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Eagle Software

e14 Contributor

Greetings

 

My name is Brian, and I am a new user of Eagle, for right now the free version.

 

First question, is there any way to stop Eagle from carrying on point to point connections.   I am sure at times this is a very useful feature, but I need it to stop after automatically after it connects 2 points.   I hope this is possible, as if this is a persistent feature, it will really turn me off to Eagle.

 

But more importantly, I did a practice design and have a problem.

 

I am using a XF2H-3415 surface mount connector, .5 mm spacing.   I have a bit of a problem with the datasheet, as it doesn't clearly state the measurement units, but since the first page notes a measurement in mm, I'm assuming they are smart enough to carry those units throughout the datasheet.

 

Let me describe what I did, and perhaps did not do.

 

I have my board layout done, I have two 12 pin single row headers on each side of the board, and the other connector on the other side.   And I see the Ratsnest.

 

I think the pad color denotes side of board, but I'm not sure how to check or change that.

 

This is where the confusion starts.

 

I can't get the autorouter to start, and I come up with 34 DRC errors.

 

I'm a beginner, probably making a silly mistake, but Eagle also has a much more complicated set of DRC rules than I'm used to.

 

I have attached an image.

 

Help is most appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Brian K

BKM Engineering

Attachments:
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  • in reply to AnalogNotes

    Hi Doug

     

    For all my complaining and angst, I have made good progress today.   I am least to the point where I have completed an autoroute, now I can start going back and changing things and see where they screw things up, and know how to get back.

     

    Now, the stop function, if I have a button selected, say info, and I want to get everything reset so no button along the left hand side is active, the only way I see is to go to the upper toolbar and click stop.

     

    There doesn't appear to be a keyboard shortcut, like escape, or a de-select function.  I'd even be happy if it was added to the right click context menu.

     

    It may sound ridiculous, but this feature is annoying to me, because I find myself continually repeating a function I only meant to do once, and then go through the trouble of removing it.   In cases like that, an undo function in the right click context menu would also be extremely helpful.

     

    And one last thing, and I'm sure I'm not the only person who has complained about this.  And I'll get off my soapbox after this.

     

    Is there some reason that Eagle cannot open windows maximized, or at least remember last window size.

     

    This is extremely annoying.

     

    But I sincerely do appreciate your help.

     

    Brian K

  • in reply to e14 Contributor

    Brian Mcclung wrote:

    I need to get two connectors aligned and get them spaced exactly 700 mils apart.

    BTW, you know you can display info about a part and type in the exact coordinates, right?

  • in reply to e14 Contributor

    You're going to love this, but you can use different units for x and y... image

     

    Grid units are where things snap.  I don't always want dimensions to be the exact same as the snap grid.  Heck, I'm usually using EAGLE 5 and it doesn't have the dimension tool...

     

    As for stop, are you clicking the stop button or doing something else?

  • in reply to AnalogNotes

    Doug

     

    I so appreciate your response.

     

    But now, I'm starting to get upset.

     

    I'm sure in about 3 months when I work through every damm nuance of Eagle I'll appreciate what I have.

     

    I didn't realize the dimensioning tool has its own toolbar and you can select its own units.   I'm not sure I understand what value that would be, or why it would not default to grid units, but hey, I'm only a beginner.

     

    The same way I can't understand why Eagle can't auto adjust it's DRC rules to standard components, or the way it forces me to perform excessive mouse actions to perform the stop function.

     

    Give me a few days, I'm sure I'll have more suggestions.

     

    Thanks for all your help

  • in reply to e14 Contributor

    Brian Mcclung wrote:

    How do I change the units to Metric.   Is it possible?

     

    The answer is in the manual: GRID command

     

    Is it possible to make it default?

     

    Please refer to the eagle.scr that I mentioned above.  Second section of the EAGLE manual: Configuring EAGLE  See the subsection on Mode Parameters...

     

    It may help you if you navigate to the bin directory of your EAGLE installation and double click on the file eagle_en.htm.  That will open the EAGLE manual in your web browser.  Sections are hyperlinked together and I have found that the HTML version of the manual is a great resource...

  • I may be attacking this wrong, but I need to fine position everything and get all my dimensions correct.

     

    I need to get two connectors aligned and get them spaced exactly 700 mils apart.

  • Can somebody please explain how to make the units consistent, my grid is in mils and my dimensions are expressed in mm.

     

    I hate the crap I have to go through to learn these tools.

  • By the way, is there any keyboard shortcut for "STOP"

     

    Is there any shortcut at all for that.

     

    If you tell me a shortcut doesn't exist or cannot be created somehow, I will never purchase Eagle.

     

    Nevertheless, can someone please help me complete my first autoroute.

     

    I wouldn't think it would be this hard?

  • Thanks for all your help so far.

     

    How do I change the units to Metric.   Is it possible?   Is it possible to make it default?

     

    I made the following changes:   DRC/ Sizes/ Minimum Width/5mil

     

    I got rid of all my errors.

     

    If I run ERC on schematic, 28 warnings, and no errors.

     

    If I run DRC on the board with the setting at 5mils, as mentioned previously, I do not get any errors.   Things are improving.

     

    Now I want to Autoroute, and I have what is referred to as the Freemium version.

     

    If I try to autoroute it appears to try to start, but it flashes momentarily and finishes with 0% routed.

     

    Can somebody identify what I'm obviously doing wrong.

     

    Thanks

     

    Brian

  • in reply to AnalogNotes

    I appreciate all your help, but I'm putting out an alert.

     

    Is there any experienced user of eagle that would be willing to call me

    and walk me through a few basic steps.

     

    I appreciate all your help.

     

    My name is Brian, and my number is 213-986-7914

     

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