Re: Low cost PCB layout software
From: Leon Heller (aqzf13_at_dsl.pipex.com)
Date: 12/24/03
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Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2003 06:06:20 +0000
Ralph Malph wrote:
> I am looking for low cost PCB layout software. My designs are not
> overly complex, and are on small boards, but I will be using very small
> parts and features ~0.4mm/0.016" pitch, .006"/.006" trace/space. I have
> looked at a couple of web sites that list free software and have found
> two types of packages; the no strings attached open source packages that
> are not very mature or run on xNIX (and not windows) or the PCB fab
> house supplied packages that tie you to getting your boards from them.
>
> Clearly I need something that actually works, so most of the truely free
> packages are not viable. The PCB package from
> http://bach.ece.jhu.edu/~haceaton/pcb/ seems to work, but is not
> supported under windows. It is not clear if it will run under Cygwin.
> I guess I could dedicate a machine to PCB design and run Linix, but I am
> pretty sure I would end up creating problems from my lack of experience
> with *NIX.
>
> I looked at a few of the PCB vendor packages and have done one design
> and ordered boards. It was fairly low risk since it only cost $59
> including shipping from expressPCB. But these boards have no soldermask
> or silk screen. I can live without silk screen, but the solder mask is
> important when using fine pitch parts. In general, I am not happy being
> tied to a vendor and having to duplicate the layout work to use a
> different vendor. Reentering a schematic is no big deal, but layout is
> very time intensive and each tool is toally different.
>
> So that brings us to the commercial layout packages. Most of them are
> several kilobucks and out of my budget. I found a list at
> http://www.olimex.com/pcb/dtools.html of a lot of packages, but there is
> no real info on them. So that is why I am here. Can I ask for opinions
> on what tools will give the best benifit for the cost of the low end
> tools? I hate to spend even $100 on a tool that I am not sure I will
> want to continue to use, but if I have confidence that it will be a good
> tool, I would not mind paying $500.
>
> So what are my options and how good are they for fine pitch work, up to
> 6 layers?
>
> And does anyone have any experience with TCI3? It seems to be a free
> tool, but when I follow the link, the page is in French. Anyone know if
> the tool can be used by English speakers (and readers)? Any English
> docs? I guess I could learn metric dimensions; 0.15 trace - 0.15 space
> :).
Have a loom at EasyPC: http://www.numberone.com
It's very easy to use and is inexpensive. I used it for years.
Leon
-- Leon Heller, G1HSM Email: aqzf13@dsl.pipex.com My low-cost Philips LPC210x ARM development system: http://www.geocities.com/leon_heller/lpc2104.html
- Next message: Richard: "Re: Remote licensing system"
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