Fellow PIC Listers,

Because there are always new PIC List
members coming on-line, it is useful now
and then to inform them of some of the
free goodies that are available that they
might not be aware of. I will start the ball
rolling by mentioning SWCADIII. I sincerely
hope that OTHER PIC List members will chime
in and share URLs for other useful free
goodies that some of us may not be aware of.
Share the wealth!

For those PIC List members who may not
already be aware of it, LTC (Linear Tecnology
Corp) provides an ABSOLUTELY FREE SPICE
package. If nothing else, it gives you an
easy way to produce decent schematics in
wmf that you can turn into GIFs. The
asc (schematic) files that it produces can
be emailed, loaded in to SWCADIII and
simulated, producing oscilliscope-like
displays of waveforms. A GREAT way to share
circuits with others!

Highly recommended! It is a SPICE package
that you can load standard SPICE component
models into, so it is quite open, and not
just limited to the models that come with it.
LTC already provides free models of their
switchers and opamps. Other manufacturers
may also offer free models of their parts
that you can load in. It comes with a small
but useable library of many of the more
commonly used components, so you can get
up and running with it almost immediately.
The download of SWCADIII is only about
4 megs in size, so download time is reasonable
even on a dialup account.

You can download the FREE SWCADIII at:

http://www.linear-tech.com/software/

Here is the LTC info blurb that is on that page:

LTspice/SwitcherCAD III   (4MB)     Apr 9, 2004
 LTC SwitcherCAD=99 III is a fully functional Spice III
simulator with enhancements and models for easing
the simulation of switching regulators. This Spice
is a high performance circuit simulator, integrated
waveform viewer, which also includes schematic
capture. Our enhancements to Spice have made simulating
switching regulators extremely fast compared to
normal Spice simulators. Included in this download
are Spice, Macro Models for 80% of Linear Technology's
switching regulators and over 200 op amp models.
Furthermore, resistors, transistors and MOSFET models
are included as part of this package. With this
Spice simulation, viewing of the waveforms of most
switching regulators can be achieved in a few minutes
on a high performance PC. Also, full circuits using
op amps or transistors can easily be simulated.

****************
I hope someone finds this information useful. And
don't forget to share with us your OWN list of
free software goodies that other PIC List members
might find useful.

Fr. Tom McGahee

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