I'm looking at doing a small electronic project several times in my boat. I've got the project up and running on a small solderless breadboard, so I know the circuit / software (there is an Arduino knock-off here) works, My soldering skills leave enough to be desired that so far my efforts to get a solder based protoboard up and running ... have not gone so well. So, as I am going to need several of these, and I know I can solder printed circuit boards, I am wondering if I shouldn't just use the services of one of the China based firms that do small runs of custom printed circuit boards for little money (firms like (but not necessarily) PCBWay)? Of course to make that happen I will need computer aided design (CAD) software to generate the files needed by the firm in China to manufacture. So, CAD software for electronics work that runs under Linux, is available under the GPL, what is available? I have looked at KiCad, but are there better options out there? Also, looking for learning the software in question, are there any good YouTube tutorial videos? Thanks.
On Wed, 10 Apr 2024 at 19:45, Colin McGregor via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
I have looked at KiCad, but are there better options out there?
KiCad is generally well regarded and quite capable.
Also, looking for learning the software in question, are there any good YouTube tutorial videos?
https://youtu.be/nkHFoxe0mrU -- Scott
Colin McGregor wrote: [ ... ]
So, CAD software for electronics work that runs under Linux, is available under the GPL, what is available? I have looked at KiCad, but are there better options out there? Also, looking for learning the software in question, are there any good YouTube tutorial videos?
The one I've used is from the Debian package pcb . At the time, it came along with the schematic design package that is now called lepton-eda. Mostly I used the schematic design side, but I did do one very simple single-microcontroller board that was produced and worked. I found the software easy to learn from the available docs. Kicad seems to have a good reputation, and would probably also be fine. Usually I build circuits on general-purpose pre-printed PCBs like https://www.creatroninc.com/product/11-x-6-3cm-fr4-prototyping-board-with-tr... .
You will not regret learning and using Kicad. I've used it for years now to design circuits and really love it. It's continued to improve over the years and is actively under development. I've used PCBWay and JLCPCB for board manufacture. Both are good though I've found JLCPCB to be a bit less expensive. In both cases shipping will probably cost you more than the boards. Both companies also do assembly for a reasonable price in case you don't want to do your own soldering. Jim On Wed, Apr 10, 2024 at 10:17 PM mwilson--- via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
Colin McGregor wrote: [ ... ]
So, CAD software for electronics work that runs under Linux, is available under the GPL, what is available? I have looked at KiCad, but are there better options out there? Also, looking for learning the software in question, are there any good YouTube tutorial videos?
The one I've used is from the Debian package pcb .
At the time, it came along with the schematic design package that is now called lepton-eda.
Mostly I used the schematic design side, but I did do one very simple single-microcontroller board that was produced and worked. I found the software easy to learn from the available docs.
Kicad seems to have a good reputation, and would probably also be fine.
Usually I build circuits on general-purpose pre-printed PCBs like
https://www.creatroninc.com/product/11-x-6-3cm-fr4-prototyping-board-with-tr... .
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participants (4)
-
Colin McGregor -
Jim Ruxton -
mwilson＠Vex.Net -
Scott Allen