Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[morgoth2006]

Hey there.
For my first valve build I decided to try on something simple so I went for the valvecaster pedal, the Boobtube to be precise: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=63479.msg784146#msg784146
But since I tend to make a mess of the wiring I'm trying to do a pcb on EagleCAD wich I'm sharing here.
What do you guys think? Did I manage to make a decent PCB or is it a complete crap?

[morgoth2006]

No one?
Well, I guess Eagle is quite a pain to work with, but it seems to be the most popular free PCB design program.
My PCB was based on

Wich I turned into


Since my laser printer just decided to die on me I had to etch another PCB that I had printed earlier


And that led to a bit of weekend DIY:


The case is from a pair of headlights that I bought last month for my car. Since they are 12V lights I found it fitting for a 12V Tube design  
I´ve been lucky until now, clear plastic is a pain to drill, it cracks very easily.
Edit: the dual pots are there because I only had dual 100k, I will swap them eventually 

[J M Fahey]

Your first .zip was unanswered bacause by posting Eagle .sch and .brd files you forced the reader to have the same version of Eagle installed in his computer, just to see them.
I for once never learnt it, keeping my good old trusty DOS workhorses Autotrax and Tango PCB in good use.
Maybe the fact that I can design no size limit boards instead of puny Eurocard size ones *is* a sales point for me.
Plus the Protel printing module is free and small, so I can send it together with my files to anybody wanting to print them, without forcing them to buy the PCB-software-of-the-day just to process my job.
I suggest you use yellow silkscreen (part outlines) , red tracks, grey pads and black background for maximum visibility.
That's the generally accepted color scheme in the Industry, and for good reasons.

[morgoth2006]

Yeah, I ended up realizing that. 
I shared the Eagle files because it seems popular these days and maybe someone would find them useful, at least I prefer some sort of vector graphics instead of over compressed bitmaps. But like you said JM, the free version has a size limit.
I tried other packages, but Proteus won't let you save in the demo version, kicad is a bigger pain than Eagle and Sprint-Layout looked simple, but with few people using it.
If it wasn't for the fact that SMD parts have such weird footprints I would do my PCBs with Inkscape, a freeware Corel Draw lookalike, but I'm planning for the near future, when I'll have to work with them for my University final project.

[J M Fahey]

I still use vetust Autotrax 1.61 and Easytrack , which can be downloaded free from the Protel site, and can be used in any old machine *up to* XP; I installed DosBox in my Windows 7 netbook and they run happily too.
They are *real* popular all over the world, are legal (no pesky dangerous cracks) , real Pro software which allows 32"x32" boards, up to 8 layers, no hole amount limit, you name it.
Cautions (because of age):
1) need to run in DOS or a DOS box (courtesy of Windows up to XP) or using freeware DosBox software.
2) Most videoboards supported are not even remembered, but VGA 640x480 is the default mode of any board, so ....
3) Although it supports HP Deskjets and Laserjets, it does not know what USB is, *but* somebody wrote a free driver which produces a PCX drawing which is recognized by any graphic software and printed by any modern (or future) printer.
They also output a PostScript file which is easily opened by Adobe Photoshop and many others.
4) The beauty of it (for us hobbyists) is that it's very intuitive.
You sketch your parts layout on a piece of paper, pencil tracks all over the place at will until reasonably happy with results, and draw onscreen the definitive artwork.
Very short learning curve.
5) There is also the excellent Bancika's PCB Creator (or something like that) which is great for not *very* complex designs, perfect for pedals and simple preamps.
Try to get the earlier "Windows only" version, because the new "any OS" one, which is Java based, is somewhat clumsier and , besides, 95% of designs all over the Net use the old one.
Both are not compatible.
It has no limits per se, it's only that a complex board can become very cluttered on screen.

EDIT: read : http://www.ssguitar.com/index.php?topic=2024.msg13103#msg13103

[delus]

...old trusty DOS...

There are still peolple that use DOS? Now that's something worth an offtopic!
And I thought I was the only one who still plays Daggerfall!

[joecool85]

...old trusty DOS...

There are still peolple that use DOS? Now that's something worth an offtopic!
And I thought I was the only one who still plays Daggerfall!

You probably are.  That said, DOS is still used by a few corporations like JCPenny for their POS (point of sale) machines.

[J M Fahey]

Well, not a DOS machine as "*the* computer in the house and nothing else", but some specific DOS software still works very well and justifies having a dedicated machine for it (which then becomes a workstation) or simpler than that, setting a Dos Box for it.
Many gamers do that too.
I design boards on them, a friend Architect still runs his DOS old Autocad  for two very good reasons: 1) he started with Autocad 7, got sick of learning a new one every year, stopped at 12? if I'm not mistaken, and 2) even that one is about 235000 times more powerful than what he actually needs in the real world.
And a lot of Commercial or POS software , still used, runs happily with it .... and they do not need *nothing* else installed in their machines.
jm2c
PS: anyway, I'm trying Express PCB which looks and feels like those old workhorses.
My only gripe with them is that parts have ridiculously small pads, which leave only a very small ring of solderable copper around them.
I guess it's on purpose: *they* can work very well within those constraints, *you* will have a lot of problems when thermal transfering or using similar `"home techniques", getting fed up with it and ordering the boards from them.
I'm (on my scarce free time) redrawing parts libraries with real, hobby world approved pads.
Stay tuned, because I'll publish them here.
Why Express PCB?: no size or hole count limits, intuitive (short learning curve), free without dangerous cracks, which are a guaranteed recipe to infect your machine.

[sonolink]

Sorry, if I may sound silly, but I can't find the protel website. I'm trying to get hold of Autotrack. Any links please?
Thanks in advance

[J M Fahey]

Protel was bought by Altium.
Which isn't *very* happy with the idea of free software.
Oh well.
They will let you download a copy but you have to sign an agreement that you won't sell it.
No big deal.
Click "I accept" and get it.
http://www.altium.com/community/downloads/altium-freeware-end-user-license-agreement/de/auto-trax.cfm
Good luck.
It will run under XP if you let it have its own window and make it feel it "owns" the machine, meaning don't listen to a streaming radio in the background while drawing, and stuff like that..
Under Windows 7 you'll need a program called DoxBox first, qhich was designed to run any and all the beautiful DOS software out there.

EDIT: check this very useful page, lots of tips and add ons.
http://www.airborn.com.au/layout/easytrax.html

[joecool85]

Here's a link to DOSBox.