You have no idea what I would do for a hobbyist level program that provides schematic capture and pcb layout, that is easy to use.
I’ve tried using TinyCAD and FreePCB, but I discovered that TinyCAD is riddled with bugs. I tried eagle but the trial’s board size it too small, not to mention the program has an odd UI.
I would love to see an Express PCB, or Pad2Pad style program for use with the BatchPCB service.
I suppose this isn’t possible is it?
DynamoBen:
I tried eagle but the trial’s board size it too small, not to mention the program has an odd UI.
An educational license is available for EAGLE for (I think) $45. This unlocks pretty much all features (more than 2 levels, no board-size restrictions, etc). The UI has its roots in CAD program UI, so yeah, it takes a little getting used to, but, like any program, work with it for a while and it becomes second nature…
Easy-PC is very easy to use, and is about the about the same price as Eagle: http://www.numberone.com
Leon
I would be looking at about $700 to go that route.
I’ve just started playing with this, haven’t designed a board with it yet, but it is GPL’ed and can handel 16 copper layers (gEDA can only do 8 ), and has an active user group at yahoo. “Easy” is a realitive notion, so I can’t speak to that, but worth a look.
Yes, it sounds crazy but this packages KILLS the windows packages. It takes a bit to learn it, but once you know it, it ROCKS. I can draw a schematic in 1/3 the time it takes for me to do so in a crappy package like Orcad Unison Suite. Orcad for DOS also DOES NOT crash. It was written in C long before sloppy C++ programmers got ahold of keyboards and began writing miserably bad code. It will do multiple layer PCB’s and the library editors are very easy to use. Check out the Yahoo Group OldDosOrcad for more information. Getting it set up on your PC and some of the file outputting are really the only quirks with Orcad for DOS
DynamoBen,
Sorry to dig up an old thread, but did you try out kicad? If so, did you find it useful?
Thanks,
Ben
I tried Kicad at one point but did like it. I ended up with diptrace, they recently released a home version. They do have a free version, but you have to pay to create gerbers.
DynamoBen:
I tried Kicad at one point but did like it. I ended up with diptrace, they recently released a home version. They do have a free version, but you have to pay to create gerbers.
Thanks a lot for the quick response – I’m assuming (due to the use of the word “but”) that you mean you didn’t like kicad? If so, is there anything about it in particular that you disliked?
Thanks,
Ben
I use WinQCad…It is free up to 499 pins. I have a 1000 pin copy for $300 bones.
It has a way superior autorouting feature, and has surpassed All of the applications that I have seen others suggest.
I have developed 6 Boards with it and have not had any problems.
Eagle is hard to use, other software is buggy, but this program is straight forward from Project beginning to Project End.
WinQCAD
“The free version is restricted to 499 pins and a PCB including more than 100 pins can’t be printed.”
The Gerber Files can be created…you just can’t print graphics onto pdf.
A work around…I love it. I will give it a try.
Just FYI, but PCB (gEDA’s layout editor) has a default limit of 16 copper layers, not 8 (you start with 8, but you can add/remove layers as needed), and there’s one #define in the sources where you can set it to anything you want (I’ve tested it as high as 53 layers).
There are no other restrictions (other than available resources) made by these programs, and they work on Unix, Linux, Windows, and MacOS/X.
I’ve been using Target 3001 (www.ibfriedrich.com) with good success. Cheap…
I don’t like the built in autorouter, but the rest seems to work OK.
They’re very responsive to customer needs.
Anybody know of a good tool to panelize gerbers?