Affordable PCB Layout Software ???

You can shorten that URL to:

You can shorten this one as well:

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Guy Macon

Have a look at bartels lite.

Guy Mac>You can shorten that URL to:

I'll bet you a dollar I know more about Google URLs than you do.

If I WANTED them short, I would have MADE them short. You seem to have missed the whole point I was making. I **purposely** made them long to highlight points I wanted to make.

...and YOU managed to break both of my original links as well.

Quite a few systems can Import OrCAD SCHs, and some can import OrCAD PCBs, tho OrCAD PCB is much less common than the SCH, so fewer bother with that conversion.

-jg

[...]

Found it thanks!. Has all the bits I was looking for. My specific needs tend to revolve around knocking up (sodding!) surface mount chip adapters, with maybe one or two extra components added for convenience. For the sake of an hours work with the PC, printer and some etchant I can have a prototype in hand. My existing PCB prog' is still a ballache to use even though I've done a dozen adapters on it over the past year. Looks like I'll be spending cash on Sprint :)

You'll like the Footprint Wizard then. Specify or design a pad, enter horizontal and vertical spacings, number of rows and cols, hit 'go', and the program generates the pattern, with perfect spacing.

Select the lot with the mouse, store it as a macro, and you've got a new footprint.

Great for BGAs, SMD ICs, connectors, etc.

Yep. For that use and this price it's hard to go wrong.

Cheers, James Arthur

JeffM wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@k30g2000hse.googlegroups.com:

Good morning JeffM,

I noticed that XNews split the URL across two lines. Unfortunately computer / software annoyances have become too common and several projects are too far behind. I just let it go.

Thanks for providing it on one line.

Robert

Balderdash. MSwin products since Windoes 3.0 had different options available for right click and left click. MacOS also had that difference since it accepted multi button pointing devices. The fundamental capability was pre-existent in the earliest X in the Xerox PARC Alto workstations.

I have used several cad / ecad packages over the years, learning the second was the hardest.

That is certainly a matter of opinion. I used Eagle some years ago to produce a small board. I had to go through the learning curve to get used to the odd way of operating the interface. I then returned to the tool about 6 months later to make some small changes. I had to go through the learning curve all over again! The "traditional" interface is so counter intuitive that I couldn't just sit down and use it even though I had used it before.

I would think that having both modes available at once would be even worse! Having to right click objects to perform selection has got to be a PITA. I don't think I have ever seen a UI that didn't let you use left click to select or group select. Life is too short and work hours are too long to waste time learning new user interfaces every time I pick up a tool.

Does this list include legal owners of the software who have been infected with the "Eagle virus"?

Here is the real reason that I will never use Eagle again... the licensing! A company that will sever your contract because you used a portion of some design that used a portion of some design that used a part that had been used by a cracked version of the tool is just not worth considering for any professional development.

I can protect myself from viruses in email, in Word documents or over the Internet. But there is no software available that will protect me from the virus of a part from a cracked Eagle program. Until you fix the flaw in your licensing scheme, you are putting all of your customers at risk. But then you wouldn't see it that way would you? Anyone who encounters this "virus" is no longer a customer!!!

Rick

I thought most if not all could do that - looks like I have been overestimating the development over the years.... I use my (own written back in the 80-s) graphics editor, selecting some stuff then repeating it like an array is a basic feature. Then selecting some objects and defining that as a block - insertable at various scale factors and angles - is also inherent... Like you said you were used to I am doing all the routing by hand, just using the editor. Here is a demo-mess picture I did not so long ago, shows a board and my 20+ years old editor (runing under an old system emulated in a DPS window, though - much faster than back then):

Didi

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Yep. Bought one. Did an adapter PCB. Pleasure to not need the help file. Methinks Sprint and I will be friends.

CIRCAD Version 5 (OmniGlyph)

One of the easiest to learn. I was laying out boards after a few mins. Logical user interface. Eagle V4 it drives me nuts, tried it several times and gave up each time. The user manual and tutorial also crap.

I'm curious, what does this package do that FreePCB doesn't?

Rick

At least Eagle isn't a "windows-only" product. Even if it takes a bit longer to learn Eagle, it's certainly nothing in comparison to the time/money one would have to waste installing Windows and learning to use and maintain it. :)

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Grant Edwards                   grante             Yow!  If I had a Q-TIP, I
                                  at               could prevent th\' collapse
                               visi.com            of NEGOTIATIONS!!

There are any number of better options that run under other operating systems. My understanding is that there aren't many programs that won't run under MacOS or Linux using available tools. I am told that FreePCB works just fine on both of these systems.

Rick

Alas, there are still a number of important CAD packages that run only on Windows (I am looking at you, AutoCAD) so I run windows in a VMWare virtual Machine under Linux. With a stripped-down version of Windows (using XPLite) and only one application that loads full-scree from the startup folder, you hardly have to think about the fact that the application is running under Windows. And the VMWare snapshot feature lets you go back when Windows becomes corrupted or flaky.

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Guy Macon

That's very nice artwork Dimiter. If it's your own graphics editor, how do you get PCB fabrication information out of it? (Gerber files, or photoplots, etc.)

Cheers, James Arthur

Nothing that I'm aware of, except perhaps Sprint-Layout has a wonderful, sensible menu system that makes it super easy to use. I loathe wasted multi-level clicks, mode-changes, etc. I chose Sprint-Layout as being small, fast, inexpensive, yet professionally supported. Small, nimble software that really works is a joy to use.

FreePCB looks cool and has lots of extra features. That's enticing, but not always good--I downloaded it for a look when I've got the time to learn it--but I'm likely to keep using Sprint-Layout for the time being. It works, gets the job done, and it's actually fun.

Cheers, James Arthur

Thanks, the PCB photos are indeed artworked over a DPS screenshot - I did it just for ad purposes (my idea for that, that is :-).

The graphics editor has Gerber, hpgl, Excellon and some other (long dead) output formats. I remember reverse engineering the Excellon format by looking at piece of punched tape back then (the fact that is is so simple did help a lot, of course). It used to run on a 6809 based system - during the 80-s, the PC based PCB stuff was just unusable compared to it. Now the emulated incarnation is about 20 times faster (than the 2 x 2MHz 6809 it used to run on) and is still quite good for my layouts, it waits for me, I don't have to wait for it at all really.

Didi

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