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Creating a prototype area on a PCB using orcad

Hi, I am making a PCB for students of a class and need to have a large prototype area on the board. What would be the easiest way to do this in ORCAD? Some things I have tried

1) There is a automatic matrix place feature but for that you have to first place all the parts on the board, select them and then say auto-place. But I will have about a 1000 holes and I dont want to do a place part for each of them. 2) I tried to use the 'free via matrix' feature, but cant control the placement of the vias. The vias in consequtive rows are placed at an offset. This make a netted structure rather than just straight rows and columns

I am sure there must be a much easier way to make the prototype area. I hope you guys can tell me.

Kunal

Reply to
Kunal
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I did something similar in Eagle PCB... I just dropped a 36-pin 0.1" pin header on the board and repeated it as needed. If it's something more complex than a bunch of holes, I'd probably build a custom library part with the required pattern, maybe repeated a few times, and then place as many of those blocks as necessary. Your mileage may vary with ORCAD... I haven't used it on a regular basis since an old DOS version.

Scott

Reply to
Scott Miller

That would take too long. I think PCB design software users make prototype areas realtively frequently, so there must be some feature that facilitates this. I have a lot of protoype area and it isnt a regular polygonal shape. So itll really take me a long time to place individual parts.

Reply to
Kunal

That would work fine but it is crude. I was looking for a easier solution. Infact in the few hours since I put up the message, I have already finsihed the prototyping area, in the manner you are talking about. I though there would a solution where: eg. I would place a rectangle over the area I wanted as prototpe area and the s/w would place holes at 100 mils distance except where it would cause a DRC (inside place outline etc). I guess there is no easy wasy to do it.

Reply to
Kunal

In Protel, I place a 20 pin DIP package, for example, then "ungroup" it (this breaks the DIP footprint into its individual entities), then just copy-and-paste the columns of pads as needed - typically, I'll place two or three columns of pads each side of the original footprint, then place tracks to connect rows of pads together. If I want a larger area, I can just copy-and-paste the initial pattern, as often as needed.

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Reply to
Peter Bennett

In DOS Orcad - PCB386 you can place a test point. Than you just do a block copy 2,4,8,16 etc.. Gets there pretty quickly. Can you do a block copy?

Regards,

Boris Mohar

Got Knock? - see: Viatrack Printed Circuit Designs (among other things)

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Reply to
Boris Mohar

What about creating a, say, 10x10 pad matrix as a single footprint and then put down 3 x 4 of them or whatever.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

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Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

The process I described takes few minutes in DOS Orcad. You can speed it up if you use a macro.

Regards,

Boris Mohar

Got Knock? - see: Viatrack Printed Circuit Designs (among other things)

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Reply to
Boris Mohar

Just place a lot of for example SIL arrays,or 50 pole IDC connectors and optionally remove the silkscreen; or make a component in the library with a lot of pads. It's a bit tedious, but I know of no other ways.

Hope this helps, Jeroen

Reply to
Jeroen

With the Pulsonix software I use I simply place a free pad and copy/paste it repeatedly, expanding the selection as I go. It only takes a few seconds.

Leon

Reply to
Leon Heller

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