omfg i hate Eagle

[mneary]

For jumpers I route them on the top layer. When I use autoroute (for early placement checks), I just make the top layer very expensive.

To end a net, I hit esc.

Search help for the word snap to manage the distance a wire will jump to connect.

 

[HerbertMunch]

When I was first trying to pick a CAD program, I tried demos of the ones I could and got old pirated versions of the ones I couldn't. After I chose OrCAD I approached the Cadence and told them I was a student needing it for personal use and if they had a discount- they asked $10k. So I went and ripped it off because that's just ridiculous. I had been willing to pay up to $2k for the thing but I guess that wasn't good enough for them.

Indeed.

Oh and thanks hans.

 

[HerbertMunch]

dknguyen, I havent tried orcad yet, is it any good?

 

[Ambient]

I actually paid for the $50 version of Eagle. Then I discovered that I can still route better by hand. Sure it takes longer, but I can still do a better job. And with the $50 license I can make 3*4" boards, which is enough for me. If I want bigger I just make two and use jumpers between them.

 

[dknguyen]

dknguyen, I havent tried orcad yet, is it any good?

I like it Orcad Capture quite a bit. I like how the schematic is organized and how the every single damn thing on the schematic has it's own set of properties. Which also means you can arbiitrarily assign footprints to every component on the schematic just by typing in a line of text (you can also modify the component symbol so that it has a default footprint it automatically goes to). Each footprint isn't inherently tied to a component and is floating on it;s own and you can assign a symbol to whatever footprint you want.

The same thing goes with Orcad Layout. Every single thing has it's own properly and (at least to me) it all makes sense with the layers and everything. It was the most intuitive for me.

It was the one I chose after trying out 5 or 6 different programs so obviouslt I like itl I definately like it more than Protel, Eagle or a couple other programs whose names I forget now,.

I realie my spelling is a bit off. But im a bit drunk right now. Even crazy drunken Jpop concerst videos cnt pull me away from this fprum.

I paid $50 to rip off the Orcad I have right now (because the free version had a few bugs in it that werne't functionally annoying but where time-annoying like screen refresh issues and the occasional program crash).

 

[HerbertMunch]

I like it Orcad Capture quite a bit. I like how the schematic is organized and how the every single damn thing on the schematic has it's own set of properties. Which also means you can arbiitrarily assign footprints to every component on the schematic just by typing in a line of text (you can also modify the component symbol so that it has a default footprint it automatically goes to). Each footprint isn't inherently tied to a component and is floating on it;s own and you can assign a symbol to whatever footprint you want.

The same thing goes with Orcad Layout. Every single thing has it's own properly and (at least to me) it all makes sense with the layers and everything. It was the most intuitive for me.

It was the one I chose after trying out 5 or 6 different programs so obviouslt I like itl I definately like it more than Protel, Eagle or a couple other programs whose names I forget now,.

I realie my spelling is a bit off. But im a bit drunk right now. Even crazy drunken Jpop concerst videos cnt pull me away from this fprum.

I paid $50 to rip off the Orcad I have right now (because the free version had a few bugs in it that werne't functionally annoying but where time-annoying like screen refresh issues and the occasional program crash).

Ok thanks very much, it sound nice.
I believe that my University uses orcad in the electronics department, perhaps ill try and secure a copy.

 

[Styx]

try KiCAD it is really easy to use and there are methods to import EAGLE cct symbols and PCB symbols

 

[HerbertMunch]

try KiCAD it is really easy to use and there are methods to import EAGLE cct symbols and PCB symbols

Ok will give i try thanks.


I just downloaded orcad. one question. Why did they choose to make 500 individual programs? Each component of the suite has its own executable.
for those of you, who like micro$oft visual studio:
Can
you
imagine
if
they
had
chosen
to
split
each
different
part
of
vs
into
seperate
executables?


WHY WHY WHY would Cadence do that?

for windows all over the place, Its even worse than mplab! At least mplab exe owns all of its windows.

 

[Styx]

so that they can licence certain combinations

 

[HerbertMunch]

They could still licence individual bits if it was all bundled together. All that they achieve by making a massive sprawling suite, is to put new users off. I never thought id here myself saying this, but i actually think i prefer eagle!

take visual studio for example. You can purcahse pro, standard, enterprise, etc.
All with different features, all inside the same executable!

Cadence' style appears far too sloppy for my liking.

 

[cdstahl]

every time i use orcad part of me dies inside...

 

[dknguyen]

I get more windows with Eagle than I do with OrCAD because of the Project Manager and footprint vs layout manager. OrCAD only really has 3 executables. Capture, Layout and PSPICE. If you select a different variation like Capture CIS or PSPICE A/D, it's still the same executable.

I don't care about the Windows so much as the actual controls though because those drive me insane if they're terrible since I keep running into it over and over again, but that's me. I had to learn Protel for my summer job and I didn't like the controls either (but by that time I had already gotten very good at OrCAD). I found them much better than Eagle though and it it was my second choice after OrCAD. The only reason I didn't like Protel at work was because I had gotten good at OrCAD.

It was all one executable though but I didn't notice it at all and the only reason it comes to mind now is because you mentioned it.

 

[HerbertMunch]

every time i use orcad part of me dies inside...

 

[HerbertMunch]

...........It was all one executable though but I didn't notice it at all and the only reason it comes to mind now is because you mentioned it.

I wish I had liked orcad. Im sick of trying to find the holy grail of electronics packages.
I thought that i had found something good yesterday when i found autocad electrical. I was wrong, as it mainly deals with electrical (building wiring,etc) not electronics (schems and pcbs).

Perhaps one day I will write my own package, somewhere in between express pcb and eagle.

I think that eagle can do a good job, if you can handle the frustration of it all.
+ I like the interface of express pcb, but ithe features are not really that great.

 

[Bob Scott]

every time i use orcad part of me dies inside...

Why? I have a small bit of experience at work with Orcad but only making schematics. (I had no need for PCB layout at the time.) Additional part libraries exist for everything that Digikey has listed in its catalog. The only drawback is - Orcad is too expensive for us casual users at home.

I liked it when I had access to it.

Eagle 4 is a steep learning curve. It took me several Saturdays to get used to it and find the traps a new user can fall into.... like DO NOT changing the grid size after you start. Eagle's parts libraries are Euro-centric. I'd like my transformers to look like the standard North American or Japanese engineering textbook styles with the curly windings shown like springs, not just shaded rectangles.

But Eagle's price is right, and I can now whip up a schematic for use in this forum very quickly.

Bob

 

[Boncuk]

Eagle's parts libraries are Euro-centric. I'd like my transformers to look like the standard North American or Japanese engineering textbook styles with the curly windings shown like springs, not just shaded rectangles.Bob

Hi Bob,

If you prefer ANSI symbols to DIN-symbols it's really a piece of cake to change that.

Open a transformer library and get a symbol of a transformer. The choice isn't very much. One winding each primary and secondary, one winding primary and two secondaries and finally two primary and two secondary. That covers already 99% of transformers. (1% for valve operated amplifiers with a third secondary winding).

Copy the symbol, create a new a library or just use the existing one to make symbols. Copy the symbol, create a new one by choosing "new", type in the name e.g. 1p-1s-AN and paste the symbol. Delete the shaded rectangles and use the arc-symbol to make your spring. The pin numbers might be left unchanged unless you want to give new pin describtions.

If I recall it properly the symbol should look somewhat like that:

saved some space of width, height is unchanged.

Regards

Hans

 

[jpanhalt]

The hurdle in managing the library is doing it the first few times. But, it's no different than learning any new program. Once you get used to the sequence: highlight (edit: group select), cut, paste, you tend to forget about it and simply say, "copy", as Boncuk did above. Also, the CadSoft download site has a wealth of useful libraries. John

 

[cdstahl]

Why? I have a small bit of experience at work with Orcad but only making schematics. (I had no need for PCB layout at the time.) Additional part libraries exist for everything that Digikey has listed in its catalog. The only drawback is - Orcad is too expensive for us casual users at home.

I liked it when I had access to it.


Bob

the schematic entry just doesn't seem made for engineers. I don't want to place parts on a page and connect them using the mouse. i'm not a detailer.

every time i use it I think, "I'm going to spend all day clicking the mouse and not thinking, might as well be playing solitare..."

I don't mind it as much now that i've found ways to automate the point-click interface.

 

[jpanhalt]

...I don't want to place parts on a page and connect them using the mouse. i'm not a detailer.

every time i use it I think, "I'm going to spend all day clicking the mouse and not thinking, might as well be playing solitare..."

Well, as has been said by many accomplished people, progress is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration.

John

 

[dknguyen]

How dO I get pins to display their names in Library? I got 40 pins floating around and none of them have labels and I have to go through each one individually with the Info tool.

ITS A FRIGGIN PAIN.

ALso, is there a way to type in the coordaintes I want a pad to be? Because changing the grid size and trying to move it around isn't working at all because the grid keeps locking into a different place each time. THe pad will only move in increments relative to the grid size from it's current position, so its like a puzzle trying to change the grid size and moving the pad in the correct order to get it to where I want it. I can't actually move one pad right on top of another to reference them to each other. They are always slightly offset because of the way the grid locks the item to a corner of a grid square rather than into an intersection in the grid.

Also a major pain in the ass.

EDIT: I try typing in (x y) but if I type the same coordinates in twice it moves! And if I type the same command into two different pads they end up in different places??? ??? ??? I thought a coordinate grid was supposed to be an absolute reference.