Someone on another board said that the company is shutting down so they're releasing it for free, which if true, is what I suspected.
That would mean that future support and updates could be sporadic, or non-existent.
I downloaded it, will give it a try. Can never have too many tools at your disposal.
That would mean that future support and updates could be sporadic, or non-existent.
I downloaded it, will give it a try. Can never have too many tools at your disposal.
Yes !!!
edit: BTW, look at this: Micro-Cap User Articles
(I really don't know how they found it)
Cheers, E.
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does anyone remember the spice engine tests that were done some time ago?
not the ones on this forum (as i recall, the tests here had the intent to get a baseline for comparision of results), i think someone(s) in the industry did some simulator performance evaluations and put the results in a trade journal as a report or a letter (EDN or Electronic Design)?
I don't remember MicroCap, but I do remember LTSpice represented itself quite well.
i don't think there is any argument that MicroCap's interface is easier to use/learn quicker, but i'm curious about whiich is technically the "better" simulator. Better means faster, more accurate, fewer convergence issues, etc.
mlloyd1
not the ones on this forum (as i recall, the tests here had the intent to get a baseline for comparision of results), i think someone(s) in the industry did some simulator performance evaluations and put the results in a trade journal as a report or a letter (EDN or Electronic Design)?
I don't remember MicroCap, but I do remember LTSpice represented itself quite well.
i don't think there is any argument that MicroCap's interface is easier to use/learn quicker, but i'm curious about whiich is technically the "better" simulator. Better means faster, more accurate, fewer convergence issues, etc.
mlloyd1
Absolutely! The difference between LTspice and UC reminds me of the difference between command-line MS DOS and GUI. The latter allows more time for the job ( design and verification of circuit) whereas the former also needs time for the handbook of commands. In a few months of working with uC you'll have made more progress than continuing another 2 years with LTspice. File formats between the 2 are incompatible: LTspice won't run a .cir net list and uC won't run a .asc net list (they do load though, being valid formats). But because drawing a circuit with uC is so fast it isn't an issue.
What now IS an issue is that uC net lists aren't allowed as files to be shared by members.
Comparisons with other sim software?
Hi,
I have LTspice and Pspice, and havent ever really spent much time trying to get the best out of them.
I have experience of CircuitMaker (basic) and a couple fo years experience of MultiSim.
A free program such as MicroCap may suit me and my experience.
Thanks for the thread highlighting this SW
Hi,
I have LTspice and Pspice, and havent ever really spent much time trying to get the best out of them.
I have experience of CircuitMaker (basic) and a couple fo years experience of MultiSim.
A free program such as MicroCap may suit me and my experience.
Thanks for the thread highlighting this SW
Yes !!!
edit: BTW, look at this: Micro-Cap User Articles
(I really don't know how they found it)
Cheers, E.
Thanks Edmond. I started a new page under My Library: On SPICE simulation | Linear Audio NL
BTW I expect the development and debugging of uC to come to a grinding halt, while LTspice will continue to become better and more stable (I hope). So in that sense, I wonder what the best use strategy would be.
Jan
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Executive decision made
I made a disk image prior to installing this and having given it some thought I've rolled back. Mastering one sim program (LT) is enough and I'd rather expend the effort on furthering my knowledge of LT than starting from scratch with another rival program.
Also considered are the comments that it may not now be updated and that sharing of net-lists appears prohibited.
You don't have to. The "cd" version is self-contained: just unzip it somewhere and run mc12.exe or mc12_64.exe from there. No installation, no dll, no messing with the registry, etc... The setup.exe is optional.
For me, this is a big plus: I still have my fully functional LTspice installation alongside for a smooth transition, if any.
Compared to LT, MicroCap isn't just "another rival program", it's way more than that.
Yes !!!
edit: BTW, look at this: Micro-Cap User Articles
(I really don't know how they found it)
Cheers, E.
Bad news for the snake-oil lovers: the link for "Interference & Distortion Reducing Capabilities of Woven PowerKords™ - Ben Duncan" is broken.
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That's useful to know, thanks for that
I respect that viewpoint of course, and I guess in the end it is what you have become accustomed to using and are familiar with.
LTspice has a lot of optimisation for performance - very efficient solver, very smart utilisation of multi-core CPUs. This matters more for TRAN simulations of switcher circuits, which was the raison d'etre for its creation as SwitcherCAD for switch mode power supplies. But it applies if you want to do advanced work with Class D amplifiers, and these will surely become more common. Mike E's seminar covers a lot of areas where he feels LTspice is superior. That's natural, of course, but he did have tests and data to back it up, can be checked. The main points were the internal stuff that's not immediately obvious, the stability and accuracy of the solver, speed, and robustness of the internal mathematical models. He was a mathematical physicist rather than an EE so I suspect this reflects his interests as well as LT's market plans. As a bit of a nerd myself I liked his priorities
Best wishes David
Does Microcap have a VDMOS model for power FETs? That would be a deal-breaker for audio power amp simulations, to me.
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Fortunately, the link to the first item isn't broken.Bad news for the snake-oil lovers: the link for "Interference & Distortion Reducing Capabilities of Woven PowerKords™ - Ben Duncan" is broken.
For anyone installing the software on windows 10, it seems to only like running as administrator otherwise it crashes out (at least for me anyway).
To fix, it is just a case of right clicking on the "mc12_64.exe" file, click properties...compatibility tab...Tick 'Run as administrator' box.
Anyway, thought I'd mention it..
To fix, it is just a case of right clicking on the "mc12_64.exe" file, click properties...compatibility tab...Tick 'Run as administrator' box.
Anyway, thought I'd mention it..
After the seminar I received a link to the notes, so I assume in the public domain.
Best wishes
David
http://ltspice.analog.com/LTspiceSafari.pdf
http://LTspice.analog.com/LTspiceSafari.zip
The Zip file contains the slideshow version, except that Mike wrote his own version of Powerpoint because he didn't like Microsoft's.
Installation is described in the ReadMe
Would anyone like to check if Microcap has inherited the same defects of the Berkeley model that Mike shows for PSpice?
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Thanks.
While searching, I bumped into this video that's quite entertaining.
I'm a bit surprised Mike made the sparse matrix one of his 3 differentiators, which implies Pspice doesn't use it. It's a concept widely used in the computer field for the last 20 years or so, especially in databases, where the data structure mostly stores... nothing.
While searching, I bumped into this video that's quite entertaining.
I'm a bit surprised Mike made the sparse matrix one of his 3 differentiators, which implies Pspice doesn't use it. It's a concept widely used in the computer field for the last 20 years or so, especially in databases, where the data structure mostly stores... nothing.
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