Best computer software

[gizzemoto]

What is the best electronic computer design software, For layout and planning circuit boards and housing units for same, Also where can i get elctronic fonts for Microsoft word to help me put in the right circuit abreveations and symbols

 

[kchriste]

For layout and planning circuit boards

Eagle.

housing units for same

Solidworks.

 

[Hero999]

Microsoft word to help me put in the right circuit abreveations and symbols

I think you select insert symbol from the edit menu?

I don't use Word at home so I can't check for you at the moment.

You could also use Character Map I suppose but it's hardly an ideal solution.

Try copying these symbols: Ωµ

 

[trexter711]

The best electronic computer design software is target. You can try it for free. Lookup for it on the net.

 

[gramo]

Proteus 6 Professional in my opinion


Hands Down. Just watch the price tag!

Why? It supports;

- Anologue Circuits
- Digital Circuits
- Every debugging tool you can think of practically, from the basics like AC/DC Amp/Volt meters, to cro's, hyper terminals, SPI/I2C debuggers, counters, logic analysers, pattern/signal generators
- Automatic Component Layuout for PCB Design
- Automatic Routing of traces for upto 4 layer PCB's

Take a look at this circuit I threw together in 5 minutes;
**broken link removed**

 

[Andre1]

As a newbie, I have played around with a few PCB layout programs. The thing that stops me in my tracks are the parts libraries. The parts numbers are gobbledegook to me - even simple things like resistors - I don't have a clue how to relate them to the physical part sizes.

How do you experienced guys know?

 

[sci-3d]

I cheer TinyCAD because it is free.

 

[Ayne]

Proteus 6 Professional in my opinion


Hands Down. Just watch the price tag!

Why? It supports;

- Anologue Circuits
- Digital Circuits
- Every debugging tool you can think of practically, from the basics like AC/DC Amp/Volt meters, to cro's, hyper terminals, SPI/I2C debuggers, counters, logic analysers, pattern/signal generators
- Automatic Component Layuout for PCB Design
- Automatic Routing of traces for upto 4 layer PCB's

Take a look at this circuit I threw together in 5 minutes;

It is looking great.
i like it.
u have professional version????? or demo???

 

[gizzemoto]

where can i get a demo of proteus?? and cheers for all the advice

 

[Ayne]

where can i get a demo of proteus?? and cheers for all the advice

http://downloads.labcenter.co.uk/prodemo.exe

 

[hjames]

As a newbie, I have played around with a few PCB layout programs. The thing that stops me in my tracks are the parts libraries. The parts numbers are gobbledegook to me - even simple things like resistors - I don't have a clue how to relate them to the physical part sizes.

How do you experienced guys know?

No surprise - they are gobbledegook. The first thing that happens when starting a new layout program is that you'll need to sink a good chunk of time into figuring out how the part numbering schemes work, and whether they're consistent/flexible enough to suit your needs. If you're lucky, somewhere there is some documentation on the naming method.

Unfortunately the most sane choice for someone who needs to do a lot of PCBs is to rename/number all the footprints that you need and to create your own library of things. (This is definitely the case for a lot of older packages, but if the included library is good enough then, by all means, use it).

Incidentally, through-hole resistors tend to be tricky since there are so many variables - the physical size of the resistor, size of the holes, axial/upright mounting, etc... In comparison, a standard SMT resistor is one of a handful of sizes - pretty much cut and dry...