IIRC there's a free/demo package from IVEX that might do, though I don't
know whether it's time limited or not. I am unfamiliar with it because I
felt that it was missing about 99.99% of the library component symbols and
models I expected to see. It's not missing too much from their viewpoint,
but The first five or six components I tried to use in their demo software
were absent, so I ditched it. I'm not even sure that IVEX isn't the vendor
of the Windraft, etc packages which I seem to recall it is, but they seem to
reflect the same problems. There's a PD add-on for AutoCad, which isn't
free, that is claimed to work well, though I haven't tried it.
What I use for the bread-and-butter stuff myself is the classic DOS-based
OrCAD v3.22 which works, I find, much better than the more recent GUI-based
versions. OrCAD has recently come out with a schematic capture package for
which there is supposed to be a route editor as well, accessible over the
web only. That might meet your short-term needs.
If you like the EAGLE stuff well enough, it's not terribly expensive, and
certainly costs in the range from 1..10% of what the OrCAD which does from
1..10% of Eagle will do, costs.
If you plan to integratge shcematic capture and PCB routing with other
packages, you should look at VIEWLOGIC despite its higher cost, because it's
the package now most-used to support entry on the low-cost CPLD/FPGA
verndors' software.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Pachla <peter.pachla_at_wintermute.org.uk>
To: Classic Computer <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Date: Tuesday, February 08, 2000 10:45 AM
Subject: Schematic capture/PCB design software
>Sometime last month there was a discussion here about members' preferred
PCB
>layout software - most of which I appear to have missed thanks to my ISP
>having problems....
>
>Anyway, what came of that discussion and what were the recommendations for
a
>good free package?
>
>
>Personally I've been using the DOS based "Easy PCB" for about 10 years now
>(does that make this on topic? <grin>) but would "prefer" to switch to a
>Win95 based package since I don't have a Linux box up and running yet. I've
>got "Eagle CAD v3.55r3" which is great, but the limitation on board size
>makes it impossible for me to use it for the project I'm playing with at
the
>moment. :-(
>
>
> TTFN - Pete.
>
>--
>Hardware & Software Engineer. Sound Engineer.
>Collector of Arcade Machines, Games Consoles & Obsolete Computers (esp DEC)
>
>peter.pachla_at_wintermute.org.uk | www.wintermute.org.uk
>--
>
>
>
Received on Tue Feb 08 2000 - 13:23:26 GMT