printing .brd's with 7.0.0 fails

On 08/02/2014 12:46 PM, Gene Heskett wrote:

Just updated to the freebie eagle-7.0.0

...

But in order to get a complete printout to facilitate parts placement on

the new board I made yesterday, I had to redo the autoroute.  Then I went

to print a copy to take to the shop. 5 passes at printing the new boards

brd image on a color laser printer, and I have 5 notices from the printer

that no data was found.  Gping to the .sch screen, that prints just fine.

 

Anybody have a clue why I cannot print the .brd image?

I'm not sure if this is the reason for your problem, but...  Years ago

the US Govt decided that all laser printers sold in the US must not have

the capability to print a fill pattern as a countermeasure to

counterfeiting.  Laser printers were getting so good that some were

printing currency on them that was good enough to pass off to an

unsuspecting recipient.  I don't know the actual law or regulation, so I

can't cite anything.  Since counterfeiting spans political borders and

respective countries' agencies enforce laws against counterfeiting of

foreign currency, I would think that it's a safe assumption that some

other countries have adopted similar measures.

To this day, I can not print any board that has a fill pattern (like

tRestrict, tKeepout).  Even inner copper layers with a slant pattern

won't print.  The printer blinks as it's receiving data, but silently

ignores the entire job.  This happens with content from applications

other than Eagle as well.

To get around this, Cadsoft added the "Solid" option that produces a

solid fill instead of a pattern fill.

HTH,

    - Chuck

tain't the printer.  eagle-6.5.0 printed an older version of that .brd file

earlier this morning before  I upgraded.  On this same printer, a Brother

HL3170-CDW.

I'll see if I take the hatched pattern for the opto-interrupter out of the

view, its outline was hashed.  But it was also visible in the first copy,

and that worked, same printer.

Thanks.

Next, even better question, where can I get a decent piece of dbl-sided

pcb?  This radio shack stuff has copper so thin I believe one could get a

strong light thru it.  And if you lift a pad, the whole trace strips off

with much less than an ounce of accidental pull.  I measured a piece I

stripped, and its beyond thin, registering either 0.0000 or .0005" on my

digital caliper. Preferably on my side of the pond since I'm in WV, USA.

For this, I really need at least 2oz copper if its still made.

And I need to change my handle, I am now 79.

--

Cheers, Gene

--

"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:

soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."

-Ed Howdershelt (Author)

--

Web access to CadSoft support forums at www.eaglecentral.ca.  Where the CadSoft EAGLE community meets.

Gene77 wrote:

Next, even better question, where can I get a decent piece of dbl-sided

pcb?

2 oz and even 4 oz are available, but 1 oz seems to be the usual.  Check

Digikey, Mouser, Electronic Goldmine...  (e.g.

http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G18721)

I don't bother with etching because you can get a board made for cheap

these days.  Might be worth considering...

And I need to change my handle, I am now 79.

Me mum just turned 79 last week...  Don't stop inventing!

--

Web access to CadSoft support forums at www.eaglecentral.ca.  Where the CadSoft EAGLE community meets.

Chuckle, your mother is chasing me, I'll be 80 in October.  But luck is

still me friend, I managed to survive a pulmonary embolism at the end of

May, so now I am on rat poison, and feeling better than I have in a

decade.

and I found 2.5 square feet of DS 2 oz board on Ebay an hour ago for USD

12$, free postal shipping.  I should have it the middle of next week.

I tend to do my own for my onsies projects, in this case a spindle encoder

for a sows ear toy lathe, a 7x12 that was new back in the 90's sometime.

It now has ball screws and a 1 horse motor, all controlled by LinuxCNC.  No

handles left, LCNC does it all. At 0.001" accuracy's these days.

When doing a circuit board on the mill, which also has all screws now, run

by LCNC, I usually drill the thru holes about.045" deep, and drill from

both sides so the holes meet in the middle of the boards thickness. I think

I'm doing good when I can look into the hole with an old 16mm projector

lens for a magnifier, and cannot find a step where the hole pattern was

miss aligned.  And its not my accuracy being tested, its the mills

accuracy.  Worst part is I have no facility to make plated thru holes,

which makes my eagle compositions trickier.  And the traces too darned

narrow too. And I need to find a v-bit for engraving that is even a

narrower angle than the 60 degree bits I have the last of in the machine

right now.  Keeping the board pallet clean so there are no high or low

spots would also help.  So would a constant temp, my Z screw is about 16"

between the nut and the head slider, and in that distance, a 5 degree F

temp change is 4 thou or so at the tip of the bit.  So I load eagles

pcb2gcode output code up with calls to an automatic Z axis re-calibration,

inserted at about 1000 line intervals.  But even that does not help if my

hold-down screws distort the PCB itself because it runs the machine to the

same spot on the board. I'd be better off to machine the pallet for a

vacuum to hold it correctly.  Not impossible of course, but the vacuum is

just more noise I can do w/o.  But I just had another idea on the vacuum

that would be much quieter.  I forgot I had inherited an AC service pump,

and I know that puppy can do better than 29.5" HG.  I used it to complete

the desiccation of a gunstock sized piece of poorly dried maple, and one of

my 50 cal BP's is now wearing it.  Gets the ohhs and ahhs at the range to,

twice, the second time when they look at the target.

I'd better do an Andy Capp here and Saddup.

Cheers, Gene

--

Cheers, Gene

--

"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:

soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."

-Ed Howdershelt (Author)

--

Web access to CadSoft support forums at www.eaglecentral.ca.  Where the CadSoft EAGLE community meets.

Gene77 wrote:

Chuckle, your mother is chasing me, I'll be 80 in October.  But luck

is

still me friend, I managed to survive a pulmonary embolism at the end

of

May, so now I am on rat poison, and feeling better than I have in a

decade.

Glad you got through that!  I know a couple people who are on the rat

poison, one is younger than me.  I'm on beta blockers and calcium channel

blockers myself, along with diclofenac for the arthritis...

("arth-a-rite-us!")

and I found 2.5 square feet of DS 2 oz board on Ebay an hour ago for

USD 12$

Very nice.  eBay sure seems to have turned into a giant store instead of an

auction house.

I tend to do my own for my onsies projects, in this case a spindle

encoder

for a sows ear toy lathe, a 7x12 that was new back in the 90's

sometime.

It now has ball screws and a 1 horse motor, all controlled by LinuxCNC.

No

handles left, LCNC does it all. At 0.001" accuracy's these days.

Fun!  A thousandth, eh?  Nice.  I used to be a machinist, worked my way up

to general manager of the shop.  At the time, we pretty much had to

maintain .0005" accuracy.  At some point, maybe after I retire, I plan to

get some kind of vertical mill and play with CNC stuff again.

Worst part is I have no facility to make plated thru holes, which

makes

my eagle compositions trickier.

I've often wondered if anyone makes any kind of little grommet that could

be put in a hole and soldered to make a via.  Some day I'll actually get

around to looking.  Maybe you could get some kind of thin tube and cut

rings off with your lathe?  Hmm, could probably use some kind of solid

stock as well if it were small enough.  Might take a lot of heat to solder

though, but you could try solder paste and a griddle or oven...

Keeping the board pallet clean so there are no high or low spots would

also help.

In woodworking, we use router bits with guide bearings.  I wonder if you

could rig up something like that to hold the pcb down...

I'd better do an Andy Capp here and Saddup.

My dad used to love that strip!  I always remember Andy curled up on the

couch asking Pet for things...

--

Web access to CadSoft support forums at www.eaglecentral.ca.  Where the CadSoft EAGLE community meets.

Gene77

wrote:

Chuckle, your mother is chasing me, I'll be 80 in October.  But luck

is

still me friend, I managed to survive a pulmonary embolism at the end

of

May, so now I am on rat poison, and feeling better than I have in a

decade.

Glad you got through that!  I know a couple people who are on the rat

poison, one is younger than me.  I'm on beta blockers and calcium channel

blockers myself, along with diclofenac for the arthritis...

("arth-a-rite-us!")

I add a bunch of stuff to the rat poison, 20-25 Lisinopril for high blood

pressure, metformin with my meals because I've been a DM-II for 30 years,

adding the vitamins that flushes out, copious amounts of B-12 to control

the leg cramps at night, ant-acid pills for the calcium on demand when the

B12 doesn't work, and Lutein to prevent the blindness that goes with long

term diabetic nerve damages.  And of course some OTC stuff in the

Chondroitan family for the arthritis.  That's my major problem, because of

collapsed disks etc, I am 6" shorter than 60 years ago, and stand with a

noticeable tilt.  Scoliosis they call it. But I'm still here and feeling

pretty good.  I always planned on living forever, and I seem to have made a

good start so far

I finished out a career in electronics service with 24 years behind a door

that said Chief Engineer on it at a tv station. Very little went back to

the makers for repairs on my watch.  A bit over 18 years at the last

station, local area, still have the keys to the place.

and I found 2.5 square feet of DS 2 oz board on Ebay an hour ago for

USD 12$

Very nice.  eBay sure seems to have turned into a giant store instead of an

auction house.

Yeah, this was buy it now only.

I tend to do my own for my onsies projects, in this case a spindle

encoder

for a sows ear toy lathe, a 7x12 that was new back in the 90's

sometime.

It now has ball screws and a 1 horse motor, all controlled by LinuxCNC.

No

handles left, LCNC does it all. At 0.001" accuracy's these days.

Fun!  A thousandth, eh?  Nice.  I used to be a machinist, worked my way up

to general manager of the shop.  At the time, we pretty much had to

maintain .0005" accuracy.

Yeah, but you had good machinery in the first place!  This was the junk I

could afford.

At some point, maybe after I retire, I plan to get some kind of vertical

mill and play with CNC stuff again.

If you don't want to carve really tough stuff, it doesn't have enough iron

for that, and mills that do cost lots more and weigh 200 kilo's more, the

Grizzly G0704 is a good choice.  Not what one would call heavy duty, but

ball screw conversion kits with all the mounting hardware are fairly

reasonable on this side of the pond.  Just add motors, drivers, like the

2m542, a 28 to 48 volt motor psu, a parport breakout board like a cnc4pc

C1G, a dual core atom powered computer, and LCNC and you are off to the

races.  Carving my last gunstock would have been buckets easier with its

longer X table as even with the big table kits in my HF mill, I only have a

12"x4.5"x14" work envelope.  The Go704 would give you about 18 to 19" of x

motion.  That thing is sold on the other side of the pond with a model

number like a BF-20 or BF-30 IIRC.

I carve a lot of wood. I got a request from the neighbor for some furniture

which was best done with a few hundred mortise & tenon joints, and did all

that carving with my mill by attaching a 1/4" cheapo die grinder to the

front of it, offset on a big alu arm about 8" left, so a stick could hang

off clear off the table while getting its tenon milled.  Made stick holder

jigs & wrote some GCode, had all the joints made in about 2 days.

Worst part is I have no facility to make plated thru holes, which

makes

my eagle compositions trickier.

I've often wondered if anyone makes any kind of little grommet that could

be put in a hole and soldered to make a via.  Some day I'll actually get

around to looking.

No one does in the sizes we'ed need, I've looked.

Maybe you could get some kind of thin tube and cut rings off with your

lathe?  Hmm, could probably use some kind of solid stock as well if it were

small enough.  Might take a lot of heat to solder though, but you could try

solder paste and a griddle or oven...

Keeping the board pallet clean so there are no high or low spots would

also help.

In woodworking, we use router bits with guide bearings.  I wonder if you

could rig up something like that to hold the pcb down...

I suppose a teflon pipe, spring loaded to put 5 lbs on the board could be

rigged.  With some vent holes it might be possible to rig a small vacuum to

suck up the debris so the teflon didn't grind it back into the board.  But

remembering that I had the HV pump, I think a tubing connector drilled into

the end of the micarta pallet, to intersect with a groove pattern milled

into the bottom of the pocket, say on 1/4" centers with a 1/16" mill, could

do it better.  Then I would only need one screw, to hold the electrical

contact I hook the probing wire up to get a connection to the top copper on

the board.  But that could also be replaced with a spring wire exerting far

less pressure on the board that bends it than the present 4-40 hold down

screw does. I have some hose, and I could recap the 6" white abs pipe I

used to dry that stick of maple & use it for a vacuum reservoir so the pump

would only get turned on when I see the gauge below 15" hg.

I'd better do an Andy Capp here and Saddup.

My dad used to love that strip!  I always remember Andy curled up on the

couch asking Pet for things...

Yeah, like peanuts, those are classic and still being syndicated on this

side of the pond.

And you were correct, it was the printer refusing to print the hashed

marked areas. I took those out of the view, and it printed it just fine.

My thoughts on that subject aren't fit for public display.  The

repuglycrats are ruining a good country IMO.

Unintended consequences.  The book I believe can be had from my web page.

--

Cheers, Gene

--

"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:

soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."

-Ed Howdershelt (Author)

--

Web access to CadSoft support forums at www.eaglecentral.ca.  Where the CadSoft EAGLE community meets.

Gene77 wrote:

I add a bunch of stuff to the rat poison, 20-25 Lisinopril

I was on the max dose of Lisinopril myself, but it didn't help the bp and I

got the dry cough.  I'm on Amlodipine (Norvasc) now.  Between that and the

Metoprolol, the bp is down to about 130/90.  I'm guessing the doc will add

some kind of diuretic next.

(LOL, a couple guys comparing meds on an electronics forum!  I'll stop

now...)

If you don't want to carve really tough stuff, it doesn't have enough

iron for that, and mills that do cost lots more and weigh 200 kilo's

more, the Grizzly G0704 is a good choice.

Looks like a nice little unit.  There's a good-sized used machinery

business here, so I'm looking at a 9x42 Lagun (28"x16"x16" travel)

actually... 

I carve a lot of wood. I got a request from the neighbor for some

furniture

which was best done with a few hundred mortise & tenon joints, and did

all that carving with my mill by attaching a 1/4" cheapo die grinder

to

the front of it, offset on a big alu arm about 8" left, so a stick

could

hang off clear off the table while getting its tenon milled.  Made

stick

holder jigs & wrote some GCode, had all the joints made in about 2

days.

(whistles) 2 days?  Wonder if I could have done that with my Unisaw and

router tables.  I mostly make boxes and cabinets though, so I spend a lot

of time with my Leigh and Incra jigs...

--

Web access to CadSoft support forums at www.eaglecentral.ca.  Where the CadSoft EAGLE community meets.