I have just had a bit of a play with this and I seems quite an easy way to design a circuit if you are that way inclined.
Bit of mucking around to load it onto WIN10 (64 bit) but not really that bad if you exercise a bit of patience.
I just followed this and it worked.
http://forum.fritzing.org/t/problem-installing-in-w10/3434
I have tried making a schematic and it automatically shows it on a breadboard which can be transferred to vero/strip board.
Cool!
Not unlike some of the professional tools I’ve used. Do you know how many layers it is capable of designing for?
Cynnthia,
I don’t know I would have admitted to being a professional board designer…that could precipitate a whole raft of ‘…can you do…?’ I might have been more inclined to recommend something like Pad2Pad or ExpressPCB. The latter has been used by folks at my office for prototyping quantities, which is exactly what we would most likely be doing here. The drawback to ExpressPCB is it is done in their software and no Gerber files to move with. I have no experience with Pad2Pad, but the reviews I have read are pretty high.
Bob C.
I use ExpressSHC to produce my schematics, but I’ve never had one made into a board.
Am I to understand that with fritzing I can design the schematic in the same way and it will show me how to wire this schematic on a breadboard? IOW, I don’t have to design it on their virtual breadboard. That would simplify life.
Also, will it “run” the circuit once the drawing is complete? That would simplify life even more.
Example of ExpressSHC schematic I did. Would be nice if I could run it virtually before construction/parts substitution.
Todd Brody said:
I use ExpressSHC to produce my schematics, but I’ve never had one made into a board.
Am I to understand that with fritzing I can design the schematic in the same way and it will show me how to wire this schematic on a breadboard? IOW, I don’t have to design it on their virtual breadboard. That would simplify life.
Also, will it “run” the circuit once the drawing is complete? That would simplify life even more.
Example of ExpressSHC schematic I did. Would be nice if I could run it virtually before construction/parts substitution.
From the little play I have had if you design a circuit in schematic then click on the breadboard tab the components are shown laid out with the connecting wires.
I am only making small circuits on strip board so once I have designed the circuit and it is on the breadboard I can transfer it to stripboard within the program.
I only had about 2 hours mucking around with it so I am nowhere near being an expert. There is a forum that goes with it where suggestions to improve it can be made.
Here’s another fairly good circuit board design program that I recently downloaded and started playing around with. It’s called PCB Creator by a company called Bay Area Circuits. The software is free and has quite a bit of capability. I’m running the Win 10 64-bit version. They will turn your files into circuit boards for a fee. Here is the link to their tour page which has a few videos showing off the capabilities of the software.
http://bayareacircuits.com/pcb-creator-tour/
Bob
Bob “IA3R#7” Cope said:
Cynnthia,
I don’t know I would have admitted to being a professional board designer…that could precipitate a whole raft of ‘…can you do…?’ I might have been more inclined to recommend something like Pad2Pad or ExpressPCB. The latter has been used by folks at my office for prototyping quantities, which is exactly what we would most likely be doing here. The drawback to ExpressPCB is it is done in their software and no Gerber files to move with. I have no experience with Pad2Pad, but the reviews I have read are pretty high.
Bob C.
ExpressPCB is a great resource, good choice.
I don’t do much design anymore, I spend most of my days working on overall solutions to client interconnect troubles. I work more on simplifying existing systems rather than creating from scratch…Though I do enjoy working with NPI.
All of these tools are wonderful, they allow the hobbyist access to near commercial quality at a very fair price. It’s a pretty neat world.