Re: [PEDA] 3D Models Online

2004-09-17 Thread Darcy Davis
Hey Jason,

See my answers to your questions below.

Q1: Is it worth doing?

I've thought about the benefits of this previously. In my case however, I
don't think it would be worth it. Having dealt with alot of offshore
suppliers etc., we try to hedge our bets so to speak. We've been burned a
few times when a plastics shooting company doesn't give the necessary
clearances around components etc. As a result, when I model 3d components I
generally model them as MMC + 0.4mm per side and MMC + 0.2mm height. This
ensures that we get at least a minimal amount of clearance.

Another issue (which could be overcome) is the level of detail of a part.
For instance, I downloaded a model from Molex for their ZIF flex socket
(51374) that has every feature modelled to the point where it can be opened
and closed. For my purposes, this is far more detail than necessary and only
slows down my CAD system. I only need the basic outer dimensions and enough
detail for any mating parts (in the case of connectors etc.)

It would also be far more beneficial to have the models in native CAD format
rather than a generic format like .stp or .igs so that features can easily
be removed or added. I typically like to set up my models so that they can
be placed manually or used in an IDF conversion program. Therefore, I build
them using the same reference locations as used for the part footprints in
Protel. 

Q2: What do you think is a good price for a model of the following?

I'll pass on this question for lack of experience.

Q3: Would you use the service?

Though I think it would be a beneficial service for some, I would prefer to
keep our 3d modelling under my own control due to the uniqueness of the
issues we face. However, I can see certain situations (such as a time
crunch) where being able to download the model would be useful. I think the
need for this service would increase if the Protel - 3d (IDF) conversions
worked better (I've trialed IDF modeller, and use Qualecad, but only for
Protel 99SE).

Hope that helps,
Darcy Davis
Design Engineer,
Dynastream Innovations, Inc.









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Re: [PEDA] v large pcb document

2004-09-02 Thread Darcy Davis
If my memory serves me right, there is another trick here. I beleive Protel
takes into account hidden comment and designator strings on the PCB when
it attempts to find the boundary of your design. At least this has been my
experience using Protel 99SE. The solution? If you can afford to turn on all
designators (use a global change) you should be able to then see them and
move them back into the board space and rehide them. 

If you've done much work organizing which comments and designators are
hidden/shown than you won't want to do this. You could do a global select on
all components where comment and designator are hidden. Again, use a global
change to show all comments and designators and then fix the problem
component. Once complete, rehide the comments/designators that are selected.


Or, if you've got too many combinations of shown/hidden comments and
designators just copy the design (or PCB) to another name and turn on all
designators. You can then use this to determine which components are the
problem and fix them selectively in your original design/PCB.

By the sounds of it, you'll know the commands/menus to check and fix this if
this is the problem. If you need more detailed instructions let me (or the
list) know.

Darcy Davis
Design Engineer,
Dynastream Innovations, Inc. 

-Original Message-
From: Dave Courtney [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: September 2, 2004 7:58 AM
To: 'Protel EDA Forum'
Subject: Re: [PEDA] v large pcb document


Thanks for the interesting thought but I don't think that is the problem. I
did check for off sheet primitives with all layers on but nothing showed up.
When I select 'View | Fit Document' the board becomes a small patch at the
bottom left hand corner and the coordinates of the top right are X:9mil
Y:99760mil. This would suggest that the document size has been maximized for
some reason. The 'View | Board' and 'View | Sheet' options work fine.

Can I move the layout onto a new board to fix this?

Regards,

Dave


-Original Message-
From: H. Selfridge [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
Sent: 02 September 2004 06:37
To: Protel EDA Forum
Subject: Re: [PEDA] v large pcb document

This is a problem that crops up regularly in all versions of Protel.  It is 
likely that, at some point in laying out your PCB, some primitive or 
component accidentally has been moved or placed outside your work area.  It 
may even be on a layer that you have turned off, such as a mechanical layer 
used for notes or mechanical layout.

First use turn on used layers to make sure all is visible.  If you can't 
see the culprit, try using deselect all then select outside and  draw 
your selection box around the perimeter of your desired board layout 
area.  Now use shift delete to delete all selected items.  Whatever is 
outside the selection box should be deleted.

You can also try the same select outside and then drag the selection into 
visual range so you can delete it.

At 03:42 PM 9/1/04, you wrote:
I am using DXP +SP2 and have a PCB design where the document size is very
much bigger than the board. Because of this I can't get a print preview or
generate Gerber files. In the latter case I get a 'film too small' error. I
don't know how the document size got changed but I would very much
appreciate a way to reset it to the same as the sheet so I can make some
output files. All suggestions welcome.
Regards,
Dave
snip 









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[PEDA] Missed messages (Was P99SE installation)

2004-08-05 Thread Darcy Davis
Has anybody else noticed that they're missing messages from the list server?
I often read a response to a message I never got in the first place. For
instance, I got John Ross's response to Alfonso's message below, but I never
received the original message from Alfonso. In some cases, I haven't even
seen my own message redistributed by the list server.

I've taken this up with the administrator before, but wanted to find out if
its a common occurance before I bring it up again.

Darcy Davis
Design Engineer,
Dynastream Innovations, Inc.

-Original Message-
From: John A. Ross [Design] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: August 5, 2004 4:10 AM
To: Protel EDA Forum
Subject: Re: [PEDA] P99SE installation


 -Original Message-
 From: Alfonso Baz [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
 Sent: 05 August 2004 06:47
 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Subject: [PEDA] P99SE installation
 
 I'm curious if anybody else has noticed the following when 
 installing P99SE
 SP6 on either WIN2K or WINXP.
 
 Recently I upgraded my PC. I noticed after a clean OS install 
 followed by installation of my usual software packages, 
 windows Start-Help and Support didn't work. Also 
 right-clicking My Computer on the desktop and selecting 
 Manage failed to respond.
 
 Thanks to XP's system restore, I found the offending software 
 installation.
 P99SE

Alfonso

I have XP here for some time now on all workstations (I suspect most
others users now have XP also) and the ones with P99SE are fine, 2 of
them also have DXP2004SP1 installed as well as other applications.
Mixture Dell4500/4600 and 8200/8250/8300/8400's different PU speed and
meory types (SD/RIMM/DDR)

Never seen the issue you report.

Sorry I cannot help, except to say that it should work.

John





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Re: [PEDA] stopping second instance of 99SE

2004-07-26 Thread Darcy Davis
Hey Dennis,

I can certainly understand your motivation here. We have a similar situation
here, although I sometimes like being able to start more than one instance
of 99SE as it allows me to reference one design on one monitor, and another
on the other monitor. 

Forgive me if you were already aware of this, but instead of double-clicking
the .ddb file, you can drag and drop it right into whichever instance of
Protel you're working out of. Works great so long as you can override your
instinct to double click.

Darcy Davis
Design Engineer,
Dynastream Innovations, Inc.

-Original Message-
From: Dennis Saputelli [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: July 26, 2004 11:15 AM
To: Protel EDA Forum
Subject: Re: [PEDA] stopping second instance of 99SE


i couldn't find the thread you mentioned either

i wrote protel support about this
we will see if they answer, so far not yet

what is driving this in part is that we have a zillion projects
all over the place in fairly complex directory structures

we often open mnay DDBs for either design reference or to swipe
details or parts

if you use protel to drill around to open files, then aside
from a lot of worthless time spent, it leaves protel
pointing to the wrong folder for the next operation

we have a couple of good file managers that will pop us to the
right spot with minimal fuss 
so the working method here is to locate the file then apply it to
the app, works great for autocad and PDFs and most other progs

Dennis Saputelli


[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 
 Steve,
 
 I think you may have misunderstood me. IFF my memory serves me
 correctly, the discussion was about disabling only the second execution,
 not dis-associating the .ddb extension from Protel or otherwise
 compromising the natural windows double-click execution of a program
 based on association(s).
 
 Though admittedly, is there isn't another method, then what you're
 suggesting is probably the only thing that Dennis can do to stop the
 second (or third...) instance from occurring when a .ddb file is
 double-clicked...
 
 aj
 
 -Original Message-
 From: Steve Wiseman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Sent: Friday, July 23, 2004 6:49 PM
 To: Protel EDA Forum
 Subject: Re: [PEDA] stopping second instance of 99SE
 
 23/07/2004 16:51:09, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 
 I think I remember someone once-upon-a-time (Like Ian
 maybe?) saying
 that multiple instances was a defeatable within p99, either thru
 the ini
 files or perhaps a registry setting..
 
 It's easy enough to just  stop .ddb , .sch, .prj, .pcb and whatever else
 you're likely to double click on being associated with Protel.
 Fire up regedt32 (from task manager, if you can't find it elsewhere),
 then go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, SOFTWARE, Classes, and delete (click on,
 then hit 'DEL') .ddb and all the others you fancy killing off. That'll
 stop them launching Protel when you double-click, but Protel will still
 be entirely happy to open them. job done, without all this messing about
 with application launcher, counting copies, and the like. The icons may
 no longer be as pretty in file manager. Tough.
 
 Steve

-- 
___
Integrated Controls, Inc.   Tel: 415-647-0480  EXT 107 
2851 21st StreetFax: 415-647-3003
San Francisco, CA 94110 www.integratedcontrolsinc.com






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Re: [PEDA] Board warpage?

2004-07-20 Thread Darcy Davis
Further to Steve's point on mechanical stresses on the components...

The feasibility of the suggestion from your assembly house may depend on
where in the process the boards warped. If the bare board was warped when
the solder solidified on the components, then straightening the boards
without reflowing the solder will place the components under stress. This
will be the case even if no external force is applied to the board (ie, even
if they are just soaked on a flat surface at 150F). 

If the bare boards warped as they cooled after reflow/wave, then it is
likely that the solder solidified before the boards warped, causing the
components to be under stress as we speak. If this is the case (unlikely),
then straightening the boards would actually releive the stress.

I haven't been in this business long enough to know how hard on components
it would be to reflow them a second time. From a mechanical perspective, the
best solution would be to reflow the solder, straighten the boards while the
solder is still molten and then hold it straight till the boards cool. You
might still need to go through a soak period at 150F before the boards would
stay straight. Of coarse, running the components through an oven twice could
do much more harm than good, not to mention the difficulty in straightening
a board at 400 degrees.

As Dennis suggested, be careful. Almost anything you do to these boards will
shorten their life. Its just a question of how much, and what is the risk if
they fail.

Darcy Davis
Design Engineer,
Dynastream Innovations, Inc.


-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: July 20, 2004 9:55 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [PEDA] Board warpage?


In a message dated 2004-07-20 11:46:57 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:


 A partner in a manufacturing effort is sending us full populated
 boards (ICs and passive components) that are badly warped.  We sent
 them back and rather than get the boards remade and repopulate them,
 they want to heat the boards up (fully populated) for three days at
 150 degrees Fahrenheit in order to straighten them out.  These boards
 perform an extremely important job and I'm worried about the stress
 on both the electrical components and the boards themselves.  Should
 I allow them to do this or should I demand the boards be remade?
 

My answer would be, It depends. 150F is 65C, and most commercial spec 
electronics components are rated to operate up to 70C, and often rated to
survive 
even hotter when unpowered. If all they want to do is let them sit on a flat

surface at 150F for three days, and you've got a reliable test procedure for
the 
boards before they go into a higher-level assembly, and you can spare the 
extra three days, I'd say quietly thank them for the extra burn-in. If they
plan 
to apply some force to encourage the boards toward flatness, I'd be a lot
more 
concerned, particularly given that trying to bend the boards with the solder

already solidified will place some fairly large stresses on component leads,

and at that temperature the plastic cases will be somewhat more yielding - 
possibly transferring the stresses to the internal bond wires. You might get
some 
internal opens that way, but what would really worry me would be the
possibily 
of getting an almost open, that would later fail under normal usage 
vibration.

There would be a lot of other factors involved, like the potential cost of 
later field failures, product liability, your future relationship with this 
manufacturing partner, etc., that only you could evaluate.

Steve Hendrix


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Re: [PEDA] SOT-23 pinout

2004-07-16 Thread Darcy Davis
I wasn't going to stick my neck out but...What works for us is to have a
common PCB footprint (We use the same as Mira and others) and then we create
a unique schematic part for each part# we use. The pins of the schematic
part are mapped to the generic pad numbering in the layout footprint. While
reviewing, I no longer bother to try figure out the mapping. I just pull up
the datasheet and the PCB layout and check if the physical connection goes
where I want it to. 

On a side note...until I started this process, we had to do the dead bug
thing more than I care to admit. The worst part is that legacy [incorrect]
footprints still exist in older designs waiting to strike the next time we
rev a board.

Don't get me going on the lack of clear datasheet mechanical information!
Overconstrained parts, missing dimensions, lack of regard for controlling
units etc. all make me see fuzzy. Technical drawings aren't that hard are
they? ;-)

Darcy Davis
Design Engineer,
Dynastream Innovations, Inc.



-Original Message-
From: Ian Wilson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: July 15, 2004 10:46 PM
To: Protel EDA Forum
Subject: Re: [PEDA] SOT-23 pinout


On 02:15 PM 16/07/2004, Dennis Saputelli said:
..snip..

BTW remember the To92's that were ECB ? (or was it BCE ?)
just get out a bit of sleeving and your solder sucker and you
were all set
quite a bit harder to deal with in the case of SOTs though


I have seem prototypes with SOT-23 upside-down with the gull-wing legs bent 
to meet the board.  It would have been done in a small production run 
except reverse pinned versions were available.  Worse think about this was 
that another design done shortly after suffered the *same* problem - I 
couldn't believe the lack of care and attention to detail.

Ian



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Re: [PEDA] SV: Licenses

2004-06-30 Thread Darcy Davis
I'd use mylar and tape if I could turn boards as fast and as cost
effectively as with Protel. Unfortunately, doing 6 mil trace and space could
be somewhat frustrating ;-) Ultimately 2004 has to pay for itself eventually
if its going to be worth upgrading. From what I've read thus far, it would
be awhile (if ever) before I could turn boards any faster in 2004 than in
99SE. Once I get up to speed, then it has to save me ~100 hours (depending
on your loaded labour rate) or a couple board spins due to mistakes. Just to
do the math for you, if it improved my efficiency by 10% (a pretty large
improvement), it would take 900 hours on DXP2004 (1000 on 99se) for it to
pay itself off. At 40 hours a week, thats 22.5 weeks. If you only use it 50%
of the time, it would take a year for it to pay off (at which point we'd be
deciding whether to upgrade to the next latest version). That's a somewhat
simplified view, but it doesn't take into account the initial productivity
hit while learning the new tool.  

For most companies, its a pretty difficult metric to gauge without actually
trying it. The point remains...If I knew Altium was putting its resources
into making the basic features better, I could be better assured that it
would improve my productivity and therefore would be more likely to upgrade.
I can't say whether its a good choice for Altium or not, but I can certainly
tell you that for me, the new features just add to the cost without adding
to productivity

Darcy

-Original Message-
From: Protel Hell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: June 30, 2004 9:02 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [PEDA] SV: Licenses


I wouldn't agree with that, FPGA is kinda like Windows was in the mid 90's, 
the CAD that didn't make the transition either died or suffered. That's 
probably the main reaon PADS is #1, they were the first to be a true Windows

ap. The others that didn't do it died, the ones that didn't do it quick 
enough floundered. Some stiil haven't done it right. With you guys refusing 
to move off your precious 99SE to DXP there wouldn't be anybody that wants 
DXP other than those who want it for it's FPGA capability. DXP is not 
efficient enough for board layout only, it has to offer SOMETHING other than

it's low cost to hook people. They are trying to be a complete solution for 
the 21st century but you guys are stuck in the 1980's. Bring back the DOS 
version! may as well bring back mylar and tape!

PH

From: - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reply-To: Protel EDA Forum [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: Protel EDA Forum [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [PEDA] SV: Licenses
Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 22:03:32 +0200


If Altium/Protel had spent their development resources on their core
business (SCH + PCB design tools) instead of believeing they could conquer
the market providing all other dev. tools (simulation, fpga etc), they 
would
have been no. 1 today.

Regards

A former Protel reseller


-Oprindelig meddelelse-
Fra: Protel Hell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sendt: 29. juni 2004 21:47
Til: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Emne: Re: [PEDA] Licenses


Altiums Protel will never be number 1, it is just too cumbersome. Fine for
people who have plenty of time but little $$

PH

 From: Joe Sapienza [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Reply-To: Protel EDA Forum [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 To: Protel EDA Forum [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Subject: Re: [PEDA] Licenses
 Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 13:56:57 -0400
 
 Mike,
 
 I doubt that PADS schematic can overtake anythingend comment
 
 With regard to Orcad yes in it's day (DOS) it was the absolute best, 
hands
 down. Something happened when it went to Windows then Cadence bought them
 and well..
 
 
 Joe
 - Original Message -
 From: Mike Reagan [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 To: 'Protel EDA Forum' [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 1:48 PM
 Subject: Re: [PEDA] Licenses
 
 
  
   That is pretty interesting data gathered here.  The interesting part 
is
 that
   Cadence has been successful in trashing OrCAD from number 1 to a has
 been.
   I doubt if PADs schematic has overtaken OrCad.
  
   Mike Reagan
   EDSI
   Frederick MD
  
  
  
  
  
  
   -Original Message-
   From: Tom Hausherr [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
   Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 1:30 PM
   To: 'Protel EDA Forum'
   Subject: Re: [PEDA] IPC-2581  IPC-7351.
  
  
   Bill,
  
   I just talked to Mentor Graphics PADS division and they say that since
 the
   1st release of PADS Software in 1985 they have logged 85,000 licenses.
   PowerLogic (schematic) and PowerPCB (layout) are separate licenses.
  
   There are currently 18,000 PADS-PowerPCB seats on yearly maintenance.
  
   It's my personal guess that there are about 35,000 PADS-PowerPCB seats
 in
   use. There are many people using old licenses that are not on yearly
   maintenance due to financial hardships over the past 4 years.
  
   Tom
  
   Tom Hausherr
   PCB Libraries
   CEO, Director of Technology
   858.592.4826 Phone
   847.745.0450 Fax
   E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
   Website: http://www.PCBLibraries.com  

Re: [PEDA] SV: Licenses

2004-06-29 Thread Darcy Davis
Amen to that! I haven't used Protel that long, but overall, have been fairly
happy with it. I basically learned Protel99SE  completely on my own and find
it to be a fairly intuitive package. Unfortunately, we're in the same boat
as many others on the list, where we are evaluating the upgrade to DXP/2004
and trying to determine whether its worth it for us. Due to the kind of
designs we layout, we primarily use the schematic capture and manual PCB
routing features. We manually route all our designs due to the high density
components and the need to lower production costs by using the oldest
technology feasible. I would have liked Altium to spend its time improving
these basic features rather than adding all the useless extras. The only two
features I've found that I like so far in 2004 are the control of design
varients, and the 3d modeling (since I have to do that entirely by hand as
well). 

Darcy Davis
Design Engineer,
Dynastream Innovations, Inc.

-Original Message-
From: - [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: June 29, 2004 2:04 PM
To: Protel EDA Forum
Subject: [PEDA] SV: Licenses



If Altium/Protel had spent their development resources on their core
business (SCH + PCB design tools) instead of believeing they could conquer
the market providing all other dev. tools (simulation, fpga etc), they would
have been no. 1 today.

Regards

A former Protel reseller


-Oprindelig meddelelse-
Fra: Protel Hell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sendt: 29. juni 2004 21:47
Til: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Emne: Re: [PEDA] Licenses


Altiums Protel will never be number 1, it is just too cumbersome. Fine for
people who have plenty of time but little $$

PH

From: Joe Sapienza [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reply-To: Protel EDA Forum [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: Protel EDA Forum [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [PEDA] Licenses
Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 13:56:57 -0400

Mike,

I doubt that PADS schematic can overtake anythingend comment

With regard to Orcad yes in it's day (DOS) it was the absolute best, hands
down. Something happened when it went to Windows then Cadence bought them
and well..


Joe
- Original Message -
From: Mike Reagan [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: 'Protel EDA Forum' [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 1:48 PM
Subject: Re: [PEDA] Licenses


 
  That is pretty interesting data gathered here.  The interesting part is
that
  Cadence has been successful in trashing OrCAD from number 1 to a has
been.
  I doubt if PADs schematic has overtaken OrCad.
 
  Mike Reagan
  EDSI
  Frederick MD
 
 
 
 
 
 
  -Original Message-
  From: Tom Hausherr [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
  Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 1:30 PM
  To: 'Protel EDA Forum'
  Subject: Re: [PEDA] IPC-2581  IPC-7351.
 
 
  Bill,
 
  I just talked to Mentor Graphics PADS division and they say that since
the
  1st release of PADS Software in 1985 they have logged 85,000 licenses.
  PowerLogic (schematic) and PowerPCB (layout) are separate licenses.
 
  There are currently 18,000 PADS-PowerPCB seats on yearly maintenance.
 
  It's my personal guess that there are about 35,000 PADS-PowerPCB seats
in
  use. There are many people using old licenses that are not on yearly
  maintenance due to financial hardships over the past 4 years.
 
  Tom
 
  Tom Hausherr
  PCB Libraries
  CEO, Director of Technology
  858.592.4826 Phone
  847.745.0450 Fax
  E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  Website: http://www.PCBLibraries.com  http://www.PCBYellowPages.com
 
 
  -Original Message-
  From: Brooks,Bill [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
  Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 9:50 AM
  To: 'Protel EDA Forum'
  Subject: Re: [PEDA] IPC-2581  IPC-7351.
 
  I wonder just how many licensed seats there are of Protel in the
world
  is that published anywhere?
  Also I wonder if Pads has published the same info?
 
  I didn't participate in the poll so it's at least off by one.
  LOL...
 
  I would venture to say Protel may have more seats that Pads... but they
are
  mostly not in the Southwest of the U.S.
 
  How about it Altium... how many active seats of Protel are there?
 
 
  Bill Brooks
  PCB Design Engineer , C.I.D., C.I.I.
  Tel: (760)597-1500 Ext 3772 Fax: (760)597-1510
  http://pcbwizards.com
 
  -Original Message-
  From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
  Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 5:28 AM
  To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  Subject: Re: [PEDA] IPC-2581  IPC-7351.
 
  According to what statistical method?
 
   -Original Message-
   From: Tom Hausherr [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
   Sent: Monday, June 28, 2004 7:09 PM
   To: 'Protel EDA Forum'
   Subject: Re: [PEDA] IPC-2581  IPC-7351.
  
   Ian,
  
   We took a poll and Protel is number two in worldwide
   installations (behind PADS).
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 




_
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[PEDA] 3d viewers.

2004-05-17 Thread Darcy Davis
Hey Guys,

As a consumer products development company, we're continually trying to
shrink our pcb into a smaller form factor. Therefore, it would be really
nice to be able to export 3d files that we could assemble into 3d plastics
models in order to do clearance checking etc. This is a necessity for us,
however right now I do this manually. I know there are a couple products
available as add-ons for Protel99SE. Has anybody used either View3d, or
Protel IDF 3d Modeler from Desktop EDA? What do you think of them?

Darcy Davis
Design Engineer,
Dynastream Innovations, Inc.


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[PEDA] Warning and Violation count in DRC (Long post)

2004-05-13 Thread Darcy Davis
Hey Guys,

I think this may have been discussed previously, but I couldn't find
anything in the archives. When I run a manual DRC, I often get the line
Violations Detected: 8, or sometimes a warning count instead, even though
no violations are listed. Does anybody know what the violation/warning count
refers to?  I've pasted an example DRC report below.

Thanks,
Darcy Davis
Design Engineer
Dynastream Innovations, Inc.


Protel Design System Design Rule Check
PCB File : XX.pcb
Date : 13-May-2004
Time : 08:53:43

Processing Rule : Component Clearance Constraint (Gap=-100mil) (Is in
component D500 ),(Is in component D501 )
Rule Violations :0

Processing Rule : Clearance Constraint (Gap=0mil) (Is in component J202
),(Is in component J202 )
Rule Violations :0

Processing Rule : Clearance Constraint (Gap=0mil) (Is in component J301
),(Is in component J301 )
Rule Violations :0

Processing Rule : Short-Circuit Constraint (Allowed=Allowed) (Is on net AGND
),(Is on net GND )
Rule Violations :0

Processing Rule : Clearance Constraint (Gap=6mil) (Is a Via  ),(Is a Smd Pad
)
Rule Violations :0

Processing Rule : Hole Size Constraint (Min=0mil) (Max=200mil) (On the board
)
Rule Violations :0

Processing Rule : Pads and Vias to follow the Drill pairs settings
Rule Violations :0

Processing Rule : Width Constraint (Min=6mil) (Max=30mil) (Prefered=6mil)
(On the board )
Rule Violations :0

Processing Rule : Broken-Net Constraint ( (On the board ) )
Rule Violations :0

Processing Rule : Short-Circuit Constraint (Allowed=Not Allowed) (On the
board ),(On the board )
Rule Violations :0

Processing Rule : Clearance Constraint (Gap=10mil) (On the board ),(On layer
BottomLayer And Is a Polygon  )
Rule Violations :0

Processing Rule : Component Clearance Constraint (Gap=25mil) (On the board
),(On the board )
Rule Violations :0

Processing Rule : Component Clearance Constraint (Gap=0mil) (Is in component
J301 ),(On the board )
Rule Violations :0

Processing Rule : Component Clearance Constraint (Gap=0mil) (Is in component
J202 ),(On the board )
Rule Violations :0

Processing Rule : Clearance Constraint (Gap=460mil) (Is a Polygon  ),(Is a
Keep-Out  )
Rule Violations :0

Processing Rule : Clearance Constraint (Gap=6mil) (On the board ),(On the
board )
Rule Violations :0


Violations Detected : 8
Time Elapsed: 00:00:56


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Re: [PEDA] DataBase Size too big!

2004-05-10 Thread Darcy Davis
This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand
this format, some or all of this message may not be legible.
Click on the down arrow to the left of the file menu then go to design
utilities. Click on the compact tab and browse to your database. AFAIK,
access databases don't actually delete information until manually compacted.

BTW, the design must be closed in the main explorer window for this to work.

Darcy

-Original Message-
From: Michael Biggs [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: May 10, 2004 9:20 AM
To: Protel EDA Forum
Subject: [PEDA] DataBase Size too big!


 After designing a PCB in 99SE SP6 and my database file keeps getting
bigger. Of coarse I always save different file names of my design every
so often. But here is my question, after I have deleted all the extra
files and deleted my recycle bin files why is my database file still
very large? I could start a new database with the extracted .pcb file
and it seems to keep all the rules and preferences, but is this the only
way?
 I know this has been discussed somewhere, I just couldn't find it in
the archive.
Thanks,
 Lomax always has good answersnay quick answers?




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Re: [PEDA] Need more software

2004-04-14 Thread Darcy Davis
Mike,

I'd be really interested in more information on this if you're willing to
share it. 

Darcy Davis
Design Engineer,
Dynastream Innovations, Inc.

-Original Message-
From: Mike Reagan [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: April 14, 2004 9:15 AM
To: 'Protel EDA Forum'
Subject: Re: [PEDA] Need more software




Mike wrote:

[Snip]
We found a way to create virtual components which are  used as component
keep outs  to fool 99SE into thinking it was 3D. It works both online batch
in 99SE.
[Snip]

Mike Reagan












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Re: [PEDA] A DXP annotation feature?

2004-03-18 Thread Darcy Davis
I don't have an answer for you regarding the DXP stuff. However, I am
running P99SE on WinXP. What did you mean by won't work?

Darcy Davis
Design Engineer,
Dynastream Innovations, Inc.

-Original Message-
From: Ray Mitchell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: March 17, 2004 3:05 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [PEDA] A DXP annotation feature?


I don't use DXP myself but a coworker here has no choice since 99SE won't 
work on WinXP.  Anyway, when it came time to annotate his schematic to get 
rid of all the question mark designators he went through the standard 
procedure.  When it was done he found that several schematic symbols had 
been arbitrarily moved to other pages and plopped down right in the middle 
of nowhere!  In addition, some existing symbols had been duplicated and 
placed in arbitrary places on arbitrary pages.  Therefore, his solution is 
to simply go through all 12 pages of his schematic every time he annotates 
in order to correct DXP's errors (or should this be considered a 
feature?).  Has anyone seen this behavior?

Ray Mitchell
Engineer, Code 2732
SPAWAR Systems Center
San Diego, CA. 92152
(619)553-5344
[EMAIL PROTECTED]  

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Re: [PEDA] Placing Components on top of each other

2004-03-02 Thread Darcy Davis
Hey Guys,

I just thought I'd add my support that you can place components on top of
each other. We do it all the time for various different reasons. I typically
use a 0mil clearance instead of a negative value however. Additionally, I've
found that in order for the DRC to work correctly, I sometimes have to run
it a couple times. I made a sample file so I could verify that it still
works (you never know!). I'm assuming I can't distribute it via the list,
but anyone who is interested can let me know.

Darcy

-Original Message-
From: Ian Wilson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: March 2, 2004 2:52 AM
To: Protel EDA Forum
Subject: Re: [PEDA] Placing Components on top of each other


On 08:17 PM 2/03/2004, Jason Morgan said:
You need to use a negative component clearance rule distance.

e.g.

IsFootprint('Footprint1') and IsFootprint('footprint2')
Clearance = -5000mil

You need to enable 'Full' clearance rule checking which can be slow.

Trent,
Looks like Jason is using DXP queries as shorthand, but there is footprint 
scope in P99SE so it is should be easy enough to convert.

Jason,
Negative component clearance checking has never worked for me in P99SE or 
DXP.  I would love a simple example PCB that shows negative component 
working.  This has been a pain for me for ever.  Any chance of making up a 
sample design, Jason?

Thanks,
Ian




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Re: [PEDA] PCB ascii files.

2004-02-26 Thread Darcy Davis
Yeah, I've got ~100 GBs free right now. The design used to be stored on a
network drive (though the incriminating file was a local temp file). I just
tried moving the design to a local folder and got the same result. I'm
wondering whether its a limitation that windows puts on the profile for each
user. I'm going to see if I can redirect Protel to use a different folder
for its temporary files.

BTW, it may be a silly question to an experienced user. But, on a list, you
never know the users skill level. Even then, it could have been a simple
answer I overlooked...I've learned by experience that If it doesn't
work...check that its plugged in.

Darcy

-Original Message-
From: Terry Creer [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: February 25, 2004 9:19 PM
To: 'Protel EDA Forum'
Subject: Re: [PEDA] PCB ascii files.


Silly question, I know - but have you got enough hard-drive space available?

TC

  -Original Message-
  From: Darcy Davis [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
  Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2004 4:27 PM
  To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  Subject: [PEDA] PCB ascii files.
  
  Hey Folks,
  
  I've been getting an error while trying to save a PCB file in 
  ascii format in Protel 99SE sp6. I get the message
  
  Design Explorer Error!
  File C:\\Temp\xxx.tmp is too large.
  
  When I track down this file, I find it to be 53,259,703 
  bytes. (50.7Mb). I know this process works on smaller 
  designs.  I can delete polygons etc from the design and 
  eventually it will work, but it certainly isn't a good design 
  practice. I've already tried things like using a different 
  computer, closing all other programs/files, cut/paste into a 
  new pcb file. I can't seem to find a clean way around this 
  problem. I'm currently running Protel 99SE under windows xp 
  on a P4 2.8GHz with 1Gig of ram, so I don't think its a lack 
  of resources. Any ideas? Does Protel DXP solve this problem?
  
  Thanks,
  Darcy
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 


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