开云体育

Hi,

Sorry for the wide search but I want to find someone to help get me started with Designspark. a free pcb design package. I have not been able to find a connection to their support. Right now I cannot find switches like 3pdt in their library. I also need advice on changing text size in their symbol creation utility.

What free stuff do most use? Sorry again.



Jerry Massengale

On Sat, 12 Jan 2013 10:51:02 -0500 (EST), you wrote:

Hi,

Sorry for the wide search but I want to find someone to help get me started with Designspark. a free pcb design package. I have not been able to find a connection to their support. Right now I cannot find switches like 3pdt in their library. I also need advice on changing text size in their symbol creation utility.

Don't use it.

What free stuff do most use? Sorry again.

Eagle, for small stuff, hobby license for large stuff, non-profit is
guaranteed.

Some like it, some hate it.

Harvey

Jerry Massengale

I use express PCXB.
The learning curve is very short.
Easy to make custom symbols.

73
Glenn
WB4UIV

Hi Jerry,

The DesignSpark support is only via email and is really only for software issues.

Direct help is mostly in the user group forum.



Try looking for other sources like SparkFun, they have an interesting set of items for DS.

Things like switches are so variable that one often has to make up ones own footprints and symbols.

DS has a different way of putting thing together in the library than you might be used to from other packages. It certainly gave me a headache as I am conditioned from many decades of using what is now Mentor PADS and DxDesigner.

Be warned, the current version of DS does not have net list locking so it is easy to lose nets when routing from inadvertent deletion.

So I would say that DS is okay for small projects, but has the potential to be a complete nightmare if one has big BGAs etc. (imagine losing a net into a 1000+ pad BGA for example).

Also does NOT support partial and buried vias.

But for "Free" and serious it is good start in electronics design with integrated schematic capture and PCB layout. Very suitable for students and hobbiest, but I could not recommend it for any other than basic commercial work (e.g. designing Arduino boards, shields, capes and such stuff).

Personally I use Mentor PADS ES suite (with DxDesigner rather than Logic). It is only "Free" in the sense that it preserves my sanity, still has a high $ cost to buy and maintain.

Best wishes,
Susan.


================================================================

Hi,

Sorry for the wide search but I want to find someone to help get me started with Designspark. a free pcb design package. I have not been able to find a connection to their support. Right now I cannot find switches like 3pdt in their library. I also need advice on changing text size in their symbol creation utility.

What free stuff do most use? Sorry again.

Jerry Massengale

I use DIPTRACE, a free version is available which is quite powerful.
I decided on this package on recommendation of a colleague who has much experience and has tried almost everything available.

Diptrace has a bit of a learning curve and the Library setup can be challenging. However once you are into it (5 hours) and have gone through the Tutorial it is easy to use and very powerful.

I was using ExpressPCB which was very easy to use but will not make files to send to 'other' PCB fabricators, they want you to use their plant. Before this I used Tango but it was so good it was bought out by a biggie and discontinued. It was not free but was affordable.

I built a Zen CNC machine and needed Gerber files to drive it, which Diptrace makes.

There is a Diptrace Forum and many libraries to share.

The program will autoroute and check your PCB against the schematic. Although I have never used autorouting in the past 40 years I am now getting into it. My boards have never been very complicated and using PICs there is seldom more than a dozen components so it has been faster to avoid autorouting. I have made one board by manually placing key components, then autorouting and the result was excellent. Learning curve!
Peter.

Hi Jerry,

For work, I use Altium, Viewdraw (now Mentor PADS) and OrCad. Each has its
own features & quirks.

For play I use Express PCB (find it great for even just documenting small
hand-wired stuff) and gEDA gSchem and PCB. The latter is Linux based and is
supported by a big open-source community. A friend of mine uses it
exclusively for his small company.

See:



There is also KiCad, which is free & open source as well. Have not tried
it, but looks pretty nice:




David Jones did a review of it on his EEVblog:




Hope this helps.

/John



On Sat, Jan 12, 2013 at 11:31 AM, Peter Bunge <bunge@...> wrote:

**


I use DIPTRACE, a free version is available which is quite powerful.
I decided on this package on recommendation of a colleague who has much
experience and has tried almost everything available.

Diptrace has a bit of a learning curve and the Library setup can be
challenging. However once you are into it (5 hours) and have gone through
the Tutorial it is easy to use and very powerful.

I was using ExpressPCB which was very easy to use but will not make files
to send to 'other' PCB fabricators, they want you to use their plant.
Before this I used Tango but it was so good it was bought out by a biggie
and discontinued. It was not free but was affordable.

I built a Zen CNC machine and needed Gerber files to drive it, which
Diptrace makes.

There is a Diptrace Forum and many libraries to share.

The program will autoroute and check your PCB against the schematic.
Although I have never used autorouting in the past 40 years I am now
getting into it. My boards have never been very complicated and using PICs
there is seldom more than a dozen components so it has been faster to avoid
autorouting. I have made one board by manually placing key components, then
autorouting and the result was excellent. Learning curve!
Peter.


--- In hp_agilent_equipment@..., jerry massengale wrote:

Hi,

Sorry for the wide search but I want to find someone to help get me

started with Designspark. a free pcb design package. I have not been able
to find a connection to their support. Right now I cannot find switches
like 3pdt in their library. I also need advice on changing text size in
their symbol creation utility.

What free stuff do most use? Sorry again.



Jerry Massengale




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

This not free - about $75, but it is very good.



Great email support

Ken

Hi,

Thanks for the answers. I tried Kicad and like it but it won't led me edit an existing symbol for some reason. The is an icon for it but it does not lite up and I cannot get it to activate. I seem to be making fair progress with designspark but it is one of those locked in to a pcb vendor things,

I will look at Kicad some more and try to find while I cannot edit a symbol. I need to get a 3pdt symbol. No pcb is planned for this project, adding FETs to my curve tracer adapters.



Jerry Massengale

Hi Jerry,

DesignSpark produces standard Gerber Photoplot and Excellon Drill files, which can be used with any PCB fabricator or imported into other software line CopperCAM for converting into PCB milling G-code.



I use this for making custom boards and it works well particularly for simple single sided PCBs where the cost of sending out becomes expensive. One needs a CNC milling machine of course :)

New in DS version 4 there is a tie in with a number of PCB manufacturing companies (e.g. PCB Train) for quotations and some may accept a native DS file rather than standard plots.

As an extra check I use GC preview to validate my design manufacturing files before sending them off.



It's worth double checking everything lines up, particularly with the drill file

Best wishes,
Susan.

On 12 January 2013 21:02, jerry massengale <j_massengale@...> wrote:

Hi,

Thanks for the answers. I tried Kicad and like it but it won't led me edit an existing symbol for some reason.

I will look at Kicad some more and try to find while I cannot edit a symbo

Jerry Massengale

Hi Jerry,

I suggest you ask on the Kicad mailing list
(kicad-users.yahoogroups.com). It is very active. I would not mess
around trying to use software when there is no support available, when
there is plenty of support on Kicad

Dave