First Design with Kicad
 

I am starting a design with Kicad in order to learn it. The Kicad web
site has a list of Tutorials, but the first one, "Official KiCad
tutorial" doesn't load. Anyone know what is wrong with it?

bazaar.launchpad.net/~kicad-developers/kicad/doc/view/head:/doc/help/en/Getting_Started_in_KiCad.pdf

I am reading a tutorial from Teho Labs. So far, so good. Does anyone
have any suggestions on what is harder or what might be stumbling blocks?

I noticed that when I tried the menu item "New from Template" it points
by default to a location in the install directory under "Program
Files...". That is a no-no under Windows. Will this be an issue or
will no data be put there unless I do it? I will be writing to a
separate directory in my user space I expect.

--

Rick

First Design with Kicad
 

On Sat, 14 Jun 2014 22:03:11 -0400, rickman wrote:

I am starting a design with Kicad in order to learn it. The Kicad web
site has a list of Tutorials, but the first one, "Official KiCad
tutorial" doesn't load. Anyone know what is wrong with it?

There are a few that could claim to be the official site. The tutorial
links from
http://www.kicad-pcb.org/display/KICAD/KiCad+EDA+Software+Suite seem
to work okay.

bazaar.launchpad.net/~kicad-developers/kicad/doc/view/head:/doc/help/en/Getting_Started_in_KiCad.pdf

I am reading a tutorial from Teho Labs. So far, so good. Does anyone
have any suggestions on what is harder or what might be stumbling blocks?

The original libraries more or less grew from Jean-Pierre's personal
components and so can be a little quirky. When you add new parts to
the schematic or PCB libraries, recommend putting them in personal
libraries.

Some folks dislike the CVPCB step that marries schematic items to
footprints for use by the layout editor. I'm fine with it and
footprints can be assigned directly from the schematic if that suits.

I noticed that when I tried the menu item "New from Template" it points
by default to a location in the install directory under "Program
Files...". That is a no-no under Windows. Will this be an issue or
will no data be put there unless I do it? I will be writing to a
separate directory in my user space I expect.

I've never bothered with templates. I just start a default new project
and then use the "page settings" to define the paper size and text for
the title blocks.

First Design with Kicad
 

rickman wrote:

I am starting a design with Kicad in order to learn it. The Kicad web
site has a list of Tutorials, but the first one, "Official KiCad
tutorial" doesn't load. Anyone know what is wrong with it?


bazaar.launchpad.net/~kicad-developers/kicad/doc/view/head:/doc/help/en/Getting_Started_in_KiCad.pdf

I am reading a tutorial from Teho Labs. So far, so good. Does anyone
have any suggestions on what is harder or what might be stumbling blocks?

I noticed that when I tried the menu item "New from Template" it points
by default to a location in the install directory under "Program
Files...". That is a no-no under Windows. Will this be an issue or
will no data be put there unless I do it? I will be writing to a
separate directory in my user space I expect.

I had a guy send me a design he built in kicad, and I am learning the
bits I need to manufacture his board. I usually use Protel 99SE. Compared
to Protel, Kicad is pretty far below, but it is showing promise.
Some of the features are a bit klunky, and the schematics look like
Orcad from 1985, but it seems to do a lot of stuff fairly well.

I run it under Linux. I imagine you can redirect the libraries to
where you want them.

Jon

First Design with Kicad
 

On 6/16/2014 9:01 AM, Rich Webb wrote:
On Sat, 14 Jun 2014 22:03:11 -0400, rickman wrote:

I am starting a design with Kicad in order to learn it. The Kicad web
site has a list of Tutorials, but the first one, "Official KiCad
tutorial" doesn't load. Anyone know what is wrong with it?

There are a few that could claim to be the official site. The tutorial
links from
http://www.kicad-pcb.org/display/KICAD/KiCad+EDA+Software+Suite seem
to work okay.

Not working for me. I get 502 bad gateway error. Every page at that
site I try. I was able view pages there a few days ago.


bazaar.launchpad.net/~kicad-developers/kicad/doc/view/head:/doc/help/en/Getting_Started_in_KiCad.pdf

I am reading a tutorial from Teho Labs. So far, so good. Does anyone
have any suggestions on what is harder or what might be stumbling blocks?

The original libraries more or less grew from Jean-Pierre's personal
components and so can be a little quirky. When you add new parts to
the schematic or PCB libraries, recommend putting them in personal
libraries.

Some folks dislike the CVPCB step that marries schematic items to
footprints for use by the layout editor. I'm fine with it and
footprints can be assigned directly from the schematic if that suits.

I noticed that when I tried the menu item "New from Template" it points
by default to a location in the install directory under "Program
Files...". That is a no-no under Windows. Will this be an issue or
will no data be put there unless I do it? I will be writing to a
separate directory in my user space I expect.

I've never bothered with templates. I just start a default new project
and then use the "page settings" to define the paper size and text for
the title blocks.

I often use a tool and then don't use it again for months. So I need as
much handled for me without requiring memorization of steps as possible.
I'm used to using FreePCB and Orcad, but Orcad is commercial and
FreePCB seems rather stagnant at this point. I saw a video showing
trace pushing in KiCad which would be nice to use on tight boards.

--

Rick

First Design with Kicad
 

On Wed, 25 Jun 2014 18:00:11 -0400, rickman wrote:

On 6/16/2014 9:01 AM, Rich Webb wrote:
On Sat, 14 Jun 2014 22:03:11 -0400, rickman wrote:

I am starting a design with Kicad in order to learn it. The Kicad web
site has a list of Tutorials, but the first one, "Official KiCad
tutorial" doesn't load. Anyone know what is wrong with it?

There are a few that could claim to be the official site. The tutorial
links from
http://www.kicad-pcb.org/display/KICAD/KiCad+EDA+Software+Suite seem
to work okay.

Not working for me. I get 502 bad gateway error. Every page at that
site I try. I was able view pages there a few days ago.

It's a volunteer-hosted site (open source, what can you do?) that has
had issues like that in the past. Seems okay this morning from here,
though.

There is a wiki at http://wiki.xtronics.com/index.php/Kicad and also a
discussion group over at
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kicad-users/info which is,
unfortunately, hosted on Yahoo. The "neo" group interface on Yahoo is
awful.

I often use a tool and then don't use it again for months. So I need as
much handled for me without requiring memorization of steps as possible.

It's reasonably intuitive as compared to, say, EAGLE. ;-)
The help files are pretty comprehensive.

I'm used to using FreePCB and Orcad, but Orcad is commercial and
FreePCB seems rather stagnant at this point. I saw a video showing
trace pushing in KiCad which would be nice to use on tight boards.

You'll need to grab one of the recent builds for push routing; I'm
running 4680 which does have "push & shove" (under Edit | Interactive
Router) so I assume all of the later ones have it as well.

There are pre-compiled builds at http://escalalibre.com/edwt/ and I
assume there will be another official stable build this summer.

Also, be aware that the much loved Freerouting.net has succumbed to a
takedown notice. IP dispute with the author's former employer.