I’m interested in learning how to make a proper PCB rather than perf board with wires all over the place.

    • carzian@lemmy.ml
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      2 年前

      Kicad is great. It also has a huge community behind it so there are plenty of tutorials and ways to get help

    • Saigonauticon@voltage.vn
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      2 年前

      Yeah! I tried it years back, and it was not so good.

      Fast forward to this month. I try it again and am really impressed! It’s great now!

      I was using it on client work within hours.

    • thzihdd@feddit.de
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      2 年前

      Second that. Did my own Keyboard design with it with zero preknowledge and available community resources.

  • teri@discuss.tchncs.de
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    2 年前

    KiCad. Stay away from closed-source tools. They’ll all try to press out the max amount of money sooner or later. Or get bought and discontinued for eliminating competition.

  • Beko Pharm@discuss.tchncs.de
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    2 年前

    KiCAD is good and has no vendor lock-in.

    There are very good beginner tutorials and videos explaining typical workflows.

    It features also stuff like auto-routing, error checking, part lists and 3D previews.

  • Sprite_tm@kbin.spritesserver.nl
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    2 年前

    Another Kicad vote here. Note that even if you don’t like it and move away from it eventually, the fact that it’s open-source and the file format is documented means you’re capable of taking your designs with you.

  • TXL@sopuli.xyz
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    2 年前

    Kicad. Capable and free as in freedom and it just keeps getting more and more capable. Install size with all the libraries and models can be pretty massive, though. https://kicad.org

    I also tried Horizon EDA recently and it’s very impressive. Perhaps simpler and easier to use but still feels very full featured. Certainly a smaller install. https://horizon-eda.org

  • opensesame11@discuss.tchncs.de
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    2 年前

    I use Altium Designer and KiCAD. KiCAD isn’t as good by just a hair but makes up for it by being free and open-source. Altium Designer is also crazy expensive for hobbyists.

  • HakFoo@lemmy.sdf.org
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    2 年前

    Another tool worth exploring is EasyEDA. The fun part is you can even run it as a webapp.

    It’s tightly linked with the JLCPCB/LCSC ecosystem, so there’s a lot of libraries of parts and it scans for their design rules, if you want to use their services.

    There’s also a somewhat basic auto-router baked in, which is harder to integrate in KiCAD.

    I do agree that KiCAD is the consensus “full fat” tool these days, but I’ve put together decent projects in both.

  • MrMonkey@lemm.ee
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    2 年前

    KiCad. Is there a place to import more models from? Like say the esp line?

    Or can I download it from something like Mouser when I find the part I need?