1976 PCB design at CERN - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: daqq
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2021, 08:01:10 pm
content: It's amazing what we take for granted these days:QuoteSource:https://www.facebook.com/CERNLibrary/photos/pcb.10159281668986970/10159281668751970/

author: nardev
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 04, 2021, 07:55:27 am
content: "Guess how much faster it was to make printed circuit boards using these machines?"Well, what to do if you need "Ctrl+Z"?

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2021, 03:08:33 am
content: I would use that stuff lol

author: DenzilPenberthy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2021, 10:36:40 pm
content: Based on my experience this year trying to learn Cadence PCB design and schematic tools by myself at home in lockdown so I could make some 8 layer boards for CERN, I think I'd rather have used this!

author: Alex Eisenhut
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 08, 2021, 03:03:55 am
content: Quote from: DenzilPenberthy on October 07, 2021, 10:36:40 pmWhat? Allegro is the best!

author: Refrigerator
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 10, 2021, 05:46:25 pm
content: Quote from: Alex Eisenhut on October 08, 2021, 03:03:55 amAre we forgetting that KiCAD is supported by CERN?Or do they not use it internally?

author: VK3DRB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 13, 2021, 09:06:29 am
content: Quote from: nardev on October 04, 2021, 07:55:27 amAltium has plenty of CTRL-Z support. I used Orcad for a couple of years in the mid 2000's, and it had only one level of CTRL-Z on the schematic layout. When I asked Orcad support why don't they put support for in several undo's, his reply was "There is no market need for it."Orcad did have a superior (simpler) component library management system to Altium's dog's breakfast.

author: Refrigerator
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 13, 2021, 11:17:07 am
content: Quote from: VK3DRB on October 13, 2021, 09:06:29 amHave they since fixed their component library or is it still the same?I ask because we had a PCB design course at university two years ago and had to use Altium, and working with component libraries was the biggest pain in the ass.Meanwhile i use KiCAD for my personal projects and for the most part i can just throw anything at it and it just worksTM.

author: PKTKS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 13, 2021, 11:52:47 am
content: Outstanding...I just love that VFD (looks like a VFD) panel over there...At 70s that stuff was state of the art..Paul

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 13, 2021, 05:45:32 pm
content: This is a very cool setup. Although more modern, this reminds me of the first computing trade show I attended at the age of 10 or 11 in mid 80s. One of the most impressive things I recall seeing were Sisgraph CAE/CAD/CAM stations that had incredibly advanced graphics - all that tied to 16-color plotters with those tiny pens drawing on A0 papers. Great memories!

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 13, 2021, 07:00:10 pm
content: I did use a similar minicomputer system byComputervision.Totally outer space in the era, I was in awe every time I used it.I think it was Compucircuit for PCB CADD on CADDS 4 in the early 80's, with a Calcomp and a photo-plotter for near instant artwork. 16-bit minicomputer I think Data General, 19" Tektronix colour CRT, had a near "washing machine" HDD.Fundamentally it was all command-line driven, object-oriented using noun and verb statements, none of the crap you see today. The PCB layout was manipulating entities within a database. In that sense it was actually quite powerful, you just had to compose the command and it would do it, no questions asked. Not a great undo feature though.The digitizer pad was inductive. Pen presses were all macros, so you could program anything you wanted for functions.The government had bought it for local university $250,000 also for doing IC layout, back in the day to grow technology, big bucks. But the system was massively overpriced. The maintenance contract alone was so expensive the university couldn't afford upkeep/updates so they orphaned the system. It came with no UPS because of the cost, so a thunderstorm was really bad for it, AC mains glitch and it would get scrambled and revert to tape backup. That part really sucked.There was a CADD boom in the 80's and then the bust.http://www.cadhistory.net/12 Computervision.pdfOP's old CERN photo does show a logo- but it's not CV.