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LT Spice Alternatives

 

Not a direct answer to your question, but ... yes, LTspice can be tough but probably no more than any other true SPICE package. I've presenting an?introductory?talk on the subject at FDIM. I'm not a super "power user" though.

If you have an .asc file that's giving you problems, you can email it to me (include any models not part of the program) and I'll see if I can figure it out. Sometimes a second set of eyes can find a problem.

73

Nick, WA5BDU


On Mon, Apr 21, 2025 at 4:30?PM k6whp via <k6whp=[email protected]> wrote:
Have been wrestling with LT Spice and the reticent LT Spice group* group mods. See other packages out there and wonder if I am missing something more friendly.?
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Friendly recommendations greatly appreciated.
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*Nice people but sort of engineers with a very low tolerance for dumb Biz Admin folks asking dumb questions about how to get the Spice models to display Bode plots and the eccentrics of plotting in general.
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William, k6whp
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"Cheer up, things could get worse. So I cheered up and things got worse."
 

I must have missed your initial post. I don¡¯t want to dismiss your feelings about LTSpice, but in my experience it is one of the easier Spice flavors. I may have to put this into perspective, my first interactions with computers were via cards, and even though my first version of Spice did not read from a card reader, it still required perfectly formed card input and produced long listings of ASCII output.?

Spend some time with it and go through some tutorials. I cannot promise that you will like it, but you should be able to use it.?

This is a class I did for our local club:
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Hope this helps,
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Karl Heinz - K5KHK?
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Karl and Nick,
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It was I who dropped the original post asking about alternatives to LT Spice. Because I don't like to clutter up the threads, if someone does not respond after a day or two, I drop the message.
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In this case, Karl, I am most grateful you provided your response and underlying video. Please know that your video provided a great deal of answers. Actually, it almost directly addressed my grief with LT Spice. Turns out I was having fits with the plotting that LT did and the resulting scales. FOR THE LIFE OF ME, I could not get the starting point, ending point, and ticks of an LPF analysis to cover the full desired range. That said, it lies in the type of analyes done, and the octaves (harmonics) options.?
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I've saved your video, Karl, and careful review should amp up my skill level with LT Spice greatly.
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A side remark, at approximately 1:10 in the video, you remarked that LT Spice was designed by engineers explaining the raggedy interface as opposed to software designed by someone used to creating "normal human" interfaces.
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I am a software developer of over 45 years and remember wondering why Fortran was so obtuse versus the COBOL or C/C++ or other code I wrote! So then there's that!
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Thanks again for your wonderful video and your time and help! I might offer some meager payback:
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..it is a filter design tool somewhat like but not as complete as ELSIE. However, it designs complex filters and also offers to two options/conveniences:
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(1) Will allow one to choose "standard" versus "exact" component values
(2) And allow the designed filters to be exported as either "Spice" or "QUCS" models.
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Vielen dank fur die hilfe! My gratitude for the Rosetta Stone. If OK, I'd like to bounce some questions off you as the mysteries clear.
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--
William, k6whp
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"Cheer up, things could get worse. So I cheered up and things got worse."
 

Hi William,
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I am glad my video helped a bit. I am no expert in LTSpice, I use it as a tool (just like I don¡¯t need to know the metallurgical ins and outs of building a hammer in order to use it ;) ), but if you have questions, I will certainly try to answer them.?

Karl Heinz - K5KHK
 

Nick,
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The problems I was having were, as I mentioned, getting LT Spice to "properly" display/plotting of a filter. Ironically,? the video that Karl made directly addressed the LPF I was working on. Then, by extension, his explanation pointed out that it addressed the means of how he did it. More to the point, it was how to set up the analysis to yield the results.
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I am now reviewing the video as it is loaded with juicy tidbits. I am most grateful to both of you for assistance!
--
William, k6whp
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"Cheer up, things could get worse. So I cheered up and things got worse."
 

Karl,
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Thanks for sharing you video. I looked at Spice many years ago and found it too confusing. Your video inspired me to take another look, so I downloaded the LT to my Mac.?

When I started and found a blank screen with no toolbar, I said uh-oh and thought maybe not.?

analog Devices sent an email a moment ago with some helpful information. One thing is a .pdf with all the shortcuts for both Windows and Apple users. Just what I needed! I will now proceed to battle this beast lol.?

Thanks again.?

Newt
N4EWT
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oh I should add the url from AD:
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I think I mentioned in the video that the Mac and the Windows version of LTspice are very different when it comes to the user interface. I am a Mac user as well, but I miss some of the features that the Windows version offers. ?I specifically used the Windows version for the class because we Mac users are usually in the minority.?

Karl Heinz - K5KHK
 

I went down the alternate road a while back and found QucsStudio (uSimmics). ?
The neat part is the tunable parameters section, change your L&C's on the fly with the sliders and watch the data plot(s) change in real time.
I believe there is a converter available to move LTSpice files into Qucs but never tried it.
72 John kc9on

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