[time-nuts] Schematic capture, anyone?

[Bob Camp]

Hi

You will indeed spend a lot of time learning any of the more powerful packages. The same is true about re-learning them if you don't work with them for a while. Unless you are going to do this at least once a month, there is such a thing as "to powerful". 

Bob



On Feb 24, 2012, at 8:56 PM, shalimr9 at gmail.com wrote:

> Rick,
> 
> Thanks for the comments on Eagle.
> 
> I have been frustrated trying to learn Eagle for a small urgent project recently. I ended up using ExpressPCB and the attendant schematic capture.
> While it uses proprietary file format and is therefore locked to one vendor, it was surprisingly easy to use.
> I created a schematic and a double sided RF PWB in a couple of weeks with minimum reference to the documentation. That was my first PWB design.
> 
> I intend to learn Eagle for future projects though, as I need the capability to generate Gerbers at least.
> 
> I tried KiCAD but I found it unfriendly and I do not like the way the schematic symbols look (I like my resistors wiggly, not rectangular, call me old fashioned...)
> 
> If someone only needs a simple schematic capture tool, ExpressSCH from ExpressPCB is hard to beat. You can easily edit or create new symbols and the printouts look good and professional.
> 
> Didier KO4BB
> 
> Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless thingy while I do other things...
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Rick Karlquist" <richard at karlquist.com>
> Sender: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com
> Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:21:39 
> To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement<time-nuts at febo.com>
> Reply-To: richard at karlquist.com,
>    Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
>    <time-nuts at febo.com>
> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Schematic capture, anyone?
> 
> Jim Hickstein wrote:
>> What do people use these days for schematic capture (and just possibly PCB
>> 
>> worse, I prefer ANSI logic symbology over shovels-and-spades (or, really,
>> over
>> plain rectangles where you're expected to know what the part number
>> means).
>> 
> 
> I'll add another vote for Eagle.  It is a German program written in
> Unix, and ported to Windows.  Therefore, you select the action
> first then click on the object of the action.  It takes some getting
> used to.  There has been a pattern of PC layout companies getting
> cobbled up leaving you with an orphan program, or an upgrade
> to some very expensive program.  Orcad and Protel go gobbled up.
> Eagle did too, but by a distributor, Newark.  They just came out
> with a new improved version.  You can finally draw arbitrary SMT
> footprints.  I think that was the major limitation of the old
> version.  You can of course draw your own symbols any way you like.
> I have been using Eagle for 5 years now and never looked back.
> One other drawback of Eagle is that it is difficult to move a design
> between computers, and there are issues with the way preferences
> are stored.  If you use a part from a library in a design, you are
> forever locked into that library.   Many other CAD systems have these
> issues.  Mentor used to be terrible about having absolute path names, etc.
> 
> Rick N6RK
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
> To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
> and follow the instructions there.
> _______________________________________________
> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
> To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
> and follow the instructions there.