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09-12-2018, 11:55 PM
Hi Greg
"I feel your pain"
Eagle was designed back around 1985, as were most spice and PCB CAD systems, with continuous updates since then. Version-4 line persisted until about 2006 when they brought out Version-5 - now they're up to 7 or more. Fortunately, the version-4 that I bought still works and I think it was all you could get from them at the time, or it was the Pro package. Anyway, it allows massive board sizes, almost unlimited library, and so on.
The trial version was always crippled but maybe for the new versions they have crippled it even further? How big a board do you call a "note book"?
Making library parts can be a bit difficult for sure, because Eagle has an antiquated core. It was designed for laying out computer boards, so certain functions have names appropriate to that, such as "Gate swap". This allows you to swap identical sections within a part in the schematic, allowing an easier layout. For example, in a tube amp, a 12AX7 has two triodes and they will be dropped into the schematic in the order of A then B, and these might correspond to pins 1,2,3 and 6,7,8. In the actual layout depending on which way the tube faces, you might want the signal to hit the B section first then the A side, so doing Gate-swap in the schematic fixes that for you.
As far as making the parts, that is a whole thread.
As far as laying out your board to fit the card sizes you have, you might have to split the circuit into smaller portions that could be used as functional blocks to build a variety of overall circuits. For example, one card with just the output tubes. Another card with just the splitter. Another card with a 2-stage preamp. maybe you can have more stuff per card, but it depends on the size limit you are dealing with
To lay out a full-size board might mean having to shell out $$ for the non-crippled program. Good thing once you do that is you have a licence and can use it to acquire future versions.i
"I feel your pain"
Eagle was designed back around 1985, as were most spice and PCB CAD systems, with continuous updates since then. Version-4 line persisted until about 2006 when they brought out Version-5 - now they're up to 7 or more. Fortunately, the version-4 that I bought still works and I think it was all you could get from them at the time, or it was the Pro package. Anyway, it allows massive board sizes, almost unlimited library, and so on.
The trial version was always crippled but maybe for the new versions they have crippled it even further? How big a board do you call a "note book"?
Making library parts can be a bit difficult for sure, because Eagle has an antiquated core. It was designed for laying out computer boards, so certain functions have names appropriate to that, such as "Gate swap". This allows you to swap identical sections within a part in the schematic, allowing an easier layout. For example, in a tube amp, a 12AX7 has two triodes and they will be dropped into the schematic in the order of A then B, and these might correspond to pins 1,2,3 and 6,7,8. In the actual layout depending on which way the tube faces, you might want the signal to hit the B section first then the A side, so doing Gate-swap in the schematic fixes that for you.
As far as making the parts, that is a whole thread.
As far as laying out your board to fit the card sizes you have, you might have to split the circuit into smaller portions that could be used as functional blocks to build a variety of overall circuits. For example, one card with just the output tubes. Another card with just the splitter. Another card with a 2-stage preamp. maybe you can have more stuff per card, but it depends on the size limit you are dealing with
To lay out a full-size board might mean having to shell out $$ for the non-crippled program. Good thing once you do that is you have a licence and can use it to acquire future versions.i
