On 09/11/2010 10:05 PM, Peter Gammie wrote: > On 12/09/2010, at 11:58 AM, NeonJohn wrote: > >> Last winter I decided to suspend all my project work and spend >> about a month looking at every PCB CAD package on the market in the >> approx $1,000 or less range. Man, what an adventure. I tried >> really hard to make KiCAD's layout editor work well enough to do a >> complex board but it failed miserably. I ended up buying an Eagle >> Pro license. OUch! > > Did you look at the (free) gEDA tools? I ask because the board > layouts for the BulbDial clock are quite beautiful, so the layout > program can't be a complete dog... can it?
It was one of the worst piles of steaming ..... that I looked at. gEDA is not a tool set. It is a collection of disparate programs written by different authors and linked together with command line format conversion programs. That was another one that I really wanted to work because I support GNU and because of the hype from the True Believers (TM). I'm sure that Michaelangelo could have done a masterpiece given only crayons to work with. So it is with gEDA. I marvel at the accomplishment of anyone who actually does a board with it. It's a fight against the program every step of the way. On the other hand, I am working in a professional environment using other people's money and so my CAD package has to assist me to the end goal of a functioning gadget and not be a hindrance that I constantly fight. I'll have to admit that I went into the project with a chip on my shoulder for Eagle because of its unorthodox user interface. I had casually tried it several times before and hated it. But like the other tools, my test was to actually enter the schematic for a real product and lay out a board. By the time I got through I realized just how well we were working together, Eagle and me. Enough that I popped for the package out of my own pocket. Eagle has some warts. There are lots of errors in the footprint libraries, especially those supplied by part vendors. Apparently no one at Eagle checks the part before it is incorporated into the library. My habit is now to check each new footprint in the footprint editor before I lay it down on a board. Someone wrote a program to convert all the Eagle libraries to KiCAD libraries so be aware that the same problems exist there. Silly stuff like no solder mask on one side or the other. Stuff like that. I REALLY hated to have to go with a pay package, both because of the nick to my wallet as well as my support for Open Source software. John -- John DeArmond Tellico Plains, Occupied TN http://www.neon-john.com <-- email from here http://www.johndearmond.com <-- Best damned Blog on the net PGP key: wwwkeys.pgp.net: BCB68D77 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/neonixie-l?hl=en-GB.
