What is your favorite PCB software?
in [Embedded]
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From: John Devereux on 12 Apr 2008 07:52 Anton Erasmus <nobody(a)spam.prevent.net> writes: > On Sat, 12 Apr 2008 01:40:16 +0000 (UTC), jhallen(a)TheWorld.com (Joseph > H Allen) wrote: > >>In article <pOidnUGOS6oVsGfanZ2dnUVZ_ramnZ2d(a)giganews.com>, >>Joel <joelbenway(a)gmail.com> wrote: >>>Just curious about what everyone uses. I've been using Orcad PCB editor. >> >>PADS Power PCB 3.5.1 (version from around 2000) and started with PADS for >>DOS. I would have started with DOS OrCAD PCB tool, but it was more >>expensive than PADS at the time. I have the Specctra auto-router for it >>(withdrawn when Cadence bought it). Never tried the Blaze auto-router. Oh, >>I used this with DOS OrCAD and Viewdraw. >> >>I've since used Cadance tools: Allegro and Concept. They annoy me. >> >>Actually that brings up another question: do people actually use >>auto-routers anymore? I used Specctra successfully on a bunch of PCB >>projects. Everyone who uses Allegro seems to hand-route everything. >>Perhaps the setup work to use the auto-router for high speed signals is as >>much as just hand routing them. > > I use an old version of specctra. Before Cadence bought them out. > Cadence has priced specctra so that only very big companies can afford > it. The full router is in the order of US$100,000. I have used > specctra with Tango PCB, Protel 98, Protel 99 and have tried it using > the Altium evaluation version. Even the old version of specctra I have > outperforms the latest router in Altium by a huge margin. One of the > demo boards which they use to demonstrate the routing capabilities of > Altium's auto router, routes in 8 layers using their router. This > takes almost 2 hours on quite a fast PC. Specctra routes this board on > 8 layers using the same design rules in less than 1 minute. It routes > this same board on 2 layers in something like 8 minutes, still using > the same set of design rules. > The only other router I have seen that comes close to specctra's > capabilities is the Electra router. This can be purchased at a > reasonable cost. There is even a Linux version available. Can any of > the open source packages use this router ? It uses exactely the same > file format as specctra. > AFAIK Pulsonix uses the Electra router. Vutrax uses this too. (Not open source but there is a free 256 pin limited version). I don't know for sure if the free pin-limited version works with the autorouter, would have to try it. > > Regards > Anton Erasmus > > > -- John Devereux
From: rickman on 12 Apr 2008 11:29 On Apr 11, 3:05 pm, Jon <a...(a)b.c> wrote: > On Mon, 07 Apr 2008 09:19:52 -0500, "Joel" <joelben...(a)gmail.com> > wrote: > > >Just curious about what everyone uses. I've been using Orcad PCB editor. > > I've been using Eagle for more than 5 years now. A little tricky to > use it. You don't select an object, and then choose what to do with > it. You first select what you want to do, and then you select objects > to apply that action to. That is a little odd at the beginning, but > once you get used to it, you work faster. > > Copy&Paste and Cut&Paste are somewhat odd. Cadsoft should improve > that. > > The C scripting language that it includes is very powerful. For > instance, if you need to place pads for LEDs, tracks, etc, with > circular symmetry (every 22.5ยบ, for instance), you can easily program > that. By hand, it would by a hell, not to say impossible. > > Best, > Jon I tried Eagle and the oddities of the UI were rather tricky to initially learn. Then I came back to it 6 months later and they were just as tricky to learn the second time! If you don't use a program very often, it is pointless to try to use such an odd bird as Eagle (so to speak). There are much better alternatives. As to the scripting, I have thought scripting could be useful, but I have yet to find a real need for it. Your example can easily be done by using a simple spread sheet table to calculate the coordinates for the 16 LEDs and copying them to the parts. At least you can do this in FreePCB since it lets you directly enter the coordinates if you want. That does give me an idea for a suggestion to the author of FreePCB. I don't know that a scripting capability is needed, but a hierarchical capability might be. That would let you combine say, four LEDs in an arc to be placed four times to form your circle. To be maximally useful, it should also include traces.
From: Anton Erasmus on 12 Apr 2008 15:28 On Sat, 12 Apr 2008 12:38:00 +0200, David Brown <david.brown(a)hesbynett.removethisbit.no> wrote: [snipped] > >For a completely different type of autorouting, have a look at these two >links (I haven't tried them myself yet). > >http://www.freestyleteam.com/index.php?topic=topor&lang=en >http://www.freerouting.net/ Thanks, these look very interesting, especially the topor router. It looks like they took the same Protel Demo board that it's router does in 8 layers, and do it in 2 layers using topor, the same number of layers that specctra also manages. The any angle routing should allow it to route "funny" shaped boards which is a problem with specctra. Regards Anton Erasmus
From: Guy Macon on 12 Apr 2008 15:00 David Brown wrote: >http://www.freestyleteam.com/index.php?topic=topor&lang=en also see: I just spent 20 minutes trying to find a price for the TopoR topological autorouter, AuTOP automatic component placement, and FSCapture schematic editor, with no luck. Does anyone know roughly how much these cost? -- Guy Macon <http://www.guymacon.com/>
From: Jim Granville on 12 Apr 2008 20:28
rickman wrote: <snip> > As to the scripting, I have thought scripting could be useful, but I > have yet to find a real need for it. Your example can easily be done > by using a simple spread sheet table to calculate the coordinates for > the 16 LEDs and copying them to the parts. At least you can do this > in FreePCB since it lets you directly enter the coordinates if you > want. Direct co-ordinate entry is always nice. I've used Scripting for downstream extraction, such as Pick and Place info, or BOMs, if you use Assembly variants. -jg |