Optikon
New Member
Oh, I thought I had finally found something I liked. Downloaded Circuitmaker 2000 trial version (from the nice folks who brought us Protel).
Its an all-in-one small scale EDA tool for those who can't spend the big bucks but don't like cripple-ware (yes eagle is good but i can't live with the dimension limits for my projects)
I've spent a good deal of time evaluating the software. Quick summary:
Price: $995 for professional version that comes with a free gerber viewer.
Schematic Capture: Easy to draw, easy to make symbols, comes with loaded libraries, lots of options, yet easy to use overall. WYSIWYG printing, no snap/grid nightmares. No significant shortcomings found.
I rate it as very good.
PCB Layout: Easy to draw with and switch layers. Auto-router is as dumb as one would expect, loads of footprints and patterns come pre-loaded. Easy to create new footprints. Decent pour/fill, geometry options. Nice display options like routed nets, all nets, rats etc.. supports all popular manufacturing formats. Doesnt support advanced features like blind/buried vias. Color selection options are limited but can live with.
I rate it as good.
Simulation: Supports analog & digital simulation with a SPICE3 engine. Supports animated devices via XSPICE. Easy to create new / modify models. has nice GUI for changing parameters. Supports Major simulation types (not pole-zero or some advanced transient). Comes loaded with many vendor models (opamps, transistors, logic, oscillators, etc..) Simulation display options are limited. Math on waveforms is type-it-all-out and displaying multiple waveforms is kind of cumbersome.
I rate it as average.
Now, since I have different spice programs that I use already, I was willing to overlook the things I didn't like about the simulator. I was seriously considering buying it when all of a sudden.....
I gave it a circuit to simulate that I considered was sort of a litmus test.
The simulator converged just fine and gave the wrong answer to over 10 decimal places. Thinking I screwed up a setting somewhere, I checked and tweaked and checked and tweaked but I couldnt get this thing to give me the right answer to save my life. I simplified the circuit and all was well, I let it take baby steps and changed parts, simplified models, gave it initial conditions to pretty much start it at the right answer to begin with! No Luck! It would converge to the wrong answer every time.
SO I broke down and emailed their tech support and sent em my harmless looking circuit to see if they could tell me what I was doing wrong. I explained how it was supposed to work and even gave em a screen shot from another sim doing the same circuit correctly! Just so they dont waste time thinking the circuit wasnt right. In the meantime, my 30 day trial expired and so they brushed me off not wanting to deal with my support case (since I wasnt a paying customer - yet) So, I shamefully downloaded a crack for it to keep it running and keep pushing them on the issue. They havnt realized yet that I have been trying things for them for over 41 days now on a 30 day trial..
So anyways, they informed me today that they have turned the issue over to their software development team and finally acknowledged a real bug in the simulator which by the way, has been on the market for well over 3 years now! So the simulator is crap until they fix it.
I've come to the conclusion that it is untrustworthy if their are P type devices in feedback loops but otherwise, I havnt stumped it. When things converge just fine but to a wrong (but not outrageous) answer, it makes me nervous.
So anyone considering this product, if you get it, don't trust simulation until (IF) they fix the bug.
Its an all-in-one small scale EDA tool for those who can't spend the big bucks but don't like cripple-ware (yes eagle is good but i can't live with the dimension limits for my projects)
I've spent a good deal of time evaluating the software. Quick summary:
Price: $995 for professional version that comes with a free gerber viewer.
Schematic Capture: Easy to draw, easy to make symbols, comes with loaded libraries, lots of options, yet easy to use overall. WYSIWYG printing, no snap/grid nightmares. No significant shortcomings found.
I rate it as very good.
PCB Layout: Easy to draw with and switch layers. Auto-router is as dumb as one would expect, loads of footprints and patterns come pre-loaded. Easy to create new footprints. Decent pour/fill, geometry options. Nice display options like routed nets, all nets, rats etc.. supports all popular manufacturing formats. Doesnt support advanced features like blind/buried vias. Color selection options are limited but can live with.
I rate it as good.
Simulation: Supports analog & digital simulation with a SPICE3 engine. Supports animated devices via XSPICE. Easy to create new / modify models. has nice GUI for changing parameters. Supports Major simulation types (not pole-zero or some advanced transient). Comes loaded with many vendor models (opamps, transistors, logic, oscillators, etc..) Simulation display options are limited. Math on waveforms is type-it-all-out and displaying multiple waveforms is kind of cumbersome.
I rate it as average.
Now, since I have different spice programs that I use already, I was willing to overlook the things I didn't like about the simulator. I was seriously considering buying it when all of a sudden.....
I gave it a circuit to simulate that I considered was sort of a litmus test.
The simulator converged just fine and gave the wrong answer to over 10 decimal places. Thinking I screwed up a setting somewhere, I checked and tweaked and checked and tweaked but I couldnt get this thing to give me the right answer to save my life. I simplified the circuit and all was well, I let it take baby steps and changed parts, simplified models, gave it initial conditions to pretty much start it at the right answer to begin with! No Luck! It would converge to the wrong answer every time.
SO I broke down and emailed their tech support and sent em my harmless looking circuit to see if they could tell me what I was doing wrong. I explained how it was supposed to work and even gave em a screen shot from another sim doing the same circuit correctly! Just so they dont waste time thinking the circuit wasnt right. In the meantime, my 30 day trial expired and so they brushed me off not wanting to deal with my support case (since I wasnt a paying customer - yet) So, I shamefully downloaded a crack for it to keep it running and keep pushing them on the issue. They havnt realized yet that I have been trying things for them for over 41 days now on a 30 day trial..
So anyways, they informed me today that they have turned the issue over to their software development team and finally acknowledged a real bug in the simulator which by the way, has been on the market for well over 3 years now! So the simulator is crap until they fix it.
I've come to the conclusion that it is untrustworthy if their are P type devices in feedback loops but otherwise, I havnt stumped it. When things converge just fine but to a wrong (but not outrageous) answer, it makes me nervous.
So anyone considering this product, if you get it, don't trust simulation until (IF) they fix the bug.
