[kicad-users] Re: Plotting without sheet border
--- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, seroxatmad seroxat...@... wrote: Hi I am after plotting my schematic to a HPGL file so i can import it into front panel designer. Is there anyway to disable the sheet border? There is if you print instead of plot. For both schematics and boards there is a print frame ref checkbox (that is on by default) in the print dialog. So, just un-check the box and do a print to file with a compatible HPGL printer and you should be good to go.
[kicad-users] Re: Importing drawings in PCBNew
The file (dxflib_commercial_license.txt) that give some info on dxflib licence in the downloaded dxflib was very unclear. In fact the dxflib site is unclear and very poor about the license: The dxflib license appears only in a FAQ ... Yes, it is indeed rather vague on their website. However, the source code files themselves do contain a short form reference to the GPL: ** This file may be distributed and/or modified under the terms of the ** GNU General Public License version 2 as published by the Free Software ** Foundation and appearing in the file LICENSE.GPL included in the ** packaging of this file. so it looks like it is okay for use in GPL'd projects. Also, FYI, the library seemed to build okay under a default MinGW 5.1.4 installation. Haven't done anything with it yet, though. ;-)
[kicad-users] Re: Importing drawings in PCBNew
--- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, gayphil78 gayphi...@... wrote: I'm not developper and can't say if difficult or not to do . I'm sure even an external app giving dxf2brd file loadable in the drawing layer by kicad would be great . Not an obligation to implement inside Kicad ... We just have to load the matrix result in kicad as a common board, then rename it to the good filename which fit with the EEschema one ... But for sure, it would be greater to have it natively inside Kicad ...;-) I'll *probably* do this using RibbonSoft's dxflib, using MinGW to create the Windows executable. The source will be included and the whole thing will be GPLed so the core developers should be able to pick it up for the mainline code without too much difficulty.
[kicad-users] Re: Arduino duemilanove shield footprint
--- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, Frédéric COIFFIER frederic.coiff...@... wrote: Hello ! I can use your arduinoshield.lib in schematic but how can I use arduinoshield.emp ? PCBnew doesn't seem to recognize it. In the Module Editor, from PCBNew, open your local module library (or create one if you don't have it!) and import the .emp file from the import module button on the top button bar. Save the module in your working library and you should be good to go.
[kicad-users] Re: Looking for the LM556 chip in the Libs ??
--- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, acidb...@... sunblast...@... wrote: Hi there ! I'm trying to do a board for the Atari Punk Synth. Im doing the schemtaic but ive' run into a snag of sorts. I need to use a LM556 chip, dual timer, but i can't find it in the libs. Im running Unbuntu 9.04, using 0.0.20080825c-1 version. I know you can add more components to the libs but i can't seem to find one for the LM556, I guess it's called the LM556CN now,according to Mouser. I've search thru the entire Lib pretty much and i just can't find. So I'm kinda stuck ATM. Any help would be great,I'll even throw in a twinkie ! to the person that points me in the right direction. It's easy, easy, easy to make a schematic symbol. Open the library editor from the schematic screen (it's on the top button bar), add the pins with names and numbers, draw a rectangle for the shape and you're (mostly) done. There are a few details regarding things like power pins but the help files cover this very well. Save your personal symbols in your own library so that future updates to the base libraries don't overwrite yours. One possible gotcha is that you'll need to remember to add your library to new projects and save the project options. It's just a couple of clicks but if you forget to do that, you'll wonder where your new parts went to.
[kicad-users] Re: 90angle crossing wire - how to do?
--- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, stefaca666 stefaca...@... wrote: in place where are 2 wires are cross in 90degre angle I want to fill like in picture. how? As Robert mentions, it's pretty easy to do this by making a small turn in the track from the pad as it reaches the perpendicular track and then a second short, mirror-image section that turns in the other direction.
[kicad-users] Re: Placing components on commercially manufactured prototyping boards
--- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, Dr.WhoDr.Who paulgusci...@... wrote: I am just starting to think about using KiCAD for capturing some small circuit designs so that I can create nice printed documentation. For initial prototypes, and when I expect that I will only create one unit as a simulator, I plan to use commercially manufactured prototyping boards such as the BusBoard Prototype Systems Solderable PC Breadboard http://www.busboard.us/bps-br1.htm http://www.busboard.us/bps-br1.htm . How could one use KiCAD cvpcb and/or pcbnew to show the traces and hole patterns that exist on the commercially manufactured board, then place the components where they will go on the board? I don't believe there's an existing library for this, but there's nothing preventing you from creating a template board file with just the tracks, and then open a copy of that template onto which you would place your components. AFAIK, the design-rule-check (DRC) may not see the pads as connected to the traces unless they land iexactly/i co-incident, so you're assuming more of the responsibility of checking that all and only the right things are connected. With that in mind, however, it should work. Alternately, there is a layout program that's designed to work with stripboard-style protoboards. Kicad can create netlists that it can read, so you will get routing and DRC capability. The program is VeeCAD; it's over at http://veecad.com and there is a free version available. Stripboards are available from various vendors. One I've found on the 'net with decent prices is Futurlec at http://www.futurlec.com/ProtoBoards.shtml
[kicad-users] Re: PLEASE help....Anyone out there???
--- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, kajdas kaj...@... wrote: But you always need to have the vias/nodes connected with traces first. Not with the most recent release. If a net is first selected when laying out a zone then the fill will add connections (using thermals) to pads that are part of that net. The resulting connections will (mostly) pass DRC so they are truly seen as connected. Zone fill is not 100% perfect -- some pads that appear to be connected may still show on the DRC as unconnected (not sure why), and I've had some 1-pin mounting holes become overlaid with the zone -- but it's much smarter than it used to be. One footnote. If a pad needs very narrow traces, such as a connection to a fine-pitch QFP, one may still need to make a manual connection with an appropriate narrow track if the track width that the zone uses is so wide that it can't get to the pad.
[kicad-users] Re: Arduino duemilanove shield footprint
--- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, Jaime Silva jaimonosi...@... wrote: Hello! Does anyone on this list has an Arduino Duemilanove shield footprint with it's connectors and holes that can share? I uploaded a basic Arduino shield schematic component and PCB module to the Library folder in the Files section. May not be everything you need but it should be enough to get you started.
[kicad-users] Re: zone creation automatic track suppression
--- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, Julien Bayle julien.ba...@... wrote: hi, I create a pretty ground zone in order to suppress some tracks. no problem for the zone creation. it is very well documented so.. BUT I have a little problem: after the filling of the zone, it remains all the tracks existing between the pads supposed to be connected to the zone. I put a snapshot of this. Could someone help me ? With the latest rev, you don't need to create tracks between pads that will be connected to the zone; thermal reliefs will be automatically created, with the relief widths of the size specified in the zone fill dialog. Two exceptions to this. You may want normal reliefs to be wider than will fit into a small pad, like a TQFP. In that case, use a narrow trace and connect that pad to another component on the net as usual. The other exception would be power pads where you might want much larger traces. Again, draw these separately at the desired width. Once you fill the zone, any existing traces will be merged to the zone in the Gerber file and won't be separately visible in the final board.
[kicad-users] Re: Solder Paste
--- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, Robert birmingham_spi...@... wrote: Thanks. I should add that they want the solder mask to be positive (ie the solder mask clearance is supposed to be 0.4mm), so your cunning idea can't be applied in this case. [sound of planting face in hand] D'oh! Yes, I was thinking solder masks and not the paste tool. Well, one sure way to do this is to edit the *SoldP_Cmp.pho (and similar) file and mod the appertures. E.g., if the original apperture for an 0804 was D23 and it was listed as %ADD23R,0.055000X0.035000*% (1.4 mm x 0.9 mm) in the Gerber, changing it to 1 mm x 0.5 mm would be %ADD23R,0.04X0.02*%, more or less.
[kicad-users] Re: Solder Paste
--- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, Robert birmingham_spi...@... wrote:
Hmmm - that would be a lot of manual editing. OK, thanks. At least I
can now solve it with a bit of C code if they insist on this one.
Give this a try (I hope the Y! formatting doesn't totally destroy it.) May need
to be tweaked for your house Gerber style.
#!/usr/bin/perl
#
# Usage: perl shrink_paste.pl [input] [shrinkage] {minimum}
#
# Define $scale as the factor from the units of the command line shrinkage
# value to the units in the Gerber. For a command line unit of mm and a
# Gerber unit of inches, use 25.4.
# If specified, the minimum dimension will be respected. If not specified,
# it defaults to 0.0. Units are assumed to be the same as shrinkage and
# similarly affected by the scale factor.
$scale = 25.4;
$minimum = 0.0;
$iname = $ARGV[0];
if ($iname eq ) {
print No input filename\n;
exit;
}
$oname = $iname;
$bakname = $iname;
$base = rindex($oname, .pho);
if ($base == -1) {
print Input not a Gerber? (Not .pho)\n;
exit;
}
$shrinkage = $ARGV[1];
if ($shrinkage == 0) {
print Quitting, no shrinkage spec'd\n;
exit;
}
$shrinkage /= $scale;
$minimum = $ARGV[2];
if ($minimum 0.0) {
$minimum = 0.0;
}
$minimum /= $scale;
substr($oname, $base) = .tmp;
substr($bakname, $base) = .bak;
open (IFILE, $iname) or die $iname: $!;
open (OFILE, , $oname) or die $oname: $!;
$working = 0;
$x = 0.0;
$y = 0.0;
while (IFILE) {
chomp;
if (!$working) {
printf(OFILE %s\n, $_);
if (/APERTURE LIST/) {
$working = 1;
}
} elsif ($working) {
if (/APERTURE END LIST/) {
$working = 0;
printf(OFILE %s\n, $_);
} else {
@field = split(/[,X\*]/);
if ($field[0] =~ /C/) {
$x = $field[1] - $shrinkage;
if ($x $minimum) {
$x = $minimum;
}
printf(OFILE %s,%.6f*%\n,
$field[0], $x);
} elsif ($field[0] =~ /[RO]/) {
$x = $field[1] - $shrinkage;
if ($x $minimum) {
$x = $minimum;
}
$y = $field[2] - $shrinkage;
if ($y $minimum) {
$y = $minimum;
}
printf(OFILE %s,%.6fX%.6f*%\n,
$field[0], $x, $y);
}
}
}
}
close(IFILE);
close(OFILE);
rename($iname, $bakname);
rename($oname, $iname);
[kicad-users] Re: Solder Paste
--- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, Robert birmingham_spi...@... wrote: Hi all, I've been asked to shrink the size of the solder paste windows relative to the pads by 0.04mm, ie if a pad is a 1mm diameter circle, I've been asked to make the solder paste window 0.96mm in diameter. Does anyone know how I might achieve this please, either with kicad or via some post-processing stage? In the board editor, select the menu Dimensions | Tracks and Vias. From that dialog, you can set the global mask clearance. A negative clearance does seem to work okay, though a verification pass through a Gerber viewer is always a good idea ...
[kicad-users] Re: Loading Libraries
--- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, Doug dsc3...@... wrote: I am not understanding something here. I am in Eschema, I select preferences then libs and dir. I add (or ins) new libraries. I save cfg to the project file name. As long as I am in the current sheet libraries I added are there. Then I exit eschema. When I come back the libraries I added are not there. I also tried to save cfg to kicad.pro but it did the same thing. What am I doing wrong? I would like the libraries I add to be global, that is available for any future design. I haven't tried this, so there's a chance that doing so may cause dandruf, your car to catch on fire, or the sky to fall but it looks like editing kicad/share/template/kicad.pro directly to add your custom libraries might do the trick. The down side is that installing a new version of Kicad would probably overwrite your edits. I just keep all my self-build outlines and modules in a local.lib or .mod and then add those to the new projects.
[kicad-users] Re: Need Information about PCB-contractors
--- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, benjaminrohland benjaminrohl...@... wrote: Can you tell me which contractor is the best for producing my conductor board prototype? I found some in the internet, but the prices are similar. Are there any pros and cons I have to pay attention to? There is no single best. In general, you can pay more (sometimes much more) for faster service and prettier boards or pay less (sometimes much less) for a slower turnaround and and more basic boards (e.g., no silkscreen or solder mask). If you've not send a board out before, one thing to be sure to check is the diameter of any through-holes (including vias). Know whether you're looking for a diameter before plating (raw drill size) or after plating and know whether the hole diameters that result are really appropriate for the parts you intend to use. PCB Express http://www.pcbexpress.com/index.php isn't the cheapest but they'll do well for your first couple of runs until you're more comfortable with the process. At a *minimum* read through their pre- order checklist and FAQ, even if you decide to go with somebody else. Other places will have different free drill sizes but otherwise it's pretty good advice. If you can wait a little longer, Sparkfun runs a batch fab at http:// www.batchpcb.com/. You'll save a little but expect to wait. OTOH, you may receive more boards than you ordered (at no additional cost) if they used yours to fill in the gaps to complete a panel.
[kicad-users] Re: Creating Veroboard style layouts with Kicad ?
--- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, simon.clubley [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I layout my circuits on Veroboard and I am currently using Vutrax because it has the capability to layout a Veroboard style track in it's PCB designer. I would like to switch to an open source package like gEDA or Kicad, and after reading through the Kicad documentation, I don't see any similar functionality present, but it's possible that I may have missed it. Another option is Veecad from http://www.veecad.com. Veecad is a stripboard/veroboard layout application that can use netlists generated by Kicad. It has both free and commercial (but pretty inexpensive) versions. Although I prefer do to home-brew boards using the toner transfer method, I have used Veecad to do a couple of layouts and it works pretty well.
[kicad-users] Re: Panelisation
--- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, oecherexpat [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Is there a way of doing a panelisation? I have to create 3 PCBs on one panel anyway and thought it would be a good idea to save the money and do the whole panelisation myself. Would also give me a better respond time to our PCB manufacturer who always wants to have done something in a different way ;-) I know people who use Circad or Eagle and do things like this with a script but a simple block copy that keeps component designators (most important!) would be good enough. Any way to get that done? I have a Perl script that I use to panelize that I've uploaded to the files area: KDupe.pl. You'll need to put in the x and y spacing (it doesn't try to find the board boundaries by itself).
[kicad-users] Re: How to make little holes in the pads centers printing from Gerbview?
--- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, klui_ [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: It's used during manual board making for centering a drill. For home-made boards, rather than using the plot command to create gerbers, use the print command and print exact 1:1 for each layer. That way the layers print as they appear on the screen with the correct width and with open holes in the pads. Depending on the method you use to prepare the board for etching you may need to mirror the print, of course.
[kicad-users] Re: Is there a separate Lib Viewer/browser available ?
Excellent tools, Renie. Thank you for making them available!
[kicad-users] Re: Single layer PCB ... bridges on top layer
--- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, newskyperhh [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I want to make a single layer PCB with only one copper site. So i must make manually bridges on component side. But I can't make any pad's or continuous bonding / interlayer connection for bridges. Just make a track on the component side using the normal method, which will create a via for you. The size of a via can be adjusted using the Dimensions | Tracks and Vias menu item, and it can be made large enough to give a good pad size for soldering the jumper wires. There are some limitations to this, since jumpers made with insulated wire can cross whereas real track can not.
