PCB Design Abandonware/Little known/very basic EDA tools? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Chris56000
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2018, 11:14:31 pm
content: Hi!Does anyone know if there are any free "Abandonware"/very little–known or used eda tools with schematic capture and Gerber Export?I once had a copy of the old British Quickroute 5.0 a previous employer bought for me but unfortunately the disc is long gone – the Diy Audio Forum says it's on a Polish site somewhere!(The publishers went bust over ten years ago, so I don't think anyone would chase me over it!)The diy audio forum mentioned there's a free Russian package thats simple to use with no pin restrictions/size restrictions but doesn't say what it's called – does anyone know of it and can I get a copy to try out?Also, Quasar Electronics based in Bishop's Stortford (still advertising in EPE mag) sold a PCB package in a box up to about ten years ago that you could buy in a fully featured version with simulation, gerber export, etc., for about £115 but by the time I was employed earning enough pocket–money to afford a copy they'd stopped selling it!! Did any Member ever buy this?I'm looking for a very old package that can be used to make very basic PCB layouts for my friend who wants to experiment with z80s, 6502s, bbc micro add–ons, etc., and KiCAD, Design Spark etc., have got far too complex & heavy for me to use for these simple projects, and Orcad SDT was too much trying to keep track of running it in DosBox – I could never get it to run!Chris WilliamsûObviously for the simple projects I want to make, technical support is irrelavent as I can debug/correct any errors myself!PS!The perfect package for me would be if Abacom integrated SPlan and Sprint Layout into one package that can place components from the schematic onto the board outlline with "rats–nest" and routing tools, they've made it clear they don't want to go down that route, even tho' they've had innumerable requests for this!

author: Alex Eisenhut
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 17, 2018, 07:50:25 am
content: Very basic, ya?https://vetusware.com/download/smARTWORK%201.3%20r4/?id=7878

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 17, 2018, 07:54:55 am
content: Altium released autotrax as freewarehttps://techdocs.altium.com/display/ALEG/Freeware+downloadsBut I don't know why you wouldn't just use Circuit Maker or one of the other web based ones like EasyEDA

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 17, 2018, 08:01:04 am
content: Quote from: Chris56000 on October 16, 2018, 11:14:31 pmI might have a copy of one kicking around somewhere, Quasar Electronics rings a bell but I'd need to see the software, it was advertised on the back cover of Elektor or EPE or perhaps both.Used it to design the controller for an AirCon refrigerant Recovery/Recycle/Recharge machine that never launched.It was like pulling teeth with pliers and no anaesthetic.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 17, 2018, 09:42:25 am
content: I used CIRCAD'98 for a long long time, going directly to a PCB. Did quite complex projects with it, something clearly beyond its intended capabilities. The lack of proper polygon pour system, important for power designs, made me eventually go forward, but I used it for more than a decade. Basically, the polygon pour, while producing nice-looking result, would produce lines and arcs that can't be removed once put in place, so you need to run it on throw-away extra layer you can fully delete and repour every time you want to change something.The free demo has the drill file / gerber export disabled, but I went so far to write my own drill / gerber export tools, by reverse-engineering the Circad's file format (which is super straightforward; I often modified my designs with a text editor and search&replace, to basically perform the same you do in altium by its "select similar objects" and filters).I liked the fact that I could just draw some primitives (within the design I'm working on; not separate editor), then select them and group them as component, then copypaste this component to the next project. I worked by placing a footprint, then typing the net names directly in the pad properties, since it was trivially easy and quick to do so, to create the netlist on-the-go. Quicker than drawing a schematic, and forces you to name all nets sanely, without still being a burden! So I didn't do it through the schematic at all; I did functional schematics separately.It has quite some similarity with the old Protel.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 17, 2018, 04:28:11 pm
content: You seem to be looking for an old EDA package mainly because you think it's going to be simpler to use. I'm really not sure this would be the case. There are some, such as Autotrax, but I'm guessing they would be much more of an hassle to use than KiCad for instance, or other recent open source or freeware packages.If you like Splan and Sprint Layout, I don't really see why you'd think KiCad (for instance) would be significantly more difficult to use?You may also take a look at PCB Elegance, an abandoned commercial package which has been open-sourced:http://www.pcbelegance.org/

author: Mattylad
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 18, 2018, 08:28:48 pm
content: Older simpler quicker yet still full of the older bugs and designed for an older OS that may not work quite the same today.Unless you happen to have an old 286 knocking around.Probably gonna produce gerber + separate aperture files - the fab houses are gonna hate you lol

author: Frillo
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 18, 2018, 10:11:18 pm
content: If you just want something simple try easyeda. It's a free online tool with a gerber export built in. It's fairly bare bones in terms of features but since it's online it has an amazing component library.

author: Alex Eisenhut
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 19, 2018, 01:09:19 am
content: Quote from: Mattylad on October 18, 2018, 08:28:48 pmSure, but smArtwork satisfies all three criteria the OP put in the title!