PCB layout

[pstamler]

I've had good luck with FreePCB. You don't really want to use their footprints, though; I designed a few of my own.

No autorouting, but I don't trust it either.

Not perfect, but a very sanely designed bit of software, clearly made by someone who's actually done a lot of PCB layout work.

Peace,
Paul

 

[Brian Roth]

I have a copy of freePCB on my drive here, but somehow never got "into it".

I will now give up on auto routing, and then see if there is a "manual" software alternative that doesn't annoy me.

I still have my fallback of DesignCAD, but as a general-purpose drawing app, it won't create Gerbers, etc.

bri

 

[Viitalahde]

Brian, seriously check out this French program:

http://b.urbani.free.fr/pagetci/tci.htm

It's not near as difficult to use (and I don't speak a word Frech.. well, except for "merdoterié" ) and does exactly what I want it to do.

 

[Brian Roth]

Thanks, Jaakko, I will indeed check it out, and perhaps revisit some of the other apps I've collected as well, with an "eye out" to ignore auto routing.

One thing just crossed my mind....

When I was laying out that power supply board (pdf linked earlier in this thread), one "gotcha" was ensuring that I left enough room on the board so that the electrolytics didn't bump into each other. While the lead spacing of a given cap might have been relatively small, the outer diameter of the cans dictated some of the spacings.

Hence, I drew up circles that represented the outer diameter of the lytics, and put them onto a separate "layer" to ensure I allowed enough space for the cans.

Now I need to see how the various software apps deal with THAT condition...close lead spacing for a large package. I guess that could be dealt with via the silkscreen layer (even if I am NOT planning on silk screen)....

Bri

 

[fallout]

Another vote for Eagle... You can create your own library that would deal with the lead spacing/can size or make any custom device for that matter.. The learning curve is a bit steep, but there are some great tutorials...

-Jay

 

[Flatpicker]

[quote author="TomWaterman"]I'm yet to get boards fabbed...[/quote]
I've had boards fabed at Advanced and there wasn't a single hitch. Rimu generates Gerber, Excellon and Pick & Place files. I've even used it to draw mechanical fab stuff and design front panels. You can make any part or draw anything you want. Not much of a learning curve either. As long as you don't need more than 4 copper layers, it's the best I've found.

 

[fallout]

Just tried the Rimu demo! Pretty damn cool...

-Jay

 

[alk509]

I've only tried Autotrax, Eagle, ExpressPCB and FreePCB on the PC, and Osmond, McCad and Douglas CAD/CAM on the Mac. Rimu really feels a lot better than all of them to me. I never thought I'd say this, but I think I'll replace Osmond with Rimu! :shock:

I hate the fact that it's not available for OS X... But the ease-of-use and general coolness factor really does offset the pain in the balls of working on the PC.

So again, thanks for bringing it to my attention, flatpicker! :thumb:

Peace,
Al.

 

[higginsrob]

Eagle rocks. It takes a few weeks.. (or a few months) to learn, but I like it.

Once you figure out how to make your own libraries, use CAM presets, run scripts (like import image files!) and make a ground plane, its just connecting the dots.

...but I may have to look into Rimu after reading this thread.

 

[higginsrob]

aGGhh Rimu's not for mac either... I need an Apple that can run Windows XP....