From ???@0x00001EE0 Mon Aug 06 12:00:54 2001 Path: pitt.edu!newsflash.concordia.ca!sunqbc.risq.qc.ca!news.maxwell.syr.edu!dispose.news.demon.net!news.demon.co.uk!demon!grins.demon.co.uk!not-for-mail From: Terry Pinnell Newsgroups: sci.electronics.design Subject: Re: Getting started with Circuit Simulation ??? Date: Mon, 06 Aug 2001 15:09:23 +0100 Message-ID: <069tmt4sks9laqe624vl5jukk3s162dei8@4ax.com> References: <3B69C2CC.12ED3096@gw.bsu.edu> Reply-To: terrypin@dial.pipex.com NNTP-Posting-Host: grins.demon.co.uk X-NNTP-Posting-Host: grins.demon.co.uk:158.152.248.70 X-Trace: news.demon.co.uk 997106940 nnrp-14:15439 NO-IDENT grins.demon.co.uk:158.152.248.70 X-Complaints-To: abuse@demon.net X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.7/32.534 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 166 Xref: pitt.edu sci.electronics.design:250849 Status: N John Albers wrote: >I have never used any kind of circuit simulator before. I am looking >for something (free if possible) that will allow me to draw the circuit >and take measurements at various points using virtual instruments. Kind >of like a virtual workbench with a bread board. Do they make such a >thing? I have found a program called Edison for around $100, is it any >good. I downloaded a free linear analysis program from shematica.com >called winlap. It is capable of generating all kinds of graphs such as >"poles and zeros", "amplitude", "phase" . I don't know how to use these >graphs. > >Could someone point me to some information on getting started with >circuit simulators? > >Any help would be greatly appreciated. >Thank You > >jalbers@bsu.edu I've listed below a dozen packages with Spice capability, including URLs and VERY brief notes. They're obviously a mixed bag in terms of capabilities, full version price and popularity. Most of them include schematic drawing, and some also include PCB design (a few with auto-routing). Terry Pinnell Hobbyist, West Sussex, UK ================================= B2SPICE BeigeBag www.beigebag.com "Analog simulator ... includes 3,000+ parts from manufacturers." From $99. Also B2 LOGIC "Digital circuit simulation & analysis tool with circuit editor". Demos cannot save and print and are limited to a certain number of components in a circuit. Trials are fully functional but are limited to 30 days use. ================================= CircuitMaker and TraxMaker, currently at version 2000 PROTEL/MICROCODE www.microcode.com "...allowing you to design, simulate and output your printed circuit board designs. Exceptional ease of use and tight integration means you'll spend less time learning the software and more time designing... all the features of professional, high-end software at a fraction of the cost." Student Version, same as CM 6 with the following limitations: Max 50 devices per design (any type); Device library limited to 1,000 models; Symbol editor and Macro feature disabled; PCB netlist export limited to TraxMaker format; Technical support limited to fax and email only. Technical Support for the FULL version is pretty abysmal in my opinion, so it's just as well that paper and on-screen Help is relatively good.I'm a user of CM Pro 6.2c myself. ================================= gEDA GPL Electronic Design Automation http://www.geda.seul.org/ The gEDA project is working on producing a full GPL'd suite of Electronic Design Automation tools. These tools are used for electrical circuit design, schematic capture, simulation, prototyping, and production. The gEDA project was started because of the lack of free EDA tools for UNIX. ================================= ICAP INTUSOFT www.intusoft.com "...the most powerful analog and mixed-signal simulation toolset on the market... sets the industry standard for accurate, easy-to-use, and feature rich SPICE software with state-of-the-art technology at a price affordable by ANY budget." Student version IsSpice4, "... the same as the production version. However, IsSpice4 will only accept SPICE netlists with fewer than 20 top-level components... Simulator: Circuit Size Limited to 20 main circuit (top-level) elements, special limitations are applied to subcircuits... The key difference between the demonstration version of ICAP/4Windows and the ICAP/4 Students version is that ICAP/4Students comes with a much larger library of models (900 vs. 75+), full product support, and a printed manual." ================================= INTERACTIVE IMAGE TECHNOLOGIES - Electronics Workbench (EWB) Multisim - Schematic Capture, Simulation & Programmable Logic (I recall EWB used to be the name of the package. But now it's the name of the company, and the package itself is now called Multisim.) You can download the Multisim V6 Demo for Windows 95/98/NT (large - msmdemo.exe is 22.5MB). Full version approx. $1,000? Also Ultiboard: Powerful PCB Layout & Ultiroute: Autorouting & Autoplacement. ================================= ORCAD 9.2 LITE (CD-ROM) Cadence www.pspice.com/download/evalrequest.asp ORCAD PSPICE R9.1 (STUDENT) www.orcad.com/Product/Simulation/PSpice/download.asp ftp://ftp.orcad.com/dwn_file/Pspice/ With Capture and Schematics. 28 MB. Also available from same page or a click away is the R8 Eval version. These all have limited part size and functionality. But PSpice is THE choice of professionals for simulation. "PSpice is the de facto standard for analog and mixed-signal simulation... includes a powerful and robust simulation engine and works with Orcad Capture or PSpice Schematics in an integrated environment..." ================================= SUPERSPICE Kevin Aylward http://www.anasoft.co.uk "... Cheap, No Shit!, a GUI xspice, unlimited component, mixed-mode Windows simulator with Schematic Capture, waveform display, FFT's and Filter Design...computer locked, unlimited node, student version for 20 bucks" ================================= SIMETRIX Newbury Technology www.newburytech.co.uk/models.html "...the most complete and high performance solution for electronics design using personal computers. Includes full Schematic Design and Capture, full interactive Symbol Editor, professional Printed Circuit Board Design and Layout, and Automatic Routing... 100% customer satisfaction. Since its inception 5 years ago, not one single customer has returned or asked to return a copy of SIMetrix, or expressed dissatisfaction with SIMetrix in any way." $249? Free demo available. ================================= TopSPICE/Win32 PENZAR DEVELOPMENT www.penzar.com/topspice.htm "For Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000. An affordable integrated computer-aided circuit design software package offering advanced native mixed-mode mixed-signal analog/digital/behavioral simulation based on the industry standard SPICE program." ================================= TARGET2001 I.B Friedrich (Germany) www.ibfriedrich.com/ Limited demo version available. "For a LAYOUTER the migthyness of the functions is most important...TARGET 2001! V8 design station ... is a Schematics / Simulation / PCB / Auto Router and EMC-Analysis package in ONE SINGLE PROGRAM and all project data in ONE SINGLE PROJECT FILE." ================================= TINA Pro 5.5 www.designsoftware.com/ "The Complete Electronics Lab for Windows Analog, digital, symbolic, RF and mixed mode circuit simulation with sophisticated graphic presentation, virtual and real-time measurements. Now with advanced Spice and S-parameter models, user defined components, hierarchical design, ERC and much more... fully interactive simulation... available in a range of versions..." Free trial demo available. =================================