Designing Circuit Boards: Software Packages for Beginners

[Jones1987]

Hi,

New to the forum, I'm currently studying Mechanical Engineering, however me and my flatmate really want to start designing and building circuit boards. I have minimal knowledge when it comes to electronics so there's no time like the present to start learning!

What kind of software packages are out there which are used to 'design' the actual circuits to be made?

Any help upon this topic will be really appreciated and helpful.

Thanks for reading.

 

[story645]

Grab a trial version of MultiSim. It's the easiest one out of the lot. The industry standard is SPICE, and I think that you can grab a student version of http://www.electronics-lab.com/downloads/schematic/013/ for free. There are some opensource implementations floating around too.

 

[vk6kro]

There is probably no computer program that is going to design circuits for you, although for certain applications, there are design tools that make it easier.
Generally, design is a matter of experience and imagination with some solid theoretical ability.

You might like to have a look through the following sites (taken from the "sticky" threads above). There are hundreds of circuits here and you might find something that you could use or amuse yourself with.

Beginner projects, tutorials, schematics: http://www.hobbyprojects.com/

Various schematics: http://www.electronics-lab.com/index.html

More simple schematics: http://www.sentex.ca/~mec1995/gadgets/gadgets.htm

 

[Jones1987]

Cheers guys, really appreciate the help. Absolute beginner in this area, so I shall look into the info you have posted and let you guys know how I get on! <Thumbs Up>

 

[edpell]

I always like pencil and paper and eraser.

-old guy

 

[MATLABdude]

For what you'll be doing in the short term, the best investment you can probably make is a breadboard, pencil and paper, and the address of your local electronics hobby supply shop. I don't think you have Radio Shack over in the UK, but doubtlessly, you'll be able to find an introductory electronics or hobbyist electronics type book to get you on your way, and familiarize you with some of the basic concepts. Have fun!

 

[dlgoff]

If you haven't already looked, the Sticky link above, https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=351351", might be of interest.