Re: PCB Layout Designers

On Wed, 23 May 2007 09:23:55 +0800, budgie <me@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On 22 May 2007 15:27:32 -0700, john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

I've come across a number of commercial designers that still route
manually. They'll go the circuit diagram route only if the board
complexity demands it (say 20 or more packages). They say the main
reason is time saving from not having to fart about creating unique
library components and the ensuing struggle with third rate diagram
editors.

I'm a one-man band when it comes to circuit and pcb design, and I prefer manual
layout (two layers only) over importing a schematic into the pcb software. I
find that:

. package placement is easier without the ratsnest, but with the ability to
have just a selection of interconnections showing.
. the autorouter is great at achieving 85% faster than me, but often fails to
complete and I have to undo sooo much that I haven't used autorouting in the
last five years.
. I have developed a fairly thorough and successful checking process that
hasn't let a layout/connection error through in those five years.

Some systems, you can turn off the rats nest. I usually do this when
placing parts.

Don't know why you want to suffer thru hand checking a board! DRC
takes less than a minute on most of my boards. I remember the days of
two people hand checking a board for 4 to 8 hours. Hate to think how
much time my last board with 1800 parts would take to hand check the
connectivity.

---
Mark
.

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