On Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:54:43 -0000 "oniamien" <oniamien.angelf...@gmail.com> wrote: Hi Welcome to Kicad.
First do note that the tutorial is rather old, most of it still applies and you should go through it a few times just to get the hang of how to do things. You will find the tutorial in kicad/doc/tutorial/ Also, there are much more detailed help files included with the each kicad program, you can access these from the help menu or read them directly. They are all pdf files located in kicad/doc/... Do take the time to read the help files, there is a lot of useful info in them. It is down to you to check that the package and pins are correct. Most are. But as you get into various projects you will find the need to edit or create your own modules. The thing to remember is that the pin number on the component in eeschema will map to the same pin number on the module. However the pins can be in any physical location. I must admit that I've never come across the need to physically shift a pin number around, but I can think of a couple of packages I've used in the past where that might have been necessary. CVpcb does NOT know anything about different pin assignments, it's purely a program to allow you to assign modules to components, That's where YOU decide on what module to use. If you print out the footprint documentation you will find a set of drawings off all the included footprints. I think that is the file you are referring to. There is an icon to access this on the top toolbar on CVpcb, but like other documents, it is in the doc directory, again it's a pdf file. I have a printed copy beside me when selecting components, it's quite handy. For the components in the tutorial, they should be in the list...Ahh looks like a change in names happened sometime, try DIP-16_300 With the standard set, you will not find many filters. (The 7400 has a couple.) Components can come is all sorts of packages. The physical package will be defined somewhere on the datasheets, and there can be loads of them. It's down to the manaf. as to which ones they use. However they are fairly sensible most times...at least for the common components. Usually it's you as the circuit designer that determines which particular package to use. e.g. if you were making a very small device, using surface mount components, then you would choose the various SM packages, and not something like a dip 16 300 :-) So you would already know what packages to use. Andy > Hi! I am new to Kicad and learning to use it for an independent study at > college. I have been going through the Kicad mini tutorial on the wiki and I > have looked at the FAQs, but I have been having some issues. > > 1. Considering that Kicad has you put down a diagram of the chip on the > schematic first with out associating a chip package to it (i.e DIP or QFP) > how do I know that when I set the association in CVpcb that the pins will be > correct since pin numbers can change drastically between packages for the > same component. The components you use in the schematics generally have the > function of a pin and its number on them, but I don't see how CVpcb will know > how to reassign them if you choose one package as opposed to another. In the > tutorial it does say there is some file that can describe the associations, > but it doesn't say what that file is. Any clarification on this subject > would be appreciated. > > 2. I downloaded the version of Kicad that is supposed to have libraries, > docs, etc., already loaded in it, but I seem to be missing some things from > my installation. For example, in the mini tutorial you need a to use the > 16dip300 footprint, but this is not in my list of footprints in CVPCB. > Furthermore, it says that you can narrow down the available options by > selecting filter footprints, but not one component I have looked at has had > any filters on it. In other words, for every component I have tried from the > preinstalled library, the filtered list is exactly as long as the unfiltered > list. Was there a different package I was supposed to download? I downloaded > > KiCad-2009-02-16-final-WinXP_full_with_components_doc_autoinstall.zip > from > http://iut-tice.ujf-grenoble.fr/cao/ > > If this is not the version with complete files then please let me know, or if > it should have worked I would appreciate any advice about what might have > went wrong. > > 3. Also, on the subject of narrowing down footprints to use, I wanted to > know how I would figure out what footprint a chip had if the library did not > include a list of options, or if I wanted to make a new library myself. Some > information is obvious, like if a chip has 16 pins and is a DIP than that is > easy to figure out. But, using the example I asked about previously, how > would I know to use the 16dipâ€_300â€_ footprint? It may be the case that > that particular question is moot if that is the only kind of package (i.e. > there is no “400â€_) but what I would like to know is generally whether the > information will be in the datasheet for the component, or if there is > someplace I could look on the internet to learn about these footprints. > > Thanks for all your help and expertise. > > > > ------------------------------------ > > Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your > question. > Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of > Kicad. > Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your > symbols/modules to the kicad library. > For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the > kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-develYahoo! Groups > Links > > >
