Vitaliy wrote: >> After seeing Eagle take half an hour to do a poorer job of routing than >> 15 seconds in SPECCTRA, I have to agree, the software has something to >> do with it :) Bear in mind the price tags of EAGLE's router (about $500 if memory serves) and SPECCTRA (looks like it's called Allegro PCB Router now, and only sold as part of other packages). IME, EAGLE's router is mainly good for one - and only one - thing. 1:1 wired backplanes. Drop the connectors on the board, hit autoroute, done. That said, it's the sort of routing you could do with step-repeat, though I'm not sure if EAGLE can be made to do that (could probably do it with a script or ULP, though). Truth be told, if I upgraded to EAGLE Standard or Pro (I'm on the Standard Non-Profit licence at the moment, both Windows and Linux) I'd probably keep Layout and Schematic, and ditch the autorouter. For all its flaws (mainly speed -- Java is not fast, even on a 3GHz Core2quad Q6600 with 4GB of RAM), FreeRouting () is a nice, free alternative. Though I've been using Kicad for "larger-than-Eurocard" designs recently... I'm sorely tempted to do some major rebuild work on its component libraries, though (the electrolytic capacitor symbol is... unique... the rest of the symbols and footprints are either badly done or just plain non-standard). > Is SPECCTRA compatible with Eagle? There's an interface in the EAGLE ULP directory somewhere, IIRC. > Any relation to ELECTRA? :) No idea. Ask ConnectEDA :) Electra seems pretty well priced though, 500 Euros for a 2-signal-layer, unlimited-power-layer version. I'd be tempted to install it on a test machine (probably a Virtualbox VM) and have a play with it first, though. -- Phil. piclist@philpem.me.uk http://www.philpem.me.uk/ -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist