I'm looking for 'the best' software to use with electronic circuits. I currently use CircuitMaker, since it allows me to simulate electronics, but on the downside is that the simulation is very limited, and so is the list of components. Does anyone have any recommendations?
i use that circuit maker to, the free student version down load one and there are features you can use in it that that it dosent seem to really admit it and when i emailed myself a copy the email came back ok but the extra features dident come in with my email so they are lost so just print it out with the features and take a pic of it and then email it and it will arrive as drawn with thoses extra features and nothing wont be lost , like i draw intergrated circuits in there proper shape useing the trax drawing tool then i use the trytanmgle thing for ya words i forgot the name of it and i do my numbers 1 at a time then useing the mouse i drag the individual numbers into the ic pin leg s to number them from 1 to 8 so the things you can do with circuit maker that aint in the thing is awesome
D
Decade
- Jan 1, 1970
- 0
Tried both circuit maker and protel these two are are excellent, for the circuit maker I really liked the simulation.
At may former work we used Protel but did never come along with it maybe the reason was that I didn't work that much with it to learn it fully
After several tries with a big number of different softs I fell in love with Eagle, once you learn how to deal with it it's real fast and simple, ofcourse there is "some" things you can do in Protel and Circuit maker but not in Eagle and another thing is that the price differ somewhat ;D.
At may former work we used Protel but did never come along with it maybe the reason was that I didn't work that much with it to learn it fully
After several tries with a big number of different softs I fell in love with Eagle, once you learn how to deal with it it's real fast and simple, ofcourse there is "some" things you can do in Protel and Circuit maker but not in Eagle and another thing is that the price differ somewhat ;D.
D
Decade
- Jan 1, 1970
- 0
Forgot to say this, people often install bulky softs just because they can do lots of fancy things but these things are seldom used by the average user and often more of a pain than a help.
When you decide to make a board it should be easy and quick done otherwise you'll lose speed and your project wil end up as a friend to lot's of other unfinished projects in a box ;Dl
I've seen people using softs that took them several hours just to make a simple power supply with a 78XX, the reason is that you have to work with these bulky softs daily to learn and keep the speed.
Having that said, try Eagle
When you decide to make a board it should be easy and quick done otherwise you'll lose speed and your project wil end up as a friend to lot's of other unfinished projects in a box ;Dl
I've seen people using softs that took them several hours just to make a simple power supply with a 78XX, the reason is that you have to work with these bulky softs daily to learn and keep the speed.
Having that said, try Eagle
probably one of the most powerfull circuit drawing software pacages out there today is PCAD. Which is actially produced by the same company that produces circuit maker.
It has got only one majour drawback according to me and that is it's cost. This is a marvel of a program, probabily the most usefull capabilitie of the program is if you select a component in you scematic and you jump to your PCB display page the component is also selected and vice versa.
It has got only one majour drawback according to me and that is it's cost. This is a marvel of a program, probabily the most usefull capabilitie of the program is if you select a component in you scematic and you jump to your PCB display page the component is also selected and vice versa.
audioguru2
- Apr 6, 2004
- 12,026
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2004
- Messages
- 12,026
Microsoft Paint does eveything I need to make schematics.
The company I work for recently dumped PCAD in favor of PADS.... I liked both, but prefer PADS. I suppose it's what your use too. I did find it easier to make "intelegent" schematics in PADS when linking to the layout.
As for simulators... Orcad, MicroSim, Intusoft and Workbench. My vote goes to MicroSim and Intusoft, but quite often I have convergence problems with both. Like anything else, you get what you pay for. The simulation is only as good as the models. I've yet to see anyone with a good overall model set. Most seem to be good in one or two areas, but poor in others..... for example, they have a great MOSFET and PWM selection, but the magnetics models stink!!! Intusoft is kinda neat in that they have a magnetics design program and the model can be linked to their simulation program.
As for simulators... Orcad, MicroSim, Intusoft and Workbench. My vote goes to MicroSim and Intusoft, but quite often I have convergence problems with both. Like anything else, you get what you pay for. The simulation is only as good as the models. I've yet to see anyone with a good overall model set. Most seem to be good in one or two areas, but poor in others..... for example, they have a great MOSFET and PWM selection, but the magnetics models stink!!! Intusoft is kinda neat in that they have a magnetics design program and the model can be linked to their simulation program.
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