Hi John, for those of us that may not have the cash to invest in this kind of software would it be possible for a laid out PCB design in Ki-Cad to be exported as a Spectra design file which you could route in Diptrace and then send back the routed spectra file to the Ki-Cad user for post processing ? The other thing that comes to mind is that all the existing S100 designs will need to be maintained through any revisions/updates so I guess what I am asking above would be the process to maintain existing boards. regards David Fry
On Monday, June 23, 2014 6:17:54 PM UTC+1, monahanz wrote: > So what are we going to do folks? We need a long term solution to make > these boards. > > I tried the QAutorouter by Mike. Mine just hung (will contact him to find > out why), but no matter what way you look at it he is just starting off and > it will take a long time to have a version that works with boards of our > complexity. This is clearly an early work in progress. We should help > but there is no way it will fit our immediate needs. > > I have been reading reviews of various packages, Just Google DipTrace & > KiCad for example see here:- > http://provideyourown.com/2012/choosing-pcb-layout-software/ > > DipTrace generally seems to come out on top. It is a commercial package, > they charge by IC pin count. Up to 300 (apparently unwritten) 500 pins, > are free in demo downloads. You can use any board size you like. There > is a built in a huge library that contains as best I can tell all the chips > we commonly use. Some of our simpler boards could probably get by with 500 > pins. The thing that is impressive is the routing. It (before your eyes) > moves all the IC's around and at lightning speed does the routing. If I > also remember correctly (it's been 5 years), there is no pin limit on the > drawing schematic, it just for the routing. > > I know the price may be too much for some, but frankly considering the > few board we actually get out a year, I for one would have no problem here > processing them for others. I can just set aside an old PC dedicated box > to do it. May even be a way to let people outside use it... > > The one catch is there would be some effort (and danger) in the onetime > laying down of the basic S100 board (or others), getting the dimensions > and connector spacing's right. > > Way back (about 5 years ago), I actually helped a guy do a simple S100 > bare board where he did all the basic work (by trial & error). I'm kicking > myself because I lost track of him and while I once had it, I cannot now > find his library file. > > I'm going to find out/try their forum to see if anybody has done a S100 > board. I'm wondering also if one could splice KiCad data into DipTrace, > will ask. > > Can others please comment on this important issue as it will have > potential major impact on our long term plans and direction > > John > > > > > > http://provideyourown.com/2012/choosing-pcb-layout-software/ > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] <javascript:> [mailto: > [email protected] <javascript:>] > Sent: Monday, June 23, 2014 6:51 AM > To: [email protected] <javascript:> > Subject: Re: [N8VEM-S100:4347] Re: FreeRouter No longer available. Long > term plans for Board layouts > > Hi > > This is my nightmare come true. Some of you will recall my concerns > earlier about our almost complete dependence on FreeRouter and my calls for > another autorouting solution. It looks like the time for QAutorouter may > have arrived at last. > > As soon as I get back tonight I will remove the FreeRouting files on the > wiki. If the copyrights are in question we have to move away from > FreeRouting. Fortunately KiCAD is still usable without FreeRouting. > > Thanks and have a nice day! > > Andrew Lynch > > -------------------------------------------- > On Sun, 6/22/14, yoda <[email protected] <javascript:>> wrote: > > Subject: Re: [N8VEM-S100:4339] Re: FreeRouter No longer available. Long > term plans for Board layouts > To: [email protected] <javascript:> > Cc: [email protected] <javascript:> > Date: Sunday, June 22, 2014, 9:02 PM > > Ah - thanks for the > clarification. > Dave > > On Sunday, June 22, 2014 7:42:11 PM UTC-5, monahanz wrote:Perhaps we’re > OK Dave. It’s just that the “Zuken” (whoever he/it > is) is accusing the author of copyright infringement etc. It may be he > will want Andrew to remove the link as well. Time to download it/use it, > may be limited!!!John From: [email protected] [mailto:n8vem...@ > googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of yoda > Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2014 5:18 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [N8VEM-S100:4336] Re: FreeRouter No longer available. Long term > plans for Board layouts I don't understand what the problem is ? The code > is here http://n8vem-sbc.pbworks. > com/w/browse/#view=ViewFolder& param=FreeRouting-net and works fine? > It is actually easier to run locally then from their web site. Am I > missing something? Dave > > On Sunday, June 22, 2014 5:41:53 PM UTC-5, monahanz wrote:It looks like > the http://www.freerouting.net/ web site for FreeRouter is no longer > available! This leaves us with a big problem making PC boards with KiCad. > (Fortunately I happen to have the PC version here for my own use), but it > opens up a general question as to how we do PC boards (S100 and others) > in the future. Personally I'm having a hard time getting things done > with KiCad. The PCBNew program seems (to me) very "finicy" in making files > for Freerouter. I'm wondering what other people think about a more > "All-in-one" PC CAD program. I once used a program called DipTrace (they > have a free version for up to 500 pins to try it out). See here > http://diptrace.com/. The thing that impressed me was the speed in which > it converted the schematic into an actual board file and Gurber files. > There was only one program, one interface. Personally I would spring for > paying for the 1000 pin commercial version (or heigher) , I and perhaps > others, could run batches for others. The main issue is that for any > program we would have to build a library for the S100 connector, board > dimensions and presumably a number of other things. I would be interested > in hearing comments by others on a way to proceed. Has anybody else used > CAD programs they like. Anybody got experience with DipTrace John -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "N8VEM-S100" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send > an email to n8vem-s100+...@ googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/ optout. > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "N8VEM-S100" group. > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send > an email to [email protected] <javascript:>. > > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "N8VEM-S100" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected] <javascript:>. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "N8VEM-S100" group. 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