Has anyone used ExpressSCH software to build schematics?

Also look at Kicad and gEDA. Each is free (libre and as in beer) and each has active communities supporting them.

gEDA is available for Linux and Mac OSX platforms. There is no official MS Windows build. From the download page readme, "if you want a Windows version, please feel free to grab the sources and try to build one yourself."

Kicad has official builds for Windows and Linux. I've been using it for home/hobby projects as well as for "real" (for work) projects for several years.

It includes editors for components (schematic capture symbols) and modules (PCB parts footprints).

gEDA is at and Kicad over at

--
Rich Webb     Norfolk, VA

DipTrace has a free version that can handle 250 connections (500 if you find a code on one if the experimenter forums.

It also can produce doubke-sided PC board files.

Well, there's the mark of Good Software(tm). /sarcasm That junk doesn't produce gerbers either; you're tied to one vendor. 8-(

Cadsoft EAGLE (Easily Applicable Graphical Layout Editor) Read this before going further with that lousy notion:

Before I'd advise you to give those asswipes any m>Also look at Kicad and gEDA. Each is free (libre and as in beer)

Now we're talking! The easiest way to test drive those:

Boot to the CD and run the entire OS from the plastic disk. If it meets your needs, you *can* install the OS (dual-boot even).

You can also add packages to a basic Linux install.

Ubuntu has over 32,000 software packages gratis and libre, just a few clicks away. Fedora has over 20,000. Same deal.

...and it's worth every penny of that. /sarcasm

*-bug-problems+DipTrace+*-you-have-nothing-else-to-stand-on+ww-ww+qq+not-a-nice-choice

Ooooo. "Full-featured". /sarcasm

Gratis and libre apps beat the hell out of crippleware/trialware. No DRM. No artificial restrictions. No proprietary file formats. No stupid games at all.

Out of the box, gEDA does 8 layers.

DJ Delorie (a gEDA developer) has given examples hereabouts of just how versatile gEDA is:

*-*-*-*-*-56-layer-*+zz-zz+qq+MAX_LAYER+zz-zz+qq-qq+zz+*-*-just-works

I can't find it now, but he also (again, just showing off) had it configured to produce a 64ft x 64ft board.

Open Source Software is tweakable to produce what **you** want. Try any of that with your closed-source junk

--even *after* you pay to get it uncrippled.

Hey all, Thanks for the feedback and input, but I was just doing something wrong. Sent a note to snipped-for-privacy@ExpressPCB.com and got my answer back within four hours. On a Sunday. And the asnwer was simple, would have known it right off if I had read the user manual.

I'm sticking with this product for the moment, as it is also free, and when I get through designing the schematic and PCB, I can email them the details and they will build the board for me (if I want to do that, and I may.) Might not be the cheapest way to proceed, but it seems reasonable at this point. Or I can do my own board, just for the fun of it.

Anyway, I appreciate the input, but think I am staying put for the moment.

Dave

PS I don't have anything to do with this group, other than being a satisfied user (so far.) :)

Dave

Not by my definition of "free"; I define free as giving freedom. As already mentioned, that crap ties you to a single fab house.

aka "vendor lock-in". Some people are so easily impressed. You need to research the concept of "Gerbers".

That's THE ENTIRE POINT of the "free" (cr)app.

Have you tried to actually **print** from your junkware? I suggest you research that as well--before you go any further.

*-*-*-limitations+zz+KiCAD+Printing+lock-in.ware+*-*-*-gerbers+gEDA