Hi!

Anybody know of good software for writing out schematics? I've seen some for sale, but I don't know how good they are, and I don't know if anything tied to CAD would work for me. I thought about using Visio, but honestly, it's kinda lame for this sort of thing.

I'd be grateful for any ideas for little or not cost, really good circuit schematic software out there.

There's gEDA for linux. I've never used it, so I cannot comment on how good it is. Whilst there is no version for windows, I'm sure there must be some other open source alternative (depending on your OS).

After a quick look, here's a list. As stated, I've never used any of these, but if you find a good one, be sure to share the wealth :)

OPEN SOURCE GDAs

NOTE: URL has been updated.

For the diagrams in the NerdKits Guide and on this website, I use XCircuit. It's fairly simple to use, and produces good-looking results.

Mike

TinyCAD is open source software. It's always worked well for me. Windows only, though.

Another cool bookmark.

I have been using AutoCAD for years. Once the parts library is built up, it's pretty easy but expensive! I will be looking more closely at the XCircuit option as well.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback, it helped me pick one that works well for me!

I HAVE BEEN USING "EXPRESSCH" FOR SCHEMATICS AND "EXPRESSPCB" FOR CIRCUIT BOARDS.

AFTER A SMALL LEARNING CURVE THE SCHEMATIC PROGRAM IS VERY GOOD..

LOOK AT THE TRACTOR PULL MONITOR THREAD AND YOU CAN SEE WHAT IT CAN DO...

I ALSO LAID OUT A CIRCUIT BOARD AND SENT IT TO THEM IN CALIF. AND THEY RETURNED 4 NICE TWO SIDED BOARDS IN LESS THAN A WEEK.

JIM KITSON

I use EAGLE a bit, but it isn't free for commercial purposes.

I've used Eagle some and was turned off by its learning curve. I made a schematic, but there was a lot of head scratching and gnashing of teeth. The last couple of days I've been messing around with Fritzing. It's a cool little program for Lin/Win/Mac that lets you put stuff together on a virtual breadboard and then build a schematic out of it. You can also go straight to building the schematic. It's still a work in progress, but it is very usable and pretty straightforward. I've really enjoyed playing with it.

I have used and like the Mulitisim from National Instruments. It allows you to build schematics and then you can run and test circuits with a virtual multimeter. Very Cool! Easy to use and learn. I received my copy with a text book purchase, but I see they have a free trial download. It produces drawings very similar to the NerdKit manual.... Hmmmmm

I use AutoCAD as well... Mostly because I know the software. I did look into the Xcircuit thing a while back but didn't like the way it works. I still have it installed and play with it but mostly to learn it better. Otherwise, I just draw them by hand.