The way I learned it, from an engineer who worked at Intel for many years doing this stuff, was that the only serious tools in this space were text based, as the gui ones hid too much and provided less flexibility. Yes, you can still use text files, but it's not their default. (I don't remember his other problems with them, but he had fought them for years to try to make them do what was needed and said that they were not adequate.)
As I remember, in his opinion all 'real' engineers used hspice when they had the funding for it, as it was a very expensive package that really did a decent job. (He was kind of in the mode of simulation being a fallback from testing with the real thing and having a true understanding of what was going on.) For us, as students, he had us download the free ngspice as a good alternative to hspice for someone on a budget. Not as many options, but didn't try to hide the messy stuff from you like LTspice. There might have been accuracy quibbles with LTspice also, I don't remember. He was also of the opinion that all real embedded programmers had to use Vi or Emacs, if that helps you get a feel for him. Anyway, that's just one data point, but in his view LTspice was a crutch for people who couldn't be bothered to do it the right way. To be fair, once you get used to doing it fully in text files, it is much quicker, and easy to fix errors (once you can find them.) He would view someone using LTspice as a 'maker' level person, not a serious engineer. As one side-note, KiCad can export the same type of netlist that can be used in a Spice program, so you can actually use KiCad to graphically develop your circuit netlist before setting up the simulation conditions that you want to run in spice. Oh, I remembered also that the text-based spice programs are completely scriptable, so you can set up all kinds of simulations to tweak variables or run Monte-Carlo type setups to get the computer to optimize stuff for you. (Especially helpful if you don't fully understand what the impacts of changing this or that value might be. Though better would be to understand and calculate what you want, of course, but if you're just playing around, this can sometimes lead to getting a good 'feel' for things.) Erik On Fri, Mar 22, 2019 at 1:47 PM <[email protected]> wrote: > And the usual disclaimer: simulation results are only as good as the > questions you ask. You can get absurdly wrong answers from > simulation; you need to learn what you can simulate profitably, and > what you just need to do with pencil & paper. Or, simulate, then back > it up with prototypes. > > Quoting [email protected]: > > > It depends on how committed you are to open source. The more or > > less industry standard, unless you're doing really serious big > > circuits, is LTSpice. It's free-as-in-beer, not open-source, and to > > add insult to injury it's a Windows program. > > > > But -- they've taken pains to keep it Wine compatible, and the only > > blatently commercial aspect of it is that the only parts that come > > pre-defined are Linear Technology ones (although Linear's been > > bought by Analog, so things may change). > > > > https://www.analog.com/en/search.html?q=LTSpice > > > > There are open-source simulation tools out there, but they've been > > overshadowed by LTSpice, and frankly, I haven't used them. > > > > When you start actually laying out boards, KiCad is pure open-source > > way to go. > > > > Quoting Roderick Anderson <[email protected]>: > > > >> I'm looking into circuit design and simulation ... for the > >> sub-novice and lazy person. > >> > >> I've had one electronic technician class circa 1978, one circuits > >> class circa 1982 and almost no experience in the field. > >> > >> Now I'm interested in playing around with some circuits I've run > >> across for amateur (HAM) radio fun. Building is fine but > >> understanding how they work and what might happen if they are > >> enhanced/modified is my goal. > >> > >> I've seen several posts on this list from people that probably know > >> which end of the iron is hot. So I'm hoping for some suggestions > >> on software for the causal user. > >> Before I put in a pile of time installing and trying each I'm > >> asking for experiences here. > >> > >> What I'm looking/hoping for is a GUI based; drop parts in connect > >> them then run a simulator to see what is happening. I have > >> ng-Spice installed but I still need to chose a GUI front end. > >> > >> For those that might still be interested I have two circuits for > >> doing MCW (Modulated CW). One is so old the text on the sheet and > >> components in the circuit is done with a typewriter. :-) The > >> other uses a 555 timer and actually has photos of the build process. > >> > >> Despite my interest in how they work we will probably still build > >> them as projects so Technicians and above can use their HT radios > >> to practice Code locally. > >> > >> > >> And that went places most probably aren't interested in but makes > >> me feel better about asking. :-) > >> > >> > >> TIA, > >> Rod > >> -- > >> KAYSEVENZEDBAKEREASY > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> PLUG mailing list > >> [email protected] > >> http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug > > > > > _______________________________________________ > PLUG mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug > _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
