Is Altium the best pcb design software or is there better?
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Zero to Expert in pcb design
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Re: Zero to Expert in pcb design
No, I'm afraid you'll actually have to do some work.
Nothing will auto-check a design beyond the wiring (netlist) and some basic spacings and clearance.
PCB CAD programs are all very basic. Every component footprint you have to check and verify yourself unless you can afford expensive third-party libraries. Knowing how to route traces for high speed, to avoid noise and EMC, you learn the hard way. A few books are on PCB design but the CAD programs are still quite stupid and don't have AI yet.
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Re: Zero to Expert in pcb design
How complex is the board that you are trying to design?
Altium is not cheap.Never stop learning
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Re: Zero to Expert in pcb design
Originally posted by redwireKnowing how to route traces for high speed, to avoid noise and EMC, you learn the hard way.
Originally posted by stjpick the software that has the largest component library - preferably with the ability to add user/3rd party library's
Originally posted by budm View PostHow complex is the board that you are trying to design?
Altium is not cheap.
If you're just doing one or two boards, pick "whatever is cheapest" -- or, farm it out to a service bureau. Only make the investment in the tool if this is a skill you want/NEED to develop and think you will have an ongoing set of future projects to justify the cost/investment you'll be making.
[I deliberately hold off hardware designs and board layouts until I have several that need to be done. Clustering them, like this, lets me amortize the RE-learning required (to get back up to speed with the tools) over multiple designs. Otherwise, you spend a lot of time trying to remember the quirks of each particular tool -- only to forget it, again, before you get around to the next design.]
[[ALL EDA packages have bugs. Familiarity with your package (from actual USE) helps you remember which "wacky behaviors" are the result of YOU doing something incorrectly vs. the tool screwing up ("known bug")]]Last edited by Curious.George; 07-04-2019, 05:39 PM.
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Re: Zero to Expert in pcb design
Originally posted by captainKKK View PostI kinda like Mentor Graphics PADS almost as well as Altrium. Proteus also has a lot to offer.
You have to decide what you want from the package. If you just want to layout some boards (and don't care about back annotating the schematic, etc.), then you have lots more choices than if you're trying to put together a whole package for Manufacturing.
My designs tend to be more complex and dense (6-8 layer padstack, components on both sides of the board, schematic sliced into several tiny boards which are "folder" together, etc.). So, I need the tools to handle lots of details that I could easily overlook.
For example, when the second "pane" of the board is folded behind the first, will any components on the BACK of the first pane mechanically interfere with components on the back of the second pane?
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Re: Zero to Expert in pcb design
Humm, Diptrace Full is only $995....I wonder if its Schemat Capture allows users to take a picture of any board and it will produce a likely pcb with components....? Is there anything out there with this capability? I like OrCad's licencing to VM, so I can take it anywhere.Last edited by captainKKK; 07-05-2019, 09:15 AM.
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Re: Zero to Expert in pcb design
Nobody does that, because nothing's smart enough to automatically figure out the number of layers a PCB has, and x-ray capability to figure out traces within internal layers.
Also, big components like transformers or inductors or even electrolytic capacitors can hide traces under their footprints making traces undetectable.
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Re: Zero to Expert in pcb design
You mean smart enough yet.....
How long do you think a chinese expert would take to conceive a new computer motherboard design and take it from design to production?
Did you know, Intel has a free tool called Embedded Board Planner? Through a web interface, you can for example design your own Intel Atom based processor board....https://www.fedevel.com/welldoneblog...6-motherboard/Last edited by captainKKK; 07-05-2019, 07:28 PM.
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Re: Zero to Expert in pcb design
Originally posted by captainKKK View PostHumm, Diptrace Full is only $995....I wonder if its Schemat Capture allows users to take a picture of any board and it will produce a likely pcb with components....? Is there anything out there with this capability? I like OrCad's licencing to VM, so I can take it anywhere.
(This is where having LOTS of display real estate pays off! Open schematic on one monitor, layout on another and have a third/fourth to call up datasheets for specific components on the board)
This is 100 times better than tracing foils by eye. But, still increibly labor intensive! What it really buys you is some reassurance that you haven't confused yourself (again!) when you flipped the board over to see where a signal at a particular feedthru continues along...
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Re: Zero to Expert in pcb design
Originally posted by stj View Postyou dont trace foils, you create a netlist from the component pins.
Or, do you think manually probing every combination of pin-pairs with for continuity is a RELIABLE way of doing this?
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Re: Zero to Expert in pcb design
Originally posted by stj View Postit's been reliable for me manually probing and building a netlist - i'v reversed some pretty large boards with many dozens of chips on them.
You must have great digital dexterity and eyesight to hold probes on SMT pads without them slipping off and touching a neighboring pad (which would give you "bad data").
I trust the machine to get those things right so I don't have to waste my time (and risk inaccuracies in the result).
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