Protel PCB question

Brad,

Thank you once again for taking the time to bestow your knowledge.

I feel a comradery here at this newsgroup and hope to someday help others as you have helped me.

Ivan

Ivan, Yes, any project can have multiple PCBs within it. In the past I have saved a board at a particular stage of development and then carried on with the original when there was to be different derivatives of the same core design. You could have multiple schematics and pcbs in one 'database'. Your idea of printing out the component footprints is just fine. Actually you may want to scale the print larger just so that any details are visible and they can be measured by the engineers using common calipers or something similar. Been there done that, but today I usually just have engineers sit down with me and inspect the parts, it is simpler and faster than going back and forth. Sometimes over ridiculous misunderstandings.

Ivan, That is the idea, somewhere along the way there have always been people that helped me whether that was on line or in person. I usually monitor this NG mainly just to lend assistance with Protel issues when they show up here. That is my giving back to the system.

Do you know of the Protel EDA User listserver? It can be found at:

I am also a member of that listserver, along with many other similar souls that have been there and done that on Protel for many years. Most are Protel professional users around the world and someone has usually seen an issue if it exists. With the users spread around the world, it is not unusual to get responses to your queries quickly even if it was posted at 3AM your local time. Weekends can be hit or miss, although the weekend slow period may only be approx. 24 hours in duration because of the differing time zones.

If you haven't noticed, a lot of the stuff on this NG is by hobbyists and others who do not necessarily do PCB design as their primary profession day in and day out. The listserver is almost exclusively Protel PCB designers, some of the guys do other design work as well but they are still well versed on PCB design and the Protel tools. FYI, besides me you would also find Peter Bennet ( he responded to your mech pad query a few days ago) there sometimes. I think Peter monitors the listserver but doesn't post there that often recently.

Well I won't be around until next weekend, I am off to attend the PCB Design Conference tomorrow. If you don't know about it, I would suggest checking it out at:

Work on your boss, try to get to the PCB East Conference this fall or next year's PCB West Conference. You will not regret it! If your boss is not easily convinced let me know, I will give you all the details and support you may need to justify it to him/her. You are ripe to get the greatest advantage out of attending as soon as possible. You could probably go several years in a row at your experience level for maximum benefit, typically for more advanced designers I would suggest only every

Brad,

Brad,

Thank you for your informative response once again. I am in your debt for the generous time you have taken to reply to my questions. I will look into the Protel listserver and other references you provided.

I hope you have a safe trip and enjoy the conference.

Look forward to hearing from you when you return!

Ivan