PCB Design Software

[Reactance]

Hi,

Can some please let me know where i can download TRAXMAKER libraries, I tried using google but i cannot seem to find a reliable source ??

I’m mostly looking for common transistor and capacitor component packages example : TO3-BL,TO-220 ect I suck at drawing the component package from scratch !

I have another problem im using protel 5.0.0.1 but when i try to save my work i get an odbc error i installed the service pack 1 still nothing , i tried installing the odbc 3.0 driver still nothing, the error message is as follows : Mircosoft odbc error string cannot be truncated
whats up with that ???


P.S
I just luv protels 3D view of the PCB!! and huge database of components, really looks good, Traxmaker is very good indeed, and very easy too use, not to mention very tightly integrated with circuitmaker 2000.


Any advice will be highly appreciated,

By the way my version of P3A will be coming soon !! stay tuned !

Thanks in advance !

 

[VS]

Hi,

In fact the site www.circuitmaker.com (where the libraries could be found) as changed to Altium Limited....

I have the full libraries however, what you really want ?

Regards,
VS

 

[adx]

The other day I found a schematic + PCB package from a place here in new Zealand:

Rimu PCB
http://www.hutson.co.nz/rimupcb.htm

From a quick hack it looked ok, though I haven't tried to do a board in it. It's about 100 times cheaper than Protel (which I use in my day to day work), which would be of great interest to me, had I not already paid 100 times as much for Protel...

May be worth checking out.

 

[sagarverma]

protel from altium is very good.

go for it if u have deep pockets.i used its 30day trial,really liked it very much,but cost too much for diy''ing.its autorouter is the best i have seen till now.very powerful.


eagle is more than sufficient for a diy''er.very good for its price.value for money and a powerful package.good autorouter.



express pcb is for 'paint' level people.very intutive,simple.i will call it impotent.recommended only for very very basic circuits.

moreover,it is a big fraud.i spent three days making circuit on this ****** program and when i took out prints,what i got was dotted pcb,all traces shorted in printout.i had to reinvent the wheel later on on eagle.

 

[pinkmouse]

The other day I found a schematic + PCB package from a place here in new Zealand:

Do you have it? What file formats does it import? What are the component libraries like?

 

[BrianDonegan]

The PCB app imports Protel and Tango. Schematic doesn't import anything, but does include a simulator.

 

[Mrttg]

For me protel is the bes tools... take a look to this free cad:

http://www.lis.inpg.fr/realise_au_lis/kicad/

http://www.freepcb.com/

Ciao Mrttg

 

[pinkmouse]

It's a shame none of thes packages has sorted out an Eagle import function yet. I suspect the first decent one that does will do very well.

sagarverma- autorouting for audio PCBs? I hope you're joking...

 

[adx]

Yes, Rimu SCH / PCB supports a simulator and PLD compiler! (though not internally). The schematic is quite similar to drive as Protel, but more point and click and less menu keys. Decent libraries (enough to get you going anyway). Both sch and pcb have neat features like having the most commonly used generic parts like resistors and caps on a toolbar for easy access.

Rimu PCB is still quite similar to drive as Protel in some ways, but I really notice the differences. Libraries appear to be more complete/sane than Protel, but remember Protel has long legacy of old libraries to deal with. Rimu PCB libraries come with physical and silkscreen layers, which is nice. They might even be usable as-is (I almost never use a Protel footprint as-is) - the guy who made Rimu PCB appears to be a PCB designer, the same can't be said for Protel (by their own admission). Rimu PCB does copper pours nicely, and some aspects of track editing a vastly better than Protel's, although some things I can't seem to do. Until I did a board with a few hundred parts I wouldn't really know.

Never tried Eagle but it looks good from the walkthrough on their website. I personally wouldn't bother changing from one package to another unless there is a good reason - especialy for hobby use.

Protel is good these days (as in not completely infuriating to use), but their latest (Protel 2004) attempts to be much more than a PCB package, with FPGA design, simulation, software development. I sometimes think PCB layout is getting left behind. I design products for mass production, that means boards full of generic parts not FPGAs! The core PCB functionality is VERY similar to early Windows versons (and Autotrax), which is good from a use point of view, but the new features that are actually useful (some extremely useful I must admit) are few and far between.

 

[Leolabs]

I have tried numerous,still Express PCB is my favourite.The only main drawback is the grids problem.Well,I use some sorts of virtual printer,like the Zan Image Printer to print out and get rid of them(the grids) with just the Microsoft Paint

 

[sagarverma]

pinkmouse::

i dont like to 'guide' each trace to its destination.all that SLUGS.
not joking,but i use autorouter even for simplest of the simplest circuits.

when u have the facility,use it!!



serious advise for all::

please avoid express pcb at all costs.it is free ,its tooo easy ,.................. but in the end,if u take print outs of your pcb,u r in for a big dissappointment.



-----------------------------------------------------------------
KARIZMA-JET,SET,GO..................

 

[pinkmouse]

pinkmouse::

i dont like to 'guide' each trace to its destination.all that SLUGS.
not joking,but i use autorouter even for simplest of the simplest circuits.

when u have the facility,use it!!

In my experience, autorouters can't even lay out power traces properly, let alone audio, with its need for proper grounding and signal path layout.

If you're going to do a job, you might as well spend a little time to do it properly. After all, the PCB plays a major part in the ultimate success or failure of a project.

A good book that covers a lot of the issues in PCB design is "The Fields of Electronics", by Ralph Morrison. Well worth a read.

 

[sagarverma]

http://alternatezone.com/electronics/files/PCBDesignTutorialRevA.pdf

a very good tutorial for pcb making.good for a diy'er.

In my experience, autorouters can't even lay out power traces properly, let alone audio, with its need for proper grounding and signal path layout.

try protel from altuim and your views will change forever.


---------------------------------------------------------
KARIZMA-JET,SET,GO........................

 

[BrianDonegan]

PCB Express is designed for use with their board making service, which is why the dots appear in the printouts. They want you to have them make your boards.

 

[sagarverma]

PCB Express is designed for use with their board making service, which is why the dots appear in the printouts. They want you to have them make your boards.

geeee thanks for this wonderful info.no one knew this!!!!!!!!!

----------------------------------------------------------
KARIZMA-JET,SET,GO.........................

 

[pinkmouse]

]try protel from altuim and your views will change forever.

As I can't even afford Eagle, what's the point of going through the process of ordering the 30 day demo version of Protel?

Could you post a schematic and the resultant PCB you have autorouted with Protel, so we can have a look?

 

[rfbrw]

[

try protel from altuim and your views will change forever.

Unless thing have changed radically and for the better, he'll discover just how bad an autorouter can be.

 

[pinkmouse]

Unless thing have changed radically and for the better, he'll discover just how bad an autorouter can be.

 

[sagarverma]

As I can't even afford Eagle, what's the point of going through the process of ordering the 30 day demo version of Protel?

well 30day demo is free.no money to be paid.just download and use it.after 30days it expires,if u can afford it,then buy it or else do what i did,uninstall it.

Unless thing have changed radically and for the better, he'll discover just how bad an autorouter can be.

i dunno what all u desire from the autorouter to do,but the arangements that were difficult for eagle to route,are done quite easily by protel.its great but costly(for diy'er)

 

[adx]

>In my experience, autorouters can't even lay out power traces properly, let alone audio, with its need for proper grounding and signal path layout.

try protel from altuim and your views will change forever.

You MUST be joking!

Actually, I did, and they did

Apparently the autorouter is quite good these days, but I "would never" use it on a client's board, let alone for an audio design. (Then again I get paid to lay out boards.)

I would find it more useful if the autorouter could assist me with manual layout - have it do the donkey work while I give it a 'guiding light'. It's sort of designed to work that way but not really. You can define track widths, clearances from various nets and autoroute one track at a time etc, but really it'll just put tracks anywhere it wants.

AFAIK most computer motherboards with their gazillions of tracks and layers are hand routed. The Big Guys have tools to vastly ease push and shove of equal-delay busses and even whole sections of board, and might use an autorouter to finish off the last few annoying stragglers, but in general it's not cost effective or space effective to autoroute.