Free circuit simulator ? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: lordvader88
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2019, 01:20:59 pm
content: I'm just doing hobby stuff, and I lost the older, simple nice looking sim I had, and LTspice is way over the top for now.I hate online sim's in priniclpe, so what free programs are easy/look good/have common transistors, opamps already included ?I tried 2-3 freeware sim's over this past year, and I don't remember their names, and I didn't like them. If I place a BJT and resistors, and even a GND, it should work without having to read a damn manual do run the sim, not give BS errors.

author: Cliff Matthews
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 30, 2019, 02:13:11 pm
content: Maybe try compressing a favorite LTspice cheat sheet (in a way that works for you)?Here's one from U of Thttp://www.eecg.toronto.edu/~ali/spice/LTspice/LTSpiceShortGuide.pdfAfrotech has a 3 part series too:

author: soldar
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2019, 02:55:44 pm
content: I agree that LTspice is unintuitive and clumsy. I will be following this thread.

author: Wimberleytech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2019, 03:00:16 pm
content: Quote from: lordvader88 on March 30, 2019, 01:20:59 pmWhat was the name of the simulator you had???I suggest that you put the effort into LTSpice. If for no other reason than you have THIS FORUM to help you. Seems like everyone here uses LTSpice and EVERYONE wants to help. You have a problem??...upload your .asc file, and we are here to help.

author: Cliff Matthews
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 30, 2019, 03:05:42 pm
content: Quote from: Wimberleytech on March 30, 2019, 03:00:16 pmThat's why I love this place!Nothing else like it on the planet I figure.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2019, 04:11:34 pm
content: You could try TI's Tina-TI. I haven't compared it for a while but I think it seemed a bit easier.

author: rstofer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2019, 04:34:40 pm
content: Like everything else, take small steps.This is just one of many video tutorials:https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/getting-started-with-ltspice/allFor better or worse, LTspice is the standard among hobbyists.There is an LTspice group on Yahoo Groups and a few of the members are true experts with close ties to the author of LTspice. You can get excellent advise. There is another group called LTspiceFiles where you can find models and circuits of general interest.

author: jmelson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2019, 04:48:23 pm
content: Quote from: soldar on March 30, 2019, 02:55:44 pmBut, if you want to design with AD and LT parts, you may be FORCED to, as there may not be generic SPICE models for many of their parts. I'd MUCH rather use my trust old (and paid for) simulator, but if I can't get device models, I'm stuck.Jon

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2019, 05:10:51 pm
content: As I'm very much a beginner hobbyist on the electronics side, I'm usingQUCSas a sanity-checker for my designs, using generic components rather than exact ones. (QUCS-S fork has better spice compatibility.)You might wish to read the recentGood open source circuit simulation softwarethread.

author: Wimberleytech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2019, 06:22:25 pm
content: More random thoughts and pitch for LTSpice.I ran my first SPICE simulation using SPICE2 via punched cards in 1977. Somebody at the data center had to load the tape before my program ran. I was amazed. Went to work as a chip designer and ran punched card SPICE simulations for several years until we acquired a VAX-750. ALL of my simulations were netlist based...no GUI...until returning to work after my Ph.D. in 1992 when I started using the Cadence GUI...all GUI SPICE simulations thereafter.I would have adopted LTSpice sooner if I had realized how to control LTSpice at a deeper level...choosing my desired MOS model and transistor characteristics (W,L, D/S areas, etc.). Frankly, I have found no limitations. Recently I was doing some behavioral stuff using controlled sources using table models.It was this forum that ultimately dragged me into the world of LTSpice and I am glad it did!!!As others have said...it is clunky. But not as clunky as a netlist!!!!!<edit>I was an early adopter of PSPICE. Ran simulations on a Compaq (sewing machine) Computer...Circa 1985.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2019, 09:11:53 pm
content: I've used LTSpice for around ten years now and only recently had to RTFM. I learned most of it on my own and by opening files created by others, whether it be the examples included or those posted on forums, such as this one.Lots of people find LTSpice difficult to use because it's different to other Windows applications, but it didn't bother me because I've used lots of GUI software on other platforms than M$: the Acorn Archimedes when I was much younger, then Windows and later Linux. I think having experience with using a variety of user interfaces helps one learn to use programs such as LTSpcie, which differ from the norm.Another thing which beginners often struggle with is, LTSpice is not a real time simulator. The circuit is designed, the simulation run and the results shown. Many educational simulators aimed at beginners attempt to simulate a circuit in real time which has limitations, mainly that they have to be optimised for speed, over accuracy, as everything needs to happen fast enough to respond to the user's input.

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2019, 09:20:40 pm
content: My go to is falstads circuit simulator, not as fully featured as spice, but for testing out concepts, its much faster to play with.http://www.falstad.com/circuit/circuitjs.html

author: Cliff Matthews
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 30, 2019, 09:24:38 pm
content: Any chance OP is left-handed? Docs show LTspice can move around keys.http://ltwiki.org/index.php?title=LTspice_Hot_Keys

author: soldar
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2019, 09:24:56 pm
content: Quote from: Zero999 on March 30, 2019, 09:11:53 pmI have two main complaints. One is that it is not intuitive in finding components or doing actions. I waste a lot of time with this.And then, once you have drawn the circuit you still have to run it and this is also confusing. You need to set some parameters and then click run and most of the time it goes into a calculating frenzy which goes nowhere and you have to tinker with the run parameters and try again.Very not intuitive in many ways which makes it very slow.

author: Wimberleytech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2019, 10:11:40 pm
content: Quote from: soldar on March 30, 2019, 09:24:56 pmThen don't use it! Move along these are not the droids we are looking for.

author: StillTrying
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2019, 10:37:47 pm
content: The first thing I do with LT is drag the toolbar from under the menus and drop it on the status bar. Using the icons from there I find it very easy to draw the schematic, I can do most of the drawing and editing without thinking about it so it can't be all that hard.

author: Wimberleytech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2019, 11:42:44 pm
content: Quote from: StillTrying on March 30, 2019, 10:37:47 pmLOL...didn't know you could do that...see...what a versatile program!! Definitely get your money's worth!!!For those who do not know, you can tweak the hot keys to your liking...I do.

author: Cliff Matthews
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 31, 2019, 12:03:13 am
content: Quote from: Wimberleytech on March 30, 2019, 11:42:44 pmAhoy mate, that's what I said in #7..

author: Wimberleytech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2019, 12:12:32 am
content: Quote from: Cliff Matthews on March 31, 2019, 12:03:13 amIt's not what you said...it is how you said it!Nonetheless...methinks we are kindred spirits with miles between us.

author: StillTrying
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2019, 12:18:16 am
content: Almost everything on the LT schem. and plot including blank space and some icons has a right-click menu, so I don't use the top menu or hotkeys.

author: DimitriP
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2019, 12:58:18 am
content: QuoteThere is no "not intuitive" software. Only people lacking intiution.But it's easier to blame the software.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2019, 02:25:50 am
content: For various reasons I still use LTspice IV which has a less rich U.I than the current LTspice XVII.LTspice is a lot easier to 'drive' if you use a five button mouse + a utility likeX-Mouse Button Controlthat lets you map macros to mouse buttons on a per application basis. You could also use a gaming mouse with its OEM button utility.For LTspice, I use the side buttons (normally browser navigate Forward/Back) to make must commonly used commands directly accessable without needing to click the toolbar or touch the keyboard. One of the side buttons acts as a modifier key to access extra macros on all the other buttons, and the other side button starts a 'Drag' at the cursor position by sending {F8}{Enter} keystrokes on buttondown.With the modifier button held, the 'Drag' button becomes 'Move' ({F7}{Enter}), Left becomes 'Wires' mode ({F3}), Right becomes the 'Select Component' dialog ({F2}}. Finally, wheel up becomes rotate clockwise ({Ctrl}r), wheel down becomes rotate anticlockwise ({Ctrl}r{Ctrl}r{Ctrl}r) and the wheel button becomes 'Mirror' ({Ctrl}e), all of which are valid for the currently active move, drag or component placement. Its also worth noting that a plain right-click aborts move/drag/place operations.That leaves 'Duplicate' aka 'Copy' and 'Delete' unmapped, but as they can be quite destructive if inadvertently selected, I prefer to use them from the keyboard or toolbar.On the speed side of things - if it bogs down when you click 'Run' it usually means either you've done something dumb like forgetting to ground an appropriate node, (which doesn't always trigger an error message, as some components provide very high impedance paths to an implicit ground), or its trying to find an initial stable state for a circuit that may not even have a steady state, or you're trying to do *FAR* too much*on your sim.Most new sims will start and run with a.tran 1m startupsim command (or instead of 1m, another duration depending on the timescale you are interested in) as initial operating point issues go away when the circuit starts from 'Switched off'! Other causes of stalling normally indicate a non-physically-realisable circuit, e.g. expecting a diode to instantly block when a current reverses, without allowing any stray or junction capacitance that will limit the dV/dt across it or charging a zero ESR ideal capacitor from a zero output resistance ideal voltage source.* I am frequently guilty of this - I tend to do stuff like fully model obsolete mixed signal ICs (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/ltspice-simulation-madness-xr-2240ua2240lm2240-programmable-counter-timer/), Philips PSUs (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/how-do-make-a-current-limiting-knob-using-lm723-for-linear-reg-power-supplies/msg1212923/#msg1212923) or construct complicated sims to generate realistic test signals for anyone who has a design problem I find interesting . . . .

author: Mattjd
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2019, 03:51:28 am
content: Personally, I like Cadence Orcad. I currently use Orcad 17.2 and it works nicely.There's a lot too it so i can be confusing, but its very powerful. I would love to buy a full blown version of cadence virtuoso but I'll settle for Cadence Orcad. I've gotten to use both through university. Steep learning curve but very rewarding once you do.Please done use TINA.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2019, 08:19:15 am
content: Quote from: soldar on March 30, 2019, 09:24:56 pmThe commonly used passive components are on the toolbar and other components can be found by clicking on the AND gate symbol. A lot of time can be saved by using the copy/duplicate command, which needs to be activated before clicking/selecting the items which need to be replicated.Regarding the simulation, you need to know a bit about how SPICE works to make full use of it. There are several different modes, depending on what you want to do. The results make more sense if you label important nets, using the icon next to the ground symbol, on the toolbar.

author: kripton2035
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2019, 08:31:02 am
content: I bought icircuit some times ago for this purpose: quickly check simple circuits, and I LOVE it.for some $10 it's really worth it.exists on win,mac,ios and windows phone.http://icircuitapp.com/edit: it's even $5 for windows ...

author: AlanS
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 31, 2019, 09:20:12 am
content: Quote from: Cliff Matthews on March 30, 2019, 02:13:11 pmThis is also a good place to go...………https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/getting-started-with-ltspice/all

author: BravoV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2019, 09:29:59 am
content: Since you asked here in this forum, and assuming you plan to ask/discuss here, then LTSpice.I'm not saying its a de-facto standard, but its just the common lingo here, especially in this forum.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2019, 09:47:18 am
content: ... Not just here. LTspice was very popular for sharing circuits in the sci.electronics.* newsgroups as its free like beer, not limited to student/non-commercial use, and its schematic symbol and non-encrypted model files are all plain ASCII text, so could be easily posted inline in a medium that didn't really support attachments. As USENET waned and web forums like this grew in popularity, the greybeards brought their expertise and preference for LTspice with them.If you cant 'drive' LTspice well enough to run other people's sims and tweak them a bit, you'll miss out on a lot here. Even rabid Windows haters and FOSS aficionados should compromise their ethical stance enough to install it under WINE!

author: Cnoob
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2019, 10:02:37 am
content: I use EveryCircuit on a 10inch Android tablet.I tested the free version using a single transistor amp, built it on a breadboard and their performance roughly matched.So I brought the full version which was only a few pounds.It's limited in circuit space but it's handy to have.I also have LT spice.

author: newbrain
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2019, 10:10:17 am
content: Another vote for LTspice, here.I suspect the interface feels unintuitive to most people for a simple reason:The vast majority of GUI based programs use an object-action paradigm, one select the object e.g. a component or wire) then decides what to do with it (e.g. move, rotate, copy).Thatcapacitor, I want tomoveit over rhere.In LTspice, it's the opposite, first one picks up the action, then the object.I want tomovethatcapacitorover rhereOnce this 'clicks in' the program is easy to drive.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 01, 2019, 12:36:09 am
content: As an old fart, what annoys me is that people constantly draw schematics with LTspice that do not follow the conventions of normally drawn ones.Inputs on the right side, top, or bottom, bits of circuitry hanging out like barnacles.OK, that's really the fault of the user, but other things like showing ac sources as DC generators with "ac" written on them are just plain dumb!Little "noobs" keep coming up with silly circuits which won't work in the real world, (things like Op Amps with resonant LC networks in their feedback loop), & LTspice will either work, or will not give any clue as to what the user has done wrong, so they come on here, expecting us to sort it out for them.I thought, "Maybe I'm a nasty old turd, & I'm unfair to LTspice", so I decided to download it & just try some simple circuits.It was just as clunky as I had suspected--- took ages to work out how to draw the simplest schematic, & don't get me started on running tests!If they went out of their way to put obstacles in the way, they couldn't have done better.!If I can build the real thing & test it in less time, I'd say that is a fail for a simulator.And as I've said before----"Get off my lawn!"( I'm thinking of making that my signature!)

author: TheNewLab
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 01, 2019, 02:22:12 am
content: Quote from: vk6zgo on April 01, 2019, 12:36:09 amSo what what circuit simulator do you like? I am only a hobbyist.Played a little bit around with LTSpice because a saw Afrotechmods teach three episodes on it.. yes, these do have a bit of a learning curve. However, I am starting simple. in time become more proficient from using it.I have come to like KiCAD. SO many YTs on KiCAD. I can do a search and quickly come up with a solutionhow about Dip Trace?Now I'm learning the KiCAD most recent version..using .LinuxandBoth are free. both have ability to download and add extra libraries... for me as a hobbyist, I have no desire to pay for an app. That said, I am curious what your preferred circuit simulator isAddicted and too curious in this hobby.

author: Wimberleytech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 01, 2019, 02:41:51 am
content: Quote from: vk6zgo on April 01, 2019, 12:36:09 amUntil now, I did not believe in reincarnation.You are Bob Pease!LTSpice is great!

author: DimitriP
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 01, 2019, 09:22:39 am
content: QuoteThat's like blaming the pen for spelling mistakes or spoons for obecity or guns for deaths.....and if you started correcting every violated schematic convention, every thread would have 10 extra pages added to it and worse, most of it would be people calling you names for not being welcoming and helpful

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 01, 2019, 10:06:22 pm
content: Quote from: vk6zgo on April 01, 2019, 12:36:09 amYes, but it's possible to draw decent schematics using LTSpice. I like to think I do a reasonable job, even though it's not every schematic I do is perfect.QuoteYes, been there and done that, but they'll soon find out.QuoteWell duh, it takes time to learn anything new. It probably would've been the same for me the first time I used LTSpice, if it wasn't for the fact I did so to simulate and modify someone else's schematic.It does amuse me when old gits moan about how crappy simulation is, yet if it didn't exist, then they wouldn't be using the Internet and have access to the great variety of modern ICs. SPICE was instrumental in the development of more powerful computers and analogue ICs. It's just not possible to build an IC to test a circuit idea, hence the need for simulation!QuoteWhere the heck does that come from? Is it a reference to one of Dave's videos, which I've missed, as I don't watch much EEVblog?

author: lordvader88
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 01, 2019, 11:09:20 pm
content: Ok I'll try some of the suggestions thanks.In the meantime I have learned a few more LTS basics, and managed to make some sort of amplifier and do basic AC analysis, so that's good.

author: Wimberleytech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2019, 12:12:33 am
content: QuoteNo, it is more of an American meme I think (not sure where he got it). I have heard it for years. Old curmudgeon hollering at kids playing in his(the curmudgeon's) yard.All of us old farts are not the same...I am an exception and I see other good-ole farts on this forum too.

author: rstofer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2019, 12:23:15 am
content: Quote from: newbrain on March 31, 2019, 10:10:17 amI use LTspice HOWEVER...The GUI is trash because the menu buttons don't scale with screen resolution. With a 3000x2000 screen even scaled to 300%, the buttons are still virtually invisible. Buttons like 'Move' are VERY hard to find. There's little contrast and the button is less than 1/8" even on a 27" monitor. It is almost impossible to use on my 13" Surface Book.With a 1920x1080 display the program is fine.Nobody else seems to have this problem. Probably because they don't size objects in terms of pixels.So, I use LTspice but only if I am desperate! It's a great tool but not on my main system. When I'm really desparate, I run it on another machine.

author: Cliff Matthews
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 02, 2019, 12:30:01 am
content: Have you tried right-click running it with any Windoze compatibility options? *not that I'm likely to get a 4k rig anytime soonedit - From my old MCSE debugging days (>20 years back) I recall various dialogue DLL's that are shared by a lot of 'standard' programs. I just Googled'LTspice windows interface scaling're: LTspice and found two related links (if one cares to fiddle..)1)https://designspark.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/214031765-Why-do-the-software-icons-look-so-small-on-my-4K-screen-2)https://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/137758-4k-dpi-scaling-issues-solvedIt could be nothing curable, M$ wants vintage-ware to just go away (even if it is good, and especially if it's free).

author: Old Printer
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2019, 01:35:35 am
content: QuoteWhere the heck does that come from? Is it a reference to one of Dave's videos, which I've missed, as I don't watch much EEVblog?It's a continuing line throughout a movie, Gran Torino, from 2008 by Clint Eastwood. He plays a disgruntled hugely prejudiced Korean war vet surrounded by neighbors of the wrong ethnicity which is pretty much anything not white. He is verbally crude and abusive to most everyone, but has a bit of a human streak he is afraid you might see. An old curmudgeon for sure. Good Movie

author: DimitriP
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2019, 05:19:50 am
content: QuoteWhat is trash is running "ungodly" resolutions on puny monitors. Or "ultrawide" that are barely 10 inches tall.

author: 0culus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2019, 07:54:24 am
content: Quote from: lordvader88 on March 30, 2019, 01:20:59 pmIt took me all of half an hour the other day to grasp the basics of LTSpice, after never having used it. Sometimes you just have to embrace the suck and RTFM (Read the Fine Manual). Lots of useful info...

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2019, 08:43:56 am
content: Quote from: vk6zgo on April 01, 2019, 12:36:09 amWHAT iS!.......... gnorwthAtWith?Can ye knot reed?

author: newbrain
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2019, 08:46:04 am
content: Quote from: rstofer on April 02, 2019, 12:23:15 amThat's strange. I use a 27" WQHD display (2560x1440) and the interface size follows the scaling setting in Windows 10 (see the attached pict for 100%, 150% and 175%).Quote from: Cliff Matthews on April 02, 2019, 12:30:01 amI tend to disregard any post containing M$, but honestly this is.If there's one thing that Windows strives to do is keeping backwards compatibility. Even to the point of being a hindrance.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2019, 09:00:40 am
content: Quote from: rstofer on April 02, 2019, 12:23:15 amTools → control panel → operation → toolbar icon size

author: macboy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2019, 01:26:39 pm
content: Quote from: rstofer on April 02, 2019, 12:23:15 am"Move" button, what Move button? Move is F8, obviously! There's a button?F6 to copy, F5 to delete. F7 to lift and move (separate from connecting wires when moving). F9 to undo. F3 to draw wires. Basic components all have shortcuts too, R, L, C, G, etc. Control-R to rotate and Ctl-E to flip. I would find it very annoying to have to move the cursor away from where I am working, just to click some silly button.

author: StillTrying
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2019, 02:29:37 pm
content: "I would find it very annoying to have to move the cursor away from where I am working,"So would I, that's why I put the tool bar at the bottom, you can move it almost anywhere, even on top of the schematic.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2019, 02:49:35 pm
content: I work with the schematic in the middle of the screen so whether the toolbar is at the top or bottom makes no difference to how far I have to move the mouse.I think the keyboard shortcuts could be easier to discover. They should be on the pop-up when the cursor is placed near the tool bar.

author: StillTrying
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2019, 02:55:24 pm
content: I think the keyboard shortcuts could be easier to discover.Yes, they're listed under 'Edit', and others.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2019, 02:58:49 pm
content: Quote from: StillTrying on April 02, 2019, 02:55:24 pmBut the edit menu isn't used regularly by most users for them to discover them, because most tools can be found on the toolbar.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2019, 03:09:37 pm
content: Quote from: StillTrying on April 02, 2019, 02:29:37 pmThat's why I use a five button mouse with most schematic commands bound to its buttons as I described back in reply #21. Remembering R L C D for passives and diodes, G for Ground and T for text isn't exactly arduous.The toolbar is a crutch. Print out a function key legend strip as an aide-memoir for their more obscure commands (or dive into the menu to look up the other keys as you need them) and even a novice can turn off the toolbar and still 'drive' it faster.

author: rstofer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2019, 03:38:24 pm
content: Quote from: Zero999 on April 02, 2019, 09:00:40 amThanks for that! Yuge works well.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2019, 10:42:02 pm
content: Quote from: rstofer on April 02, 2019, 03:38:24 pmGood. There are lots of options like that tucked away in various dialogue boxes.

author: bson
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 02, 2019, 11:41:33 pm
content: I've switched mostly from LTspice to ngspice via KiCad. It's a fairly capable simulator that makes things like Monte-Carlo analysis straightforward as it's fully scriptable, but the UI is limited so some of this stuff needs to be plotted via python as the UI can't discover script-generated plots, much less several hundred of them and render them as a heat graph. Python can read spice plot data directly and matplotlib makes creating quality plots a breeze. (Though in some ways it's a bit lacking, like it can't flag individual events on a graph, or highlight a gated region, or annotate the graphs themselves with computed values.)But there's no doubt there'a a learning curve here. But the ngspice manual isn't bad and should be very accessible to anyone with a technical bent who has spent a significant time around computers, programming, configuring sendmail, building Linux kernels, etc.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2019, 09:00:14 am
content: What? Nobody's tried TI's offering apart from me?One thing it does offer is most of TIs (NS) linear parts directly accessible rather than needing to find and import models.

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2019, 05:22:57 pm
content: Quote from: Gyro on April 03, 2019, 09:00:14 amTI-TINA? I've used it with certain TI parts. But its user interface makes LTSpice's look like the best thing ever.

author: 0xdeadbeef
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2019, 05:49:36 pm
content: I know it's obsolete and not even sold anymore, but I really liked "Electronics Workbench" in the late 90s and early 0s or so. Unfortunately, what was a fast, small, affordable simulator was bought by NI and became the sluggish, heavily overprotected and insanely expensive NI-Multisim. For some time, there were free versions of this first from Analog Devices and later on from Mouser ("MultiSim Blue"). I used both versions for a while despite the terrible license server crap, but after some time and without prior notice, the licenses were withdrawn. So from one day to the other you couldn't even start the application or open your projects anymore. Actually even in MultiSim Blue, you couldn't open the projects created with the previous AD version of MultiSim since opening projects created with these free versions was always only possible with the very same free version of the full commercial versions.Anyway, following the cloud/web based trends of the last years, there seems to be web based version of multisim now:https://www.multisim.com/The page says "sign up for free" but I'm sure there's a catch and/or severe limitations if that is supposed to mean you can also use it for free to some degree. I mean, signing up is free for sure, but what does that even mean?So anyway, even if LTSpice's GUI drives me crazy and it can be hard to impossible to get some non-LT (or even old LT) parts to run, I moved to LTSpice some years ago just because it's the only thing that you can somehow rely on to be able to open your projects in a few years from now. And well, since Analog bought LT, there are even some AD parts there.

author: lordvader88
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2019, 05:56:19 pm
content: What's Proteus like ? I have a version of that, if I can get it to install rightI'm assuming a lot of the online web-based sim's are so that if u make something really cool, the website owners can see it and copy it.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2019, 06:13:44 pm
content: Quote from: Bassman59 on April 03, 2019, 05:22:57 pmI did use a pirate copy of TINA, before TI bought it, but preferred LTSpice.Quote from: lordvader88 on April 03, 2019, 05:56:19 pmYou know what, I have that installed on my PC at work, but only use it for PCB design. For simulation I've always used LTSpice.

author: DimitriP
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 04, 2019, 12:50:46 am
content: Quote from: lordvader88 on April 03, 2019, 05:56:19 pmit's probably "cheaper", and you can count every time someone uses it. So you have "metrics". A win-win!...and if one day the company decides...they just turn it off. Poof!