SuperSpice tutorials ?

[R_W_B]

Hello, I have a very basic understanding of electronics, ohms law, plus a little knowledge of intergated components and I understand about alternating current generation and rectification etc.

I've had the SuperSpice free download now for sometime. It seems like a great little program for generating wave simulations. But I must be a bit too slow cause I've having trouble getting it to work with any consistency. I surmise I don't know how to move around in it good enough, but I'm having trouble learning all the menu stuff.

Is there a good step by step tutorial that shows how to build a farily simple circuit step by step and what parameters to fill in on the setup ?

All of the examples I've seen that come with it have way too many components already in the file for me to make heads or tails on how they all were inserted and what attributes to add for each.

 

[cowboybob]

I don't know anything about SuperSpice.

But I do have some working knowledge of TINA TI, another free sim you can down load from Texas Instruments. If you were to get it, I could help you. (I also have the not free Basic v. 9).

All the free ones have their limitations, and this forum seems to prefer LSpice., so take your pick.

And, they all have rather extensive component libraries, and they do seem daunting at first. But over time you'll come to appreciate the variety. In fact, what's pretty neat about them is that you can add to them with other Spice macros.

 

[audioguru]

There are thousands of Spice programs. You have only one of them and I don't have it. Maybe nobody on this forum has the same Spice program you have.

Nobody uses a Spice program to build a circuit, instead you use your knowledge about the parts and a little arithmatic. A Spice program MIGHT be able to simulate your circuit but it might show a wrong result.

 

[simonbramble]

LTSpice is the only way to go (but I would say that). Start with simple RC circuits and build it up from there. I know a good tutorial (!) - see below

 

[R_W_B]

Thanks I will check it out.

 

[R_W_B]

I don't know anything about SuperSpice.

But I do have some working knowledge of TINA TI, another free sim you can down load from Texas Instruments. If you were to get it, I could help you. (I also have the not free Basic v. 9).

All the free ones have their limitations, and this forum seems to prefer LSpice., so take your pick.

And, they all have rather extensive component libraries, and they do seem daunting at first. But over time you'll come to appreciate the variety. In fact, what's pretty neat about them is that you can add to them with other Spice macros.

I downloaded Tina TI just this afternoon and I must say it appears to be a bit easier to follow along. It also has a step by step PDF that is very good so far. I'm gonna play with it a bit and will ask you later if I get stumped.

There is one thing I would ask now, I was building the circuit with just connecting a wire from the resistor loads back to the negative battery terminal. But I keep getting some sort of zero error. Does the program require you to use the ground symbol for all your feeds to negative ?

 

[crutschow]

I downloaded Tina TI just this afternoon and I must say it appears to be a bit easier to follow along. It also has a step by step PDF that is very good so far. I'm gonna play with it a bit and will ask you later if I get stumped.

There is one thing I would ask now, I was building the circuit with just connecting a wire from the resistor loads back to the negative battery terminal. But I keep getting some sort of zero error. Does the program require you to use the ground symbol for all your feeds to negative ?

All Spice programs require at least one node to be connected to the ground symbol (Node 0). It doesn't necessarily have to be the negative node (although that is typical) it can be any node. All your voltage measurements are then referenced to that node.

 

[R_W_B]

All Spice programs require at least one node to be connected to the ground symbol (Node 0). It doesn't necessarily have to be the negative node (although that is typical) it can be any node. All your voltage measurements are then referenced to that node.

Thanks man, I will do that. I don't work in electonics but I sometimes troubleshoot my own auto and motorcycle electric stuff. I want to maybe be able to recreate certain segments of the bike circuit on the Tina or Spice to see what I should (or could) be reading in a given scenario. By looking at an example of the circuit with real time readings it also gives me more insight on what to look for on the bike or car.

 

[R_W_B]

Well I haven't downloaded LTSpice yet, but I am having more progress in one day with Tina TI than I did in a month with SuperSpice.

I have a question at this point. I'm trying to simulate an alterator in the circuit in parallel with the battery. I don't really see an alternator as a choice in the menus BUT .. if I just put a DC Voltage Generator instead that would appear to be the equivalent of an Alternator and Voltage Regulator all in one which I would just set at a (running) 14 volts same as a car.

I've already learned to give it some sort of internal resistance or I get errors (which I believe in reality would be infinite heat instead of an error).

But if I set the voltage generator signal to anything other than single step it that going to cause an alternating phase direction or in other words unrectify back to AC ? Please excuse my ignornance on this.

 

[audioguru]

The alternator and its built-in rectifiers in a car feed the car battery that is like a huge capacitor. So the output is pure DC, not AC.

 

[R_W_B]

The alternator and its built-in rectifiers in a car feed the car battery that is like a huge capacitor. So the output is pure DC, not AC.

Well yea I'm aware of that, I guess I could just use another battery source and set it at 14 volts instead of 12, I've heard that's a no no hooking batteries together of different voltages in real life but guess it would suffice for a simulator.

But as far as my question goes can you help me understand exactly what the parameters of the Tina TI, DC Generator are ? I.e. it offers some signal waves that appear to go into the opposite direction phase which is confusing since I thought all the old Generators were commumtator bound to only half the phase came off DC.

I surmise I may not understand exactly what Tina TI means by a "DC Generator " ?

 

[crutschow]

Well yea I'm aware of that, I guess I could just use another battery source and set it at 14 volts instead of 12, I've heard that's a no no hooking batteries together of different voltages in real life but guess it would suffice for a simulator.

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You can't hook them together in the simulator without a resistance between them either. The higher voltage source will try to drive an infinite current through the lower battery source and you will likely get some weird answers.

 

[audioguru]

DC has no "WAVES".

 

[cowboybob]

R_W_B,

I surmise I may not understand exactly what Tina TI means by a "DC Generator " ?

If by "DC Generator" you mean the "Voltage Source" (on the Basic tab)) then that is simply a DC Source. The "Voltage Generator" (same tab) is an AC source (with all kinds of selectable AC waveforms, amplitude and phases). Give them all an internal resistance of 1KΩ (or whatever you want) to avoid current excesses (and sim errors as a result) when you hook them up to other power sources.

TINA TI is very tolerant of mixing voltage sources (DC, AC, parallel or series, whatever voltages you wish).