myke predko wrote:
>
> >By the way, what PCB package do you use, and have you seen WinBoard and
> > WinDraft?  I talked with this company and you can get a 100 pad
> >vertion via the internet, and upgrade the pads by paying them (cheap).


I've used WinBoard for 3 designs, mostly in the neighborhood of 180 pins
SMT.  I had some problems early on that were fixed with the installation
of a newer driver for my PCI display adapter.....obviously not Ivex's
fault.  I use the $29.95 version that gets you 220 pin limit.

The big issue with any board layout software is:  How much work do you
have to do to get the library in shape for your work?  WinBoard comes
with a fairly big library of modules, but most of them are for through
hole parts.  Many of the SMT modules use pad geometries that don't match
up with the design rules preferred by my clients.  So, I found myself
modifying or creating most needed modules in the early going.
Fortunately, their module creation stuff is easy to use.

Ivex documentation is pretty good.  It's helpful to print it out in
color (at this price, you print it out yourself).  My main complaint is
that you need to refer to 3 books to get the whole picture: Getting
Started, Tutorial, and Reference.

The WinDraft and WinBoard combination is amazing value.

--

Paul Mathews, consulting engineer
AEngineering Co.
optoeng@whidbey.com
non-contact sensing and optoelectronics specialists