Printed circuit board layout
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Posts: 46,084
Greetings,
Could a few of you give me suggestions on what printed circuit
board software you might suggest. I like shareware, so I can get the
feel of it before purchasing. I will only need to create double sided
boards. Thanks.
Regards, Theron
Could a few of you give me suggestions on what printed circuit
board software you might suggest. I like shareware, so I can get the
feel of it before purchasing. I will only need to create double sided
boards. Thanks.
Regards, Theron
Comments
Express PCB is one of the best. Free and downloadable. Just search for
"Express PCB on the web.
Sid Weaver
twiereng@muskegon.k12.mi.us writes:
board software you might suggest. I like shareware, so I can get the
feel of it before purchasing. I will only need to create double sided
boards. Thanks.
If you're not going to be making a lot of boards, (or doing it all the time)
I'd suggest using ExpressPCB (www.expresspcb.com). ·The layout software is
free, easy to use and their boards are very good. ·I recently used their
service to do a quick prototype and was thrilled with the service and quality.
And...if you can fit your layout into their mini-board format, you can get
three double-sided boards for about $60. ·That's a bargain compared to the
time and headache of etching and drilling your own boards -- let alone
collecting all the materials to do it.[/font]
They have a freeware version that limits you to 2 layers (top and bottom)
and 2.5 x 3.5" or so.
Tim
[noparse][[/noparse]Denver, CO]
> Greetings,
>
> Could a few of you give me suggestions on what printed circuit
> board software you might suggest. I like shareware, so I can get the
> feel of it before purchasing. I will only need to create double sided
> boards. Thanks.
>
> Regards, Theron
Eagle Cad. It's a little difficult to get used to (if you're used to a
windows environment), but I really like it's capability, and you're not
pin-limited, like some other companies "personal" versions. You are,
however, limited to a board of about 4"x6".
-- Mitch
Original Message
From: Theron Wierenga [noparse]/noparse]mailto:[url=http://forums.parallaxinc.com/group/basicstamps/post?postID=KduPcan42rcChszyASdVm_G43P1Mjtq9AtFGKdZZOkIzDTU0VubUfqHTXxTwbsQmPliXuQb5BXB8hJKHSTiWDNoqlQ]twiereng@m...[/url
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2001 10:51 AM
To: basicstamps@egroups.com
Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Printed circuit board layout
Greetings,
Could a few of you give me suggestions on what printed circuit
board software you might suggest. I like shareware, so I can get the
feel of it before purchasing. I will only need to create double sided
boards. Thanks.
Regards, Theron
in this month's Circuit Cellar Inc. The software I use is called Ares Lite.
The freeware version is limited to 100 holes. It's a Windows based program
and easy to use. It does double sided boards and 12 (or 14?) additional
layers.
Paul
Thanks for the tip, a very nice article.
Regards, Theron
Paul Verhage wrote:
> If you plan to develop more circuit boards over time, check out my article
> in this month's Circuit Cellar Inc. The software I use is called Ares Lite.
> The freeware version is limited to 100 holes. It's a Windows based program
> and easy to use. It does double sided boards and 12 (or 14?) additional
> layers.
>
> Paul
> Greetings,
>
> Could a few of you give me suggestions on what printed
circuit
> board software you might suggest. I like shareware, so I can get the
> feel of it before purchasing. I will only need to create double
sided
> boards. Thanks.
>
> Regards, Theron
Express PCB is very good and costs nothing. Only drawback is that
it's a proprietary format and you can only use it if you buy boards
from them. I've used all three of their services and have been very
happy with the results. Because of the setup costs for the production
level service, I never use it for small quantities - I combine 10 or
more designs (or repetitions of the same design) into a single big
(12 x 14) board, get 10 or 20 of them made, then cut them apart. The
cost per square inch is very low if you need that kind of volume, and
you get solder mask and silkscreening as well. If you only need a
few, their prototype services are good quality also, but more per
square inch.
Chuck
They offer a new service, which I haven't tried, similar to Express PCB for
submitting the board file directly to a prototype house, bypassing a Gerber
plot. I've used Winboard for both protos and final boards running around 600
pins. I like its track and pad editing and copper zone features, as well as
features for creating custom part modules. I also use Windraft for drawing
schematics, with parts linking to Winboard.
Dennis
Original Message
From: Chuck Davis [noparse]/noparse]mailto:[url=http://forums.parallaxinc.com/group/basicstamps/post?postID=NCIVP_WCKY4I5TFZ9nn0JqAxkn5vl3lV4MXGCJgwMYzrlbHMuAzyAAb1_vhXEAJbuHMgp6_OB5d5zcM1hVoJl0jOHw]cdavis@o...[/url
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2001 6:28 AM
To: basicstamps@egroups.com
Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Re: Printed circuit board layout
--- In basicstamps@egroups.com, Theron Wierenga <twiereng@m...> wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> Could a few of you give me suggestions on what printed
circuit
> board software you might suggest. I like shareware, so I can get the
> feel of it before purchasing. I will only need to create double
sided
> boards. Thanks.
>
> Regards, Theron
Express PCB is very good and costs nothing. Only drawback is that
it's a proprietary format and you can only use it if you buy boards
from them. I've used all three of their services and have been very
happy with the results. Because of the setup costs for the production
level service, I never use it for small quantities - I combine 10 or
more designs (or repetitions of the same design) into a single big
(12 x 14) board, get 10 or 20 of them made, then cut them apart. The
cost per square inch is very low if you need that kind of volume, and
you get solder mask and silkscreening as well. If you only need a
few, their prototype services are good quality also, but more per
square inch.
Chuck
wasn't > $1000.
If you ask me nice I'll tell you how to leverage more space out of it.
On Wed, 24 Jan 2001, Tim Goldstein wrote:
> Try Eagle http://www.cadsoftusa.com/
>
> They have a freeware version that limits you to 2 layers (top and bottom)
> and 2.5 x 3.5" or so.
>
> Tim
> [noparse][[/noparse]Denver, CO]
>
> > Greetings,
> >
> > Could a few of you give me suggestions on what printed circuit
> > board software you might suggest. I like shareware, so I can get the
> > feel of it before purchasing. I will only need to create double sided
> > boards. Thanks.
> >
> > Regards, Theron
>
>
>
>
Sean T. Lamont, CTO / Chief NetNerd, Abstract Software, Inc. (ServNet)
Seattle - Bellingham - Vancouver - Portland - Everett - Tacoma - Bremerton
email: lamont@a... WWW: http://www.serv.net
"...There's no moral, it's just a lot of stuff that happens". - H. Simpson