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Circuit Simulation Software... — Parallax Forums

Circuit Simulation Software...

idleupidleup Posts: 46
edited 2005-10-20 16:37 in General Discussion
I tried using the forum search to search for "circuit software", "simulation software", etc. and nothing comes up, I thought that was odd because I am sure this subject has been discussed before so I didnt want to rehash it...

Since there is no electronics places in fresno, I was thinking it would be cheaper to use some simulation software and stick a virtual voltmeter or whatever on circuits that I build with drag and drop components on a "virtual circuitboard". Does anything like that exists? Since there are probably many, I would ask more specifically the following:

1. Which is the cheapest?
2. Which is the best (regardless of price)?
3. Which is the most commonly used?
4. Do they all support IC's as well as the basic components?

I was doing a google search on same subject and found PSPICE. Does it fit any of the above categories?

Thanks, sorry if this was already discussed, I tried the search engine first!

- Matt

Comments

  • MikeSMikeS Posts: 131
    edited 2005-10-19 19:39
    Matt,
    Many Technical Schools use a product called Electronics Workbench. There is a student version (limited as to complexity of circuits·but a lot cheaper).


    http://www.electronicsworkbench.com/edu/edusal.html

    Mike S.
  • Tronic (Greece)Tronic (Greece) Posts: 130
    edited 2005-10-20 13:11
    For simple circuits you can use this little java circuit simulator.

    I usually use it to calculate the best cap - res combination or the power they consume in my circuits...

    http://www.falstad.com/circuit/


    Thanos



    PS. If you don't have java just install it from:· http://java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

    It has also Inport / export option to save the circuits as text.

    Load my latest simulation below to see what I mean...
    (just copy --> paste in simulator import window)



    $ 1 5.0E-6 13.200821376227164 54 5.0 51
    162 464 304 416 304 0 1.0 0.0 0.0
    162 464 352 416 352 0 1.0 0.0 0.0
    r 464 304 544 304 0 100.0
    r 464 352 544 352 0 100.0
    w 416 304 416 352 0
    w 544 352 544 304 0
    t 496 256 544 256 0 1 -4.982671320436001 -1.3021004716046614
    w 544 272 544 304 0
    r 496 256 416 256 0 1000.0
    t 480 192 416 192 0 1 0.5151147625474437 0.4977860830334451
    w 416 208 416 256 0
    r 480 192 480 144 0 100000.0
    w 480 144 368 144 0
    w 368 176 416 176 0
    w 288 224 544 224 0
    w 544 240 544 224 0
    R 288 224 240 224 0 0 40.0 5.0 0.0
    g 240 304 240 352 0
    S 304 128 368 128 0 true false 0
    R 304 128 240 128 0 0 40.0 5.0 0.0
    x 132 133 148 133 0 18 Enable pin
    x 134 180 150 180 0 18 40kHz osc
    x 171 232 187 232 0 24 Vdd
    x 171 312 187 312 0 24 Vcc
    w 416 304 240 304 0
    x 551 261 567 261 0 16 2N2222
    x 400 169 416 169 0 16 2N3904
    R 320 176 240 176 0 2 40.0 2.5 2.5
    w 320 176 368 176 0
    x 407 391 423 391 0 18 IR Leds
    x 35 50 51 50 0 24 IR LEDS DRIVER
    x 268 51 284 51 0 24 TronicGr for www.Greekbotics.tk
    x 411 79 427 79 0 16 http://www.falstad.com/circuit/
    o 0 64 0 3 2.5 0.025 0
    o 6 64 2 3 0.0390625 9.765625E-5 1
    o 27 64 0 11 20.0 3.90625E-4 2
  • idleupidleup Posts: 46
    edited 2005-10-20 16:22
    Thanos, that is really neat. Thanks for showing that.

    As for the electronics workbench that also looks great. Thanks for the response guys.

    - Matt
  • Paul BakerPaul Baker Posts: 6,351
    edited 2005-10-20 16:37
    Here are a few free ones I could find

    Digital Simulator http://www.mit.edu/~ara/ds.html

    Psifiak http://plaza.ufl.edu/angelbar/psifiak/psifiak.html·

    SIMetrix/SIMPLIS· http://www.catena.uk.com/

    SIMPLORER® SV http://www.101science.com/Circuitsim.htm

    5Spice http://www.5spice.com/

    List of various Spices: http://ngspice.sourceforge.net/spices.html

    PSpice (the original free spice) http://www.pdamusician.com/testtechniques/tools/

    and there are many more.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    ·1+1=10
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