I am also new to electronics somewhat.
I took a few courses in electrical engineering in college but did not finish the curriculum.
I have been self studying the book Fundamentals of Digital Logic and Microcomputer Design by M. Rafiquzzaman and am now at the 7th chapter. I have learned a great deal from this book, and I think that it is well though out in the explanations.
I have decided to learn PCB software, and to apply this to solving the problems in the book. So I carefully searched and evaluated several PCB software companies and open source programs, and have decided to learn KiCad. I picked them because there is plenty of documentation, there are support forums, and it is free. I read some of the manuals of KiCad's functionality that were extremely transparent about the functionality of KiCad. I have already experimented with it, and am comfortable with it. I do this in my spare time.
I would like to read a book that is a tutorial on pcb software in general.
I have seen an excellent post at this forum, which I will paste it below.:
Welcome to the world of PCB design.
Firstly, you need to find a system and stick with it, I have been using the same software for over 25 years (in its various guises) and I am still learning so don't expect overnight success. Whatever system you use will not be perfect, but ALL will produce PCB's so bite the bullet and learn how to use one system.
Libraries, the most (MOST) important part of any ECAD system, and doing libraries is one of the best ways of getting to know both your ECAD system and develop an understanding of component footprints and their relationship to the schematic, real components and all the other processes your design will go through to get manufactured and populated.
IPC-7351 for SMD components and IPC-7251 for PTH are world standards for footprints, I would use them as the basis for you libraries.
**broken link removed**
The CAD Library of the Future - Mentor Graphics
Point 3. No, always specify the footprint as part of the part, and keep record of the FULL part number, including package type. It is the best way of avoiding problems. Changing parts is easier in the more expensive software, such as Cadstar, Orcad, for other packages can't say as I haven't used them.
Point 4. Create them.
Point 5. 3D, IDF & STEP, I'd get to grips with the basics of PCB libraries and design first.
Point 6.
“Board layout” VS “Stencil”
Pont 7. You have quite a few exotic devices that probably wouldn't appear in most supplied ECAD libraries, also the 600 pin limit may be pushing it for most of evaluation versions of major ECAD software (Cadstar Express is limited to 300 pins).
With the low noise and sensitive op-amps, low voltage DAC/ADC I would look seriously at doing a 4 layer board with a contiguous ground, not only for signal integrity and a low impedance return path, but also these sort of designs can be very sensitive to EMC, due to the small value of and conversion steps and the devices sensitivity. A 4 layer design wouldn't be much more expensive and would give numerous benefits.
Some basic links on mixed signal design:
http://www.hottconsultants.com/techt...gnd-plane.html
**broken link removed**
An intuitive, practical approach to mixed-signal grounding
**broken link removed**
http://focus.ti.com/lit/ml/slyp167/slyp167.pdf
http://www.ieee.org.uk/docs/emc1206a.pdf
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
Common Mode Ground Currents
---------- Post added at 12:29 ---------- Previous post was at 12:27 ----------
And the rest:
Some PCB design guides:
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
http://pcbtalk.com/data/upload/Desig...anced_PCBs.pdf
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
http://www.dnu.no/arkiv1/The CAD%2...e Future.pdf
http://www.ece.unh.edu/courses/ece71...0Libraries.pdf
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
http://www.thehighspeeddesignbook.com/
A list of EDA software:
Free/Open source
DesignSpark (RS comp) -
http://www.designspark.com/
FreePCB -
http://www.freepcb.com/
Fritzing -
http://fritzing.org/
gEDA -
http://www.gpleda.org/index.html
KiCAD -
**broken link removed**
Minimal Board Editor -
http://www.suigyodo.com/online/e/index.htm (English, Japanese)
Open Circuit Design -
http://opencircuitdesign.com/
Protel (Altium) AutoTrax/EasyTrax (DOS Based) - **broken link removed**
TCI -
**broken link removed** (French)
ZenitPCB -
http://www.zenitpcb.com/Index.html
Limited free version
AutoTRAX -
http://www.kov.com/
CADint -
http://www.cadint.se/p_free.asp
Cadstar Express (Zuken) -
**broken link removed**
DipTrace -
http://www.diptrace.com/
Eagle (Farnell/Newark) -
Layo1 PCB -
http://www.baas.nl/layo1pcb/uk/downloads.htm
McCAD -
http://www.mccad.com/index.html
OrCad 16.3 (Cadence) -
http://www.cadence.com/products/orca...oads.aspx#demo
Osmond PCB -
http://www.osmondpcb.com/index.html (Only PCB)
PCB Elegance -
http://www.mercoelectronics.nl/
WinQcad -
http://www.winqcad.com/
Commersial
Allegro (Cadence) -
http://www.cadence.com/products/pcb/Pages/default.aspx
Altium -
http://www.altium.com/
Ariadne -
**broken link removed** (German)
AutoTRAX -
http://www.kov.com/
Bartels AutoEngineer -
http://www.bartels.de/bae/bae_en.htm (English, German)
BoardMaker3 -
http://www.tsien.info/index.php#
Board Station (Mentor) -
http://www.mentor.com/products/pcb-s.../boardstation/
CADint -
http://www.cadint.se/products.asp
Cadstar (Zuken) -
http://www.zuken.com/products/cadstar
CIRCAD -
http://www.holophase.com/index.html
CircuitCREATOR -
**broken link removed**
Circuit Wizard, PCB wizard -
http://www.new-wave-concepts.com/products.html
CSiEDA -
http://www.csitek.co.kr/ (Korean)
CSiEDA -
http://www.csieda.co.jp/en/csieda/ (Japanese, English)
CR-5000 (Zuken) -
http://www.zuken.com/products/cr-5000
DipTrace -
http://www.diptrace.com/
Douglas CAD/CAM -
http://www.douglas.com/software/pro/prolayout.html
Dreamcad -
**broken link removed** (Japanese)
Eagle (Farnell/Newark) -
Easy-PC - **broken link removed**
EDWinXP -
http://www.visionics.a.se/index.html
Expedition Enterprise (Mentor) -
http://www.mentor.com/products/pcb-s...on-enterprise/
ICADPCB (Fujitsu) - **broken link removed**
Layo1 PCB -
http://www.baas.nl/layo1pcb/uk/index.html
McCAD -
http://www.mccad.com/index.html
Orcad (Cadence) -
http://www.cadence.com/products/orca...s/default.aspx
Osmond PCB -
http://www.osmondpcb.com/index.html (Only PCB)
Pads (Mentor) -
http://www.mentor.com/products/pcb-s...gn-flows/pads/
PCB Elegance -
http://www.mercoelectronics.nl/
Proteus PCB Design - **broken link removed**
Pulsonix -
http://pulsonix.com/index.asp
Rimu Schematics/PCB -
**broken link removed**
Scooter PCB - **broken link removed** (German)
Sprint-Layout -
http://www.abacom-online.de/uk/html/sprint-layout.html
SuperCAD/SuperPCB -
**broken link removed**
Target 3001 -
http://www.ibfriedrich.com/ (English, German, French)
TINA (DesignSoft) -
http://www.tina.com
Ultiboard (National Instruments) -
http://www.ni.com/ultiboard/
Vutrax -
http://www.vutrax.co.uk/index.htm
WinCircuit -
http://alain.michel13.free.fr/Anglais.html
WinQcad -
http://www.winqcad.com/
XL designer (Seetrax) -
http://www.xldesigner.com/
Free SW for PCB order service (no gerber files export)
ECAD Pro -
http://www.pcbdesignandfab.com/ (gerber files $25/board)
Expresspcb -
http://www.expresspcb.com/
Pad 2 Pad -
http://www.pad2pad.com
PCB123 -
http://www.sunstone.com/PCB123-CAD-Software.aspx (gerber files $100/board)
PCB Artist -
http://www.4pcb.com/free-pcb-layout-software/
Target 3001 (PCB Pool edition) -
http://www.pcb-pool.com/ppuk/service_downloads.html (gerber with proto)
Gerber tools
GCPrevue (Graphicode) - **broken link removed**
GerberLogix -
http://www.easylogix.de/products_detail.php?prog_id=1
gerbv -
http://gerbv.sourceforge.net/
Viewplot -
http://www.viewplot.com/
PCB panelizing
CAM 350 - **broken link removed**
FAB 3000 -
http://www.numericalinnovations.com/fab3000.html
Stripboard/Veroboard layout tools
DIY Layout Creator -
http://diy-fever.com/software/
LochMaster -
http://www.abacom-online.de/uk/html/lochmaster.html
Stripboard Designer -
**broken link removed**
Stripboard Magic -
**broken link removed**
Stripes -
http://sites.google.com/site/libby8dev/stripes
VeeCAD -
http://veecad.com/
VeroCAD -
http://xtronic.org/download/verocad-3-veroboard/
VeroDes -
http://www.heyrick.co.uk/software/verodes/
Simulation - Free
5Spice -
http://www.5spice.com/ (not free for commercial use)
Cider - **broken link removed**
Circuit Simulator Applet -
http://www.falstad.com/circuit/ (iPad/iPhone version available, iCircuit - NOT FREE)
Logisim -
**broken link removed**
LTpsiceIV (Linear Technology) -
http://www.linear.com/designtools/software/
Mindi (Microchip) - **broken link removed**
Ngspice -
http://ngspice.sourceforge.net/screens.html
Qucs -
http://qucs.sourceforge.net/
TINA-TI (Texas Instruments) - **broken link removed**
XSPICE -
http://users.ece.gatech.edu/~mrichard/Xspice/
Simulation - Commercial
AIM Spice -
http://www.aimspice.com/
B2 Spice -
http://www.beigebag.com/
Circuit Wizard -
http://www.new-wave-concepts.com/products.html
ICAP/4, etc.. -
**broken link removed** (Limited Free version available)
Micro Cap -
http://www.spectrum-soft.com/index.shtm (Limited Free version available)
NI Multisim (National Instruments) -
http://www.ni.com/multisim/
PSpice (Cadence) -
http://www.cadence.com/products/orca...s/default.aspx (Limited Free version available)
Super Spice (Anasoft) -
http://www.anasoft.co.uk/ (Limited Free version available)
TopSpice -
http://penzar.com/topspice/topspice.htm (Limited Free version available)
WinSpice -
http://www.winspice.com/
Hi, I am new to electronics (hobbyist)...pls give me your guidance in the below:
1. What should be the roadmap, what books to read, what to practice in which order.. to have deep understanding of everything I do with electronics.. My focus is to have true, in-depth understanding of electronics ( atom,particle level happenings), ability to build / design circuits, play with micro-controllers, robotics, arduino, Rasberry PI etc.
2. What tools should I buy? Right now, I just bought lots of resistors, capacitors, diodes, Intel 8051, Atmel atmega 32 16 PU, soldering gun, solder, stand, digital multi-meter, breadboard, perf board, wires, batteries, battery connectors.
Apart from these...what is the difference between acceptor board, shield, breakout board and target board. Unable to get proper clarification anywhere in web.
Thank You
- - - Updated - - -
I am also new to electronics somewhat.
I took a few courses in electrical engineering in college but did not finish the curriculum.
I have been self studying the book Fundamentals of Digital Logic and Microcomputer Design by M. Rafiquzzaman and am now at the 7th chapter. I have learned a great deal from this book, and I think that it is well though out in the explanations.
I have decided to learn PCB software, and to apply this to solving the problems in the book. So I carefully searched and evaluated several PCB software companies and open source programs, and have decided to learn KiCad. I picked them because there is plenty of documentation, there are support forums, and it is free. I read some of the manuals of KiCad's functionality that were extremely transparent about the functionality of KiCad. I have already experimented with it, and am comfortable with it. I do this in my spare time.
I would like to read a book that is a tutorial on pcb software in general.
I have seen an excellent post at this forum, which I will paste it below.:
Welcome to the world of PCB design.
Firstly, you need to find a system and stick with it, I have been using the same software for over 25 years (in its various guises) and I am still learning so don't expect overnight success. Whatever system you use will not be perfect, but ALL will produce PCB's so bite the bullet and learn how to use one system.
Libraries, the most (MOST) important part of any ECAD system, and doing libraries is one of the best ways of getting to know both your ECAD system and develop an understanding of component footprints and their relationship to the schematic, real components and all the other processes your design will go through to get manufactured and populated.
IPC-7351 for SMD components and IPC-7251 for PTH are world standards for footprints, I would use them as the basis for you libraries.
**broken link removed**
The CAD Library of the Future - Mentor Graphics
Point 3. No, always specify the footprint as part of the part, and keep record of the FULL part number, including package type. It is the best way of avoiding problems. Changing parts is easier in the more expensive software, such as Cadstar, Orcad, for other packages can't say as I haven't used them.
Point 4. Create them.
Point 5. 3D, IDF & STEP, I'd get to grips with the basics of PCB libraries and design first.
Point 6.
“Board layout” VS “Stencil”
Pont 7. You have quite a few exotic devices that probably wouldn't appear in most supplied ECAD libraries, also the 600 pin limit may be pushing it for most of evaluation versions of major ECAD software (Cadstar Express is limited to 300 pins).
With the low noise and sensitive op-amps, low voltage DAC/ADC I would look seriously at doing a 4 layer board with a contiguous ground, not only for signal integrity and a low impedance return path, but also these sort of designs can be very sensitive to EMC, due to the small value of and conversion steps and the devices sensitivity. A 4 layer design wouldn't be much more expensive and would give numerous benefits.
Some basic links on mixed signal design:
http://www.hottconsultants.com/techt...gnd-plane.html
**broken link removed**
An intuitive, practical approach to mixed-signal grounding
**broken link removed**
http://focus.ti.com/lit/ml/slyp167/slyp167.pdf
http://www.ieee.org.uk/docs/emc1206a.pdf
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
Common Mode Ground Currents
---------- Post added at 12:29 ---------- Previous post was at 12:27 ----------
And the rest:
Some PCB design guides:
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
http://pcbtalk.com/data/upload/Desig...anced_PCBs.pdf
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
http://www.dnu.no/arkiv1/The CAD%2...e Future.pdf
http://www.ece.unh.edu/courses/ece71...0Libraries.pdf
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
http://www.thehighspeeddesignbook.com/
A list of EDA software:
Free/Open source
DesignSpark (RS comp) -
http://www.designspark.com/
FreePCB -
http://www.freepcb.com/
Fritzing -
http://fritzing.org/
gEDA -
http://www.gpleda.org/index.html
KiCAD -
**broken link removed**
Minimal Board Editor -
http://www.suigyodo.com/online/e/index.htm (English, Japanese)
Open Circuit Design -
http://opencircuitdesign.com/
Protel (Altium) AutoTrax/EasyTrax (DOS Based) - **broken link removed**
TCI -
**broken link removed** (French)
ZenitPCB -
http://www.zenitpcb.com/Index.html
Limited free version
AutoTRAX -
http://www.kov.com/
CADint -
http://www.cadint.se/p_free.asp
Cadstar Express (Zuken) -
**broken link removed**
DipTrace -
http://www.diptrace.com/
Eagle (Farnell/Newark) -
Layo1 PCB -
http://www.baas.nl/layo1pcb/uk/downloads.htm
McCAD -
http://www.mccad.com/index.html
OrCad 16.3 (Cadence) -
http://www.cadence.com/products/orca...oads.aspx#demo
Osmond PCB -
http://www.osmondpcb.com/index.html (Only PCB)
PCB Elegance -
http://www.mercoelectronics.nl/
WinQcad -
http://www.winqcad.com/
Commersial
Allegro (Cadence) -
http://www.cadence.com/products/pcb/Pages/default.aspx
Altium -
http://www.altium.com/
Ariadne -
**broken link removed** (German)
AutoTRAX -
http://www.kov.com/
Bartels AutoEngineer -
http://www.bartels.de/bae/bae_en.htm (English, German)
BoardMaker3 -
http://www.tsien.info/index.php#
Board Station (Mentor) -
http://www.mentor.com/products/pcb-s.../boardstation/
CADint -
http://www.cadint.se/products.asp
Cadstar (Zuken) -
http://www.zuken.com/products/cadstar
CIRCAD -
http://www.holophase.com/index.html
CircuitCREATOR -
**broken link removed**
Circuit Wizard, PCB wizard -
http://www.new-wave-concepts.com/products.html
CSiEDA -
http://www.csitek.co.kr/ (Korean)
CSiEDA -
http://www.csieda.co.jp/en/csieda/ (Japanese, English)
CR-5000 (Zuken) -
http://www.zuken.com/products/cr-5000
DipTrace -
http://www.diptrace.com/
Douglas CAD/CAM -
http://www.douglas.com/software/pro/prolayout.html
Dreamcad -
**broken link removed** (Japanese)
Eagle (Farnell/Newark) -
Easy-PC - **broken link removed**
EDWinXP -
http://www.visionics.a.se/index.html
Expedition Enterprise (Mentor) -
http://www.mentor.com/products/pcb-s...on-enterprise/
ICADPCB (Fujitsu) - **broken link removed**
Layo1 PCB -
http://www.baas.nl/layo1pcb/uk/index.html
McCAD -
http://www.mccad.com/index.html
Orcad (Cadence) -
http://www.cadence.com/products/orca...s/default.aspx
Osmond PCB -
http://www.osmondpcb.com/index.html (Only PCB)
Pads (Mentor) -
http://www.mentor.com/products/pcb-s...gn-flows/pads/
PCB Elegance -
http://www.mercoelectronics.nl/
Proteus PCB Design - **broken link removed**
Pulsonix -
http://pulsonix.com/index.asp
Rimu Schematics/PCB -
**broken link removed**
Scooter PCB - **broken link removed** (German)
Sprint-Layout -
http://www.abacom-online.de/uk/html/sprint-layout.html
SuperCAD/SuperPCB -
**broken link removed**
Target 3001 -
http://www.ibfriedrich.com/ (English, German, French)
TINA (DesignSoft) -
http://www.tina.com
Ultiboard (National Instruments) -
http://www.ni.com/ultiboard/
Vutrax -
http://www.vutrax.co.uk/index.htm
WinCircuit -
http://alain.michel13.free.fr/Anglais.html
WinQcad -
http://www.winqcad.com/
XL designer (Seetrax) -
http://www.xldesigner.com/
Free SW for PCB order service (no gerber files export)
ECAD Pro -
http://www.pcbdesignandfab.com/ (gerber files $25/board)
Expresspcb -
http://www.expresspcb.com/
Pad 2 Pad -
http://www.pad2pad.com
PCB123 -
http://www.sunstone.com/PCB123-CAD-Software.aspx (gerber files $100/board)
PCB Artist -
http://www.4pcb.com/free-pcb-layout-software/
Target 3001 (PCB Pool edition) -
http://www.pcb-pool.com/ppuk/service_downloads.html (gerber with proto)
Gerber tools
GCPrevue (Graphicode) - **broken link removed**
GerberLogix -
http://www.easylogix.de/products_detail.php?prog_id=1
gerbv -
http://gerbv.sourceforge.net/
Viewplot -
http://www.viewplot.com/
PCB panelizing
CAM 350 - **broken link removed**
FAB 3000 -
http://www.numericalinnovations.com/fab3000.html
Stripboard/Veroboard layout tools
DIY Layout Creator -
http://diy-fever.com/software/
LochMaster -
http://www.abacom-online.de/uk/html/lochmaster.html
Stripboard Designer -
**broken link removed**
Stripboard Magic -
**broken link removed**
Stripes -
http://sites.google.com/site/libby8dev/stripes
VeeCAD -
http://veecad.com/
VeroCAD -
http://xtronic.org/download/verocad-3-veroboard/
VeroDes -
http://www.heyrick.co.uk/software/verodes/
Simulation - Free
5Spice -
http://www.5spice.com/ (not free for commercial use)
Cider - **broken link removed**
Circuit Simulator Applet -
http://www.falstad.com/circuit/ (iPad/iPhone version available, iCircuit - NOT FREE)
Logisim -
**broken link removed**
LTpsiceIV (Linear Technology) -
http://www.linear.com/designtools/software/
Mindi (Microchip) - **broken link removed**
Ngspice -
http://ngspice.sourceforge.net/screens.html
Qucs -
http://qucs.sourceforge.net/
TINA-TI (Texas Instruments) - **broken link removed**
XSPICE -
http://users.ece.gatech.edu/~mrichard/Xspice/
Simulation - Commercial
AIM Spice -
http://www.aimspice.com/
B2 Spice -
http://www.beigebag.com/
Circuit Wizard -
http://www.new-wave-concepts.com/products.html
ICAP/4, etc.. -
**broken link removed** (Limited Free version available)
Micro Cap -
http://www.spectrum-soft.com/index.shtm (Limited Free version available)
NI Multisim (National Instruments) -
http://www.ni.com/multisim/
PSpice (Cadence) -
http://www.cadence.com/products/orca...s/default.aspx (Limited Free version available)
Super Spice (Anasoft) -
http://www.anasoft.co.uk/ (Limited Free version available)
TopSpice -
http://penzar.com/topspice/topspice.htm (Limited Free version available)
WinSpice -
http://www.winspice.com/
Hi, I am new to electronics (hobbyist)...pls give me your guidance in the below:
1. What should be the roadmap, what books to read, what to practice in which order.. to have deep understanding of everything I do with electronics.. My focus is to have true, in-depth understanding of electronics ( atom,particle level happenings), ability to build / design circuits, play with micro-controllers, robotics, arduino, Rasberry PI etc.
2. What tools should I buy? Right now, I just bought lots of resistors, capacitors, diodes, Intel 8051, Atmel atmega 32 16 PU, soldering gun, solder, stand, digital multi-meter, breadboard, perf board, wires, batteries, battery connectors.
Apart from these...what is the difference between acceptor board, shield, breakout board and target board. Unable to get proper clarification anywhere in web.
Thank You