5 ms·

Every time i've tried to use some combination of a Spice program and something like EagleCad I get really lost quickly. It's clearly software written for people

by tibbon 9y ago

Every time i've tried to use some combination of a Spice program and something like EagleCad I get really lost quickly. It's clearly software written for people who already know what they are doing. Do you have any good resources on learning such conceptually?

jerkstate 9y ago
I have a circuit simulator program called EveryCircuit on my ipad (it looks like it's available on Chrome) and it's very simple to use and develop intuitions about basic components. You really don't need to use EagleCad to lay out your own PCBs for a very long time into the hobby. Perf board and jumper wires are sufficient for prototyping for a long time, most SMD/ball only chips/components have prototyping boards from sparkfun or adafruit or whatever.
weaksauce 9y ago
Falstadt (iirc) is a great web based one that is pretty easy to use. It's not as accurate as ltspice though but it's good for simple stuff.
- kmm 9y ago
  http://www.falstad.com/circuit/ http://www.falstad.com/circuit/ It used to be a Java applet, now rewritten in JavaScript. Sadly, the Java version vastly outperforms the JS one, at least on my machine, but Java applets are annoying to run nowadays
  - BenjiWiebe 9y ago
    The JS one is plenty performant on my machine. I love that simulator. Helps me intuitively understand the circuit when I can see the voltage and current on each connection.
    - weaksauce 9y ago
      I do love that you can double click on a wire and check the box to show the current/voltage there.
  - Immortalin 9y ago
    Try my electron wrapper: https://github.com/Immortalin/Simulacra https://github.com/Immortalin/Simulacra
kennywinker 9y ago
I took a few stabs at eagle before trying KiCad which I found MUCH easier to learn. The “Getting to Blinky” series on youtube was what i used but there are probably other good tutorials too.
- leggomylibro 9y ago
  +1 for KiCAD - it's somewhat hotkey-based, but once you get the hang of the key commands it is very easy and intuitive. Honestly, after a few designs, making a circuit board feels as easy and fun as playing a puzzle game. Hackaday has a good series of blog posts for familiarizing yourself with the basic commands: https://hackaday.com/2016/11/17/creating-a-pcb-in-everything-kicad-part-1/ https://hackaday.com/2016/11/17/creating-a-pcb-in-everything...
  - wanderingjew 9y ago
    I'd recommend not linking to that series of posts. The author is a hothead and generally disliked by the entire electronics community. Actually, there are some rumors about him that are quite unsavory, and I'm waiting until the cetacean equivalent of the #metoo movement to make an appearance on twitter to see the fallout from that.
    - borgel 9y ago
      What's he doing with whales?
      - wanderingjew 9y ago
        That's no way to refer to your mother
        dang 9y ago
        Please don't.
    - leggomylibro 9y ago
cheschire 9y ago
I use CircuitLab, which is very helpful from a testing standpoint. As a coder, one of the things that really stresses me about electronics engineering is how untestable everything else, and CircuitLab gives me the ability to mock up simple unit-test-like circuits and see what the expected values should be, including when a power source fluctuates. It costs a little, if that's a concern. https://circuitlab.com https://circuitlab.com
- compumike 9y ago
  (CircuitLab dev here) Thanks for the link. I've also been writing an online electronics textbook with simulations built in https://www.circuitlab.com/textbook/ https://www.circuitlab.com/textbook/ which should be relevant.
  - cheschire 9y ago
    Post a new topic about it as you make updates man! People here would eat that up.
siimtalvik 9y ago
yes. Kicad and two video series made by Chris Gammell... https://contextualelectronics.com/courses/shine-on-you-crazy-kicad/ https://contextualelectronics.com/courses/shine-on-you-crazy... https://contextualelectronics.com/courses/getting-to-blinky/ https://contextualelectronics.com/courses/getting-to-blinky/ I'd recommend doing them quick, as Kicad is on the verge of a new major release(5.0) and these series might become outdated.

by tibbon 9y ago

jerkstate 9y ago

I have a circuit simulator program called EveryCircuit on my ipad (it looks like it's available on Chrome) and it's very simple to use and develop intuitions about basic components. You really don't need to use EagleCad to lay out your own PCBs for a very long time into the hobby. Perf board and jumper wires are sufficient for prototyping for a long time, most SMD/ball only chips/components have prototyping boards from sparkfun or adafruit or whatever.

weaksauce 9y ago

Falstadt (iirc) is a great web based one that is pretty easy to use. It's not as accurate as ltspice though but it's good for simple stuff.

kmm 9y ago
http://www.falstad.com/circuit/ http://www.falstad.com/circuit/ It used to be a Java applet, now rewritten in JavaScript. Sadly, the Java version vastly outperforms the JS one, at least on my machine, but Java applets are annoying to run nowadays
- BenjiWiebe 9y ago
  The JS one is plenty performant on my machine. I love that simulator. Helps me intuitively understand the circuit when I can see the voltage and current on each connection.
  - weaksauce 9y ago
    I do love that you can double click on a wire and check the box to show the current/voltage there.
- Immortalin 9y ago
  Try my electron wrapper: https://github.com/Immortalin/Simulacra https://github.com/Immortalin/Simulacra

kennywinker 9y ago

I took a few stabs at eagle before trying KiCad which I found MUCH easier to learn. The “Getting to Blinky” series on youtube was what i used but there are probably other good tutorials too.

leggomylibro 9y ago
+1 for KiCAD - it's somewhat hotkey-based, but once you get the hang of the key commands it is very easy and intuitive. Honestly, after a few designs, making a circuit board feels as easy and fun as playing a puzzle game. Hackaday has a good series of blog posts for familiarizing yourself with the basic commands: https://hackaday.com/2016/11/17/creating-a-pcb-in-everything-kicad-part-1/ https://hackaday.com/2016/11/17/creating-a-pcb-in-everything...
- wanderingjew 9y ago
  I'd recommend not linking to that series of posts. The author is a hothead and generally disliked by the entire electronics community. Actually, there are some rumors about him that are quite unsavory, and I'm waiting until the cetacean equivalent of the #metoo movement to make an appearance on twitter to see the fallout from that.
  - borgel 9y ago
    What's he doing with whales?
    - wanderingjew 9y ago
      That's no way to refer to your mother
      - dang 9y ago
        Please don't.
  - leggomylibro 9y ago

cheschire 9y ago

I use CircuitLab, which is very helpful from a testing standpoint. As a coder, one of the things that really stresses me about electronics engineering is how untestable everything else, and CircuitLab gives me the ability to mock up simple unit-test-like circuits and see what the expected values should be, including when a power source fluctuates. It costs a little, if that's a concern. https://circuitlab.com https://circuitlab.com

compumike 9y ago
(CircuitLab dev here) Thanks for the link. I've also been writing an online electronics textbook with simulations built in https://www.circuitlab.com/textbook/ https://www.circuitlab.com/textbook/ which should be relevant.
- cheschire 9y ago
  Post a new topic about it as you make updates man! People here would eat that up.

siimtalvik 9y ago

yes. Kicad and two video series made by Chris Gammell... https://contextualelectronics.com/courses/shine-on-you-crazy-kicad/ https://contextualelectronics.com/courses/shine-on-you-crazy... https://contextualelectronics.com/courses/getting-to-blinky/ https://contextualelectronics.com/courses/getting-to-blinky/ I'd recommend doing them quick, as Kicad is on the verge of a new major release(5.0) and these series might become outdated.