A new EAGLE has landed
When I launched EAGLE this morning it told me that my version was not up to date and that an update to Version 6.3 available.
So I have subsequently downloaded and installed it.
From my past and limited experience with EAGLE I knew it operated in a considerably different way to my other PCB CAD packages.
(If you've read my previous blogs you'll know that can't get myself to comprehend that line = wire and that you can have wires of zero width.)
So to buy myself as much time as possible with the enhanced features of the Freemium license (30 days trial) I initially configured Eagle in Freeware mode to become familiar with its basics.
Once familiar with the basics the plan is to apply the Freemium licence to gain access to the enhanced features.
I watched Jeremy' Blum's EAGLE Tutorials to aid my reintroduction to Eagle only to find that he speaks far too fast for slow ole me (but probably perfect for geeks) leaving me frantically searching for a slow motion button which I never found.
I then started reading the EAGLE Tutorial Manual. This too left me bewildered by the amount of text thrust at me without enough pictures.
BTW - From a programming standpoint I can see where they are coming from. Rather that writing 3 separate programs for the Library Manager, Schematic Editor and Board Editor, I'm guessing that the EAGLE developers have reused the same functions and components at a macro scale.
This is evidenced by the his error message you can get from the Schematic Editor.
A Very Compact list of handy EAGLE Notes
Here are just some important notes to myself for a handy reference;
- Lines = wires
- Wires can have zero width
- Delete item has its own dedicated button (Can't right click in object selection mode for a context menu and delete)
- Board boundaries are defined on layer 20 (dimensions)
- Board boundaries are automatically created when clicking the board button in the Schematic Capture
- It is best to create a schematic file first allowing Eagle to create the related board file.
- Right click on placing a component rotates component
- ESC key terminates current component placement
My own EAGLE Tutorial
So carrying on from the above what I have done is put together my own tutorial package for myself.
I would not at all be offended if others would critise this little production.
My first episode outlines the creation of a very simple project.
I made sure the procedures are as simple as possble by using components that are already in the libraries
It just consists of a button, battery, resistor and LED.
- Create Project
- Create Schematic
- Create Board From Schematic.
Apologies for the poor audio. I forgot to use a noise cancelling microphone.
The very end of the video has highlighted the need to me to learn how to select multiple tracks and apply a common attribute setting.
I'll delve into this now.