away, he and I was working on a project he designed and gave me the eagle files on his 312/550b combo. My laptop was stolen with the only copy of the project files. So I’m trying to redo them. Having trouble working out the switches on the project.
Thanks for your help.
Myke

GREETINGS!!! I came across your current problem and I thought I would drop-in and see if there is anything I may assist you with!!!

I use a high-end CAD PCB design program that costs several thousands of dollars and it has the ability to import both the ALTIUM Designer and the EAGLE schematic and PCB native design files. In addition, I also have a full-blown GERBER data and EXCELLON N/C Drill file editing program that allows for me to not only tweak my output files before I send them out for fabrication, but I am also able to run several different DRC checks on the GERBER files that are different than the DRC checks run by my PCB layout program. So, what are your problems???

It looks like you are working with some API circuits and/or modules (312/550). Back in the mid-1980s, I showed Paul Wolff how to convert his module components topology from "Thru-Hole" parts over to "Surface-Mount" parts. That saved API literally TONS of money just by doing that!!!

Do you currently have and are using the EAGLE PCB design software? Or, are you thinking of getting it? I'm "late to this party" and I don't know anything about your background. Do you have any experience with creating schematic symbols or PCB footprints? There are industry guidelines and standards to follow when creating these items so your general PCB design and final output files will all be manufacturable. Otherwise, you can design yourself into a mess.

Let me know what you currently have or post them in this thread and I can take a look at them to see how you are doing. FYI -- you can go to the website called -- box.com -- and create a - FREE - account there and then you can upload your GERBER files, schematics and PCB files, photos and anything else to that site and then obtain a - link - that you can post here, which will allow anyone to download your files later on. Check it out!!!

Keep me posted, OK???

/

 

[Bo Deadly]

Keep me posted, OK???

No. You sound like you have some actual knowledge but please do not hijack threads with solicitations. You're welcome to post in the Jobs For Hire board but I seriously doubt you're going to find customers here. Most folks here are do-it-yourself types. Hence the name of the website.

 

[MidnightArrakis]

No. You sound like you have some actual knowledge but please do not hijack threads with solicitations. You're welcome to post in the Jobs For Hire board but I seriously doubt you're going to find customers here. Most folks here are do-it-yourself types. Hence the name of the website.

F U!!! I was NOT doing any type of "solicitation" in my response. I was only trying to offer the guy some information and also letting him know that I happen to have all of the necessary software to help him out..........> IF < he wants any help!!! I really don't care if he contacts me or not!!!

I am a DIY'er just like most others on this forum. My only difference is, is when I design my PCBs and rack-mount chassis, they look as though they could have been designed by API, NEVE, TC Electronic or any of the other pro-audio equipment manufacturers. So, because my background in the physical design of electronic equipment is a bit different than most others on here, I am only trying to offer what I know and have to others who are struggling with their personal projects. I wasn't aware that my merely offering to help someone would be criticized by others for offering to do so.

I have worked on AMPEX tape recorders, mixing consoles, all manner of audio signal-processing equipment and signal-switching equipment down in my basement for recording studios, radio and TV stations and other guys that also work in their basements. Futzing around with all of this equipment is what got me started into my becoming an "Electronics Packaging Designer" to start with. While working on all of this professionally designed equipment, I got to see HOW all of this gear was designed and built and often times would think....."That was stupid. I would have done it - this way - to make it better"!!!

Which.....eventually led me to be granted a U.S. Patent for the "novel and unique" mechanical design of a rack-mount enclosure. Not too bad for a guy who had a tough time graduating from high school and had only worked down in his basement. Now, I perform mechanical and PCB designs for aerospace/avionics companies, defense contractors, medical electronics firms, NASA and telecommunications and video electronics corporations.....and, I am all self-taught!!!

Anyway.....with all of that said, here is a link that you will want to share and spread to anyone/everyone that you know who does their own PCB designs in their bedrooms. This was just released a short while ago. This is a - FREE - viewing program put out by the ALTIUM company that will allow you to not only view your GERBER files online, but you can also view your native EAGLE and KiCAD PCB files as well. Here's the link: https://www.altium.com/viewer/
There is a window in the link to either "Drag & Drop" your files into or to browse and navigate to your design files. And.....it's FREE!!! Did I mention that this is >> FREE << ???

So.....in order to please both you and others on this forum and thread, I will simply keep my experiences and knowledge to myself and not bother to offer any assistance to anyone on this forum who is struggling with stuff that I could easily help them with. HAPPY???

/

 

[abbey road d enfer]

@ Bo deadly & MidnightArrakis,
Please gentlemen, hold your horses.
Both of you should consider misunderstanding happens some time. Language is a tricky art.

 

[Bo Deadly]

@ Bo deadly & MidnightArrakis,
Please gentlemen, hold your horses.
Both of you should consider misunderstanding happens some time. Language is a tricky art.

Wha? There is no misunderstanding. This guy has been spamming the boards about how great his designs are with links to his stuff. It's all clearly designed to pump up his site rank (it's' called "SEO") and drum up business but disguised as an offer to help with vaguely topical technical ramblings. But most of his triple exclamation point filled posts have absolutely nothing to do with the topic. It's spam that you shouldn't want even in the Black Market board. Wake up.

 

[SubhumanRecords]

OK, still have problems with getting the switch's right. Here is a link for the schematic and Eagle project files. Link--https://app.box.com/s/tt6jjp490hju33totdz5qnh1hhzg92eb -- If anyone would like to see if they can help, I'd be grateful.
Thanks guys.
Myke

 

[MidnightArrakis]

I tried to access your link, but I received a message that it had been removed. Send me another link in the message you had sent to me earlier and I will take a look at your files. What type of help are you looking for?

/

 

[MidnightArrakis]

Wha? There is no misunderstanding. This guy has been spamming the boards about how great his designs are with links to his stuff. It's all clearly designed to pump up his site rank (it's' called "SEO") and drum up business but disguised as an offer to help with vaguely topical technical ramblings. But most of his triple exclamation point filled posts have absolutely nothing to do with the topic. It's spam that you shouldn't want even in the Black Market board. Wake up.

HEY!!! You're quite the imaginative guy!!! I - DON'T - have a website, I - DON'T - even know what "SEO" is and I - DON'T - have a business!!! As far as my designs go.....YES!!!.....I tinker down in my basement like anyone else in this forum and, YES!!!.....my designs have ranged from "one-off's" for "covert intelligence-gathering and surveillance" projects for The Department of Homeland Security, NASA, medical firms, etc. to designs of what is now a worldwide standard for "Digital Radio Broadcasting" to smoke alarms that were made in lots of 50,000 units. I have mentioned these items in my posts only as an informational basis to let anyone know that I actually have the experience to help them out in the ways that I am able to. That's all.

As I read through the threads in this forum and see how members are struggling with getting their projects built, it pains me to read the approaches and strategies suggested, when the answer is actually much easier than is known. In that vein, when I read about the various issues that members have with their PCB designs, their working with the GERBER files and whatnot.....I know that it takes specialized software to resolve their issues and the price of those software programs is understandably out-of-reach.

So, Mr. Bo Deadly.....why is it wrong for me to offer to help someone with their problems when I have already spent the money to purchase the software that is capable of resolving their problems? In a related manner, I have received e-mails from other members from this and other boards who have seen my e-mail address and they write to me with their problems and are also asking for help. Since these help requests are "off the grid" so to speak, then you won't find those requests or my responses on this forum or any others. But, in any case.....I am always glad to help out!!!

My responses to someone may not be "on topic" because they are detailing a problem and I am merely offering my help. While I am incapable of telling someone that a certain value resistor "will be better" for whatever reason or using "this" transistor will offer more gain and less noise than "that" transistor, I can provide a wealth of information directly related to either the mechanical design or PCB layout that a member is currently working on. And, as I have mentioned elsewhere, my CAD software far exceeds all of the FREE software that everyone on here uses. Therefore, my capabilities also far exceed what can be done by anyone using their FREE software. But, that doesn't mean that I still won't offer someone some help, if they want it.

And.....should you be wondering why my responses are so dog-gone long.....it's because, in my line of work, I have had to write 30-page technical reports on comparing two CAD design engineering programs in order to convince the engineering management of some electronics company to spend over $100,000 to purchase one of them. So, my thoughts need to be detailed and well-thought out.

I have been on-stage with Jimi Hendrix (with photos as proof) and I have had the NSA contact me here at home. In both cases, the parties concerned were having troubles and they asked me for my help. Which I provided. During my much younger days, I would be at a concert just like anyone else and the concert sound-system would develop an issue. While the sound crews would be frantically running around trying to find what the problem is, someone else would spot me hanging around near the stage and tell the sound crew that "THIS GUY" is in the audience. The next thing I would know, the security guards are whisking me away and I'm talking to the head engineer of the sound crew. They would tell me what they knew and I would perform my own diagnostics and get the problem fixed in short order. I have helped out ELP, Jethro Tull, Grand Funk Railroad, REO Speedwagon, YES and others. It finally got to a point where the concert promoters of where I used to live would let me attend concerts for FREE, because they looked at me as a FREE "insurance policy". In that, if the sound crews couldn't fix their own equipment problems, they knew that I could. The point being.....I was always glad to be able to help anybody out!!!

I get the impression that you, Mr. Bo Deadly, don't like me!!! And, that's fine. It appears as though that due to your replies to my responses that I will end up being barred from this board. Should that be what the "Forum God" wishes, that is something I cannot change.

But, the bottom line is.....all I have been trying to do is offer help to the members of this forum and using the links of my equipment designs to show others that I have more than enough of the experience needed to help them out "for real"!!! I don't have a business, my responses are NOT spam and I am "just a guy" who works as an independent "Senior Electronics Mechanical Packaging & PCB Designer". When the NSA contacted me several years ago, I asked them, "How did you figure out that - I - could help you out"? And, the NSA responded, "We performed our own private search nationwide for individuals who had a certain set of expertise and experience with a particular PCB design program and - YOUR NAME - came up at the top of our list"!!! Isn't THAT scary?

I guess that I should stop offering my help to the members of this board, huh???

/

 

[MidnightArrakis]

Wha? There is no misunderstanding. This guy has been spamming the boards about how great his designs are with links to his stuff. It's all clearly designed to pump up his site rank (it's' called "SEO") and drum up business but disguised as an offer to help with vaguely topical technical ramblings. But most of his triple exclamation point filled posts have absolutely nothing to do with the topic. It's spam that you shouldn't want even in the Black Market board. Wake up.

Does this response of mine to another member on this forum meet your standards of acceptance? Let me know, OK???

I'm just a "beginner" in the area of PCB design (see attached PDF file), but I think I can offer you some assistance.

• TOPSIDE ROUTES = RED
• BOTTOMSIDE ROUTES = BLUE
• TOPSIDE SILKSCREEN = WHITE
• BOTTOMSIDE SILKSCREEN = CYAN
• TOPSIDE SOLDERMASK = BRIGHT (or, LIGHT) GREEN
• BOTTOMSIDE SOLDERMASK = DARK GREEN

• It looks as though the drill holes for your tubes are slots. If they are, that's gonna cost you plenty!!!
• Your routing has several "acute angles", which are known as "acid traps" and those will cause your routes to loosen off of the PCB.
• It looks as though the spacing between two routes is too small in places (what is the routing DRC setting)?
• In what looks to be "C3" (small part up by "Audio In"), the two pads look to be shorted together by a RED trace. Is that supposed to be like that?

I am assuming that your PCB program is either EAGLE or KiCAD since those are the dominant FREE programs that everyone is using these days. If so, send me your actual CAD PCB layout file, as my PCB design program can import both of those files. Then, I will be able to take a better look at your layout and also be able to offer you some better suggestions.

While 4-layer boards are more expensive than your run-of-the-mill 2-layer boards, these days the cost difference isn't as much as it used to be. I have been thinking of re-designing a vacuum-tube radio transmitter and putting its filament DC voltage on the inner-layers like how you had mentioned. In thinking about it further, it may possibly even require a 6-layer board: L1 - TOPSIDE ROUTES, L2 - GND PLANE SHIELD, L3 - Filament-1, L4 - Filament-2, L5 - GND PLANE SHIELD, L6 - BOTTOMSIDE ROUTES. So, as you can see, the two GND PLANE SHIELD layers surround the two FILAMENT layers and act as a shield for the two outer routing layers. Just a thought.

What you are calling "Ground Pours" is commonly referred to as "Copper Pours" and in general, they are always a good thing. > BUT!!! < there is more to it than just flooding an area with copper!!! 1) The "Copper Pour" has to be connected to GND, 2) The "Copper Pours" on both sides of the board need to be connected to one another!!! YIKES!!! How do you do THAT??? Well.....doing that requires a boatload of what are called "stitching vias". What are "stitching vias"? "Stitching Vias" are independent vias that are connected to GND (or, whatever NET NAME your "Copper Pours" are connected to) and they need to be placed in such a manner as to connect a TOPSIDE COPPER POUR and a BOTTOMSIDE COPPER POUR together.

And, by my using the term "boatload", I mean "TONS" of them!!! You need to think of each via as being a teeny-tiny resistor and by having lots and lots of vias placed within a "COPPER POUR", which is effectively the same thing as having gobs of resistors in parallel. And, what happens when you have resistors in parallel? The overall resistance is reduced. So....."The More The Merrier" when it comes to "Stitching Vias" that are placed within "Copper Pours". And, since the "Stitching Vias" are only vias within a "COPPER POUR", the drill size and via pad can be much smaller than a component pad. You could use a drill size of 10-mil with a 14-mil pad (which will give you a 2-mil annular ring) because the via is embedded within a "COPPER POUR".

In any case.....I could give you a much better assessment if I had your actual PCB layout file. I tried enlarging your image file and after a bit, it just became too fuzzy to easily read anything. Your call.....

/

 

[MidnightArrakis]

No. You sound like you have some actual knowledge but please do not hijack threads with solicitations. You're welcome to post in the Jobs For Hire board but I seriously doubt you're going to find customers here. Most folks here are do-it-yourself types. Hence the name of the website.

Do you like this type of my response better? Let me know, OK?

In my assuming that you are using PCB-mount tube sockets and that the tube sockets have rectangular PC-pins, you still want to use a circular drill hole in your board to fit the tube socket pins into. If what I am seeing in your PCB image file are truly slots, the PCB fabrication shop is going to charge you plenty to create that many tiny slots, especially at the circular angles that they are all at. "Circular Holes" are what you want to use, NOT slots.

How do you determine what size hole will fit a rectangular shape? First, calculate the "Diagonal Cross-Section of a Rectangle". As an example, I have a 9-pin tube socket right here with me. The PCB-pins measure 13-mils thick by 50-mils wide. So, you would need to calculate what the "Diagonal Cross-Section" of that rectangle is. Second, then add - 10-mils - for some clearance. That will determine your drill size.

Then, you will need to determine how large your component pin-pad size will be. This will be primarily determined by how close your pin-to-pin spacing is and how much "annular ring" you wish to have. If you are going to have your PCBs wave-soldered, you can get away with a 10-mil annular ring. But, if you are going hand-solder your PCBs, then you'll probably want an annular ring between 25-mils to 40-mils, depending upon the space available. Plus, don't forget to oversize your solder-mask reliefs by 5-mils. If your solder-mask pads are the same size as your component pads, you run the risk of there being some solder-mask over your pads should there be a layer misregistration during the fabrication process.

Again.....I could provide you with a much better analysis and assessment if I had your actual PCB design file.

GOOD LUCK!!!

/

 

[SubhumanRecords]

here is the switch's part of the schematic i was referring to.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

here is the switch's part of the schematic i was referring to.

In order to help you, we need to identify the part. Your picture is a schematic that shows several different switches, without any indication to what they physically are. Give us the manufacturer's reference.