T
Tony
- Jan 1, 1970
- 0
Hi,
I've used mostly Protel tools in the past - schematic capture, sim and
PCB layout, from PCB2 (DOS) right through to DXP/2004 - but those
tools were all owned by my employer or client. The pre-'99 simulators
left me cold, but I found most of the rest quite functional for their
day.
Now, faced with a need to create designs independently, and the high
cost of Protel (even 2nd hand), I need to re-evaluate. I'd like to
spend as little as possible (but a few $k would probably be OK) for
the best value-for-money, complete, viable long-term solution
possible.
I know I can try out most software quite easily, but to really get
productive on all this would take a significant learning curve. I can
barely steal the time to do this once, after which I would probably
tend to just stick with whatever it was. So your input up front would
be greatly appreciated. What "value-for-money" parts or combination
might best fill my needs, and what are the pros/cons?
Related issues:
I've always captured simulation schematics separately from the "real"
project schematic (the sim schematics tended to be a small
sub-circuit, but included models). Is this common? Or are there
elegant ways to combine the two?
Finally, I've noticed that Proteus' sim software can include full
PIC/AVR/851 simulation. Has anyone tried this? Do any other sim makers
offer this kind of functionality (it sounds great for my designs,
where typically the hardware and software interact heavily)?
Tony (remove the "_" to reply by email)
I've used mostly Protel tools in the past - schematic capture, sim and
PCB layout, from PCB2 (DOS) right through to DXP/2004 - but those
tools were all owned by my employer or client. The pre-'99 simulators
left me cold, but I found most of the rest quite functional for their
day.
Now, faced with a need to create designs independently, and the high
cost of Protel (even 2nd hand), I need to re-evaluate. I'd like to
spend as little as possible (but a few $k would probably be OK) for
the best value-for-money, complete, viable long-term solution
possible.
I know I can try out most software quite easily, but to really get
productive on all this would take a significant learning curve. I can
barely steal the time to do this once, after which I would probably
tend to just stick with whatever it was. So your input up front would
be greatly appreciated. What "value-for-money" parts or combination
might best fill my needs, and what are the pros/cons?
Related issues:
I've always captured simulation schematics separately from the "real"
project schematic (the sim schematics tended to be a small
sub-circuit, but included models). Is this common? Or are there
elegant ways to combine the two?
Finally, I've noticed that Proteus' sim software can include full
PIC/AVR/851 simulation. Has anyone tried this? Do any other sim makers
offer this kind of functionality (it sounds great for my designs,
where typically the hardware and software interact heavily)?
Tony (remove the "_" to reply by email)
