Circuit diagram software anyone?

[quantumdude]

Hi,

What do you EE's use to draw circuit diagrams for reports? I'll be teaching a course in Circuit Analysis this summer, and there is no existing lab manual. I'd like to make one, but I don't want to draw the circuit diagrams by hand (I draw like a retard ).

Thanks,

 

[chroot]

Download a demo version of OrCAD:

http://www.orcad.com/downloads/orcadlite10/default.asp

OrCAD Capture is pretty much an industry standard for schematics.

- Warren

 

[CV14]

Can any of the other "CAD" programs work as well. I have ViaCad on my computer, it has a majority if not all of the electronics symbols. Will that work or is there something else that OrCad offers

 

[negitron]

If you just want to draw fairly basic schematics, any CAD software will do. If your schematics will be more complex, you might be better off with a package specifically designed for drawing them, such as OrCAD or PADS. There is also http://www.lis.inpg.fr/realise_au_lis/kicad/ , a free, open-source schematic and simulation package, but I don't know if their license allows use for educational purposes or only for personal use.

 

[berkeman]

Can any of the other "CAD" programs work as well. I have ViaCad on my computer, it has a majority if not all of the electronics symbols. Will that work or is there something else that OrCad offers

Um, you resurrected a 5 year old thread...

But whatever. I guess the subject of CAD software is timeless, after all.

A schematic drawing package like OrCAD gives you many features that a straight drawing CAD program like Visio or others cannot. It helps you with connectivity issues, via Net Names, connection by names, bus connections, etc. It let's you enter information for parts (like voltage, power, source, price, etc.) that you can access by clicking on the parts. It let's you generate Netlists (for the PCB layout phase), BOMs (bills of materials for the parts ordering), and let's you do Design Rule Checks to find connectivity and other errors.

There are typically Student Versions available for some of the schematic drawing packages. There are also some fairly inexpensive packages like Eagle that work reasonably well.

Once you've used a real schematic entry tool, you will be very frustrated trying to draw even simple schematics in a CAD or drawing program.

 

[chroot]

Not to mention the fact that schematics drawn in programs like Visio contain no real information about connectivity; you cannot convert them into a netlist for a simulator.

- Warren

 

[negitron]

Not to mention the fact that schematics drawn in programs like Visio contain no real information about connectivity; you cannot convert them into a netlist for a simulator

But berkeman did mention exactly that.

 

[berkeman]

But berkeman did mention exactly that.

No, actually I mentioned the PCB layout aspect of the Netlist, not the simulation aspect. Good point by chroot.

 

[Averagesupernova]

I like this software, it's free:

www.cadsoftusa.com

 

[negitron]

I like this software, it's free:

www.cadsoftusa.com

It's been mentioned. In any case, the free version is highly limited, good as it is. They also offer a personal-use version intended for hobbyists for $US150 which has impressive capabilities, including the ability to autoroute a 6x4-inch 4-layer board.

 

[ranger]

XCircuit is very good and free. Used it for schematics in my undergrad.

http://opencircuitdesign.com/xcircuit/