Roswell Bob
Solar Enthusiast
Just curious.
Is anybody here running Altium?
- Thread starter Roswell Bob
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Roswell Bob
Solar Enthusiast
Yes. It is expensive. about $2k/year
methods
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If you're doing side work... That's about the cost of a job or two. It would pay for itself.
In all honesty I've always regretted not paying for and learning to use Altium. KiCad has some major hitches and glitches that have cost me far more than $2,000 a year. (Lol)
I learned on Eagle when it was free. I later had the $100 license. When KiCad came out with the fancy 3D rendering, ... Folks started asking that I use that.
I've done 50 or 60 boards in KiCad and I can say now that I wouldn't use a PCB product that didn't come with 3D rendering.
(Double Negative)
The viewer for altium files is free. I'm sure there's plenty of projects on GitHub now.
... SparkFun used to support eagle really well. Adafruit was supporting KiCad IIRC. At the end of the day what's important is library parts.
Right?
Library parts.
If Altium has that nailed, then it's probably worth every dollar. I use snapEDA and all the other footprint sources, but I've been burned more than a few times by bad parts.
-methods
In all honesty I've always regretted not paying for and learning to use Altium. KiCad has some major hitches and glitches that have cost me far more than $2,000 a year. (Lol)
I learned on Eagle when it was free. I later had the $100 license. When KiCad came out with the fancy 3D rendering, ... Folks started asking that I use that.
I've done 50 or 60 boards in KiCad and I can say now that I wouldn't use a PCB product that didn't come with 3D rendering.
(Double Negative)
The viewer for altium files is free. I'm sure there's plenty of projects on GitHub now.
... SparkFun used to support eagle really well. Adafruit was supporting KiCad IIRC. At the end of the day what's important is library parts.
Right?
Library parts.
If Altium has that nailed, then it's probably worth every dollar. I use snapEDA and all the other footprint sources, but I've been burned more than a few times by bad parts.
-methods
methods
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I use KiCad as well. For hobby work it is beyond the best value.
If you start to do professional work with KiCad you'll be sorry... But this is a DIY forum... So 100% agreed
KiCad
You can find the Schematic symbols, Footprints, and 3D models on three different tools.
If they don't Supply the 3D model you can always get it directly from the manufacturer.
... That said
OP wants to discuss Altium.
They are pretty tight about their licensing. Everything is tied into the cloud... So... It is probably wise to pay.
-methods
If you start to do professional work with KiCad you'll be sorry... But this is a DIY forum... So 100% agreed
KiCad
You can find the Schematic symbols, Footprints, and 3D models on three different tools.
If they don't Supply the 3D model you can always get it directly from the manufacturer.
... That said
OP wants to discuss Altium.
They are pretty tight about their licensing. Everything is tied into the cloud... So... It is probably wise to pay.
-methods
Roswell Bob
Solar Enthusiast
I am interested in doing some side work with Alltium so I pay the fees.
methods
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As far as industry standard... No customer is going to complain if you use Altium. We use it at every place I work in the Bay Area.
There are a few true artist holdouts... But 99% is Altium.
I still produce raw Gerber outputs. Some Fab houses will charge you an engineering fee for decoding the Altium output.
I just zip up my drill and Gerber files, in the old way.
-methods
There are a few true artist holdouts... But 99% is Altium.
I still produce raw Gerber outputs. Some Fab houses will charge you an engineering fee for decoding the Altium output.
I just zip up my drill and Gerber files, in the old way.
-methods
off.the.grid
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No one here use Diptrace anymore? It used to be the industry standard.
Altium took that crown, maybe some will consider it a shared crown with Orcad and/or Allegro and/or Mentor PADS (shrug). When you're doing complex designs that need simulation (memory interfaces and other high speed design), controlled impedance, high speed buses, R/F, etc. Diptrace doesn't really cut it.
We use both Altium and KiCad in my companies.
off.the.grid
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I want to play around with Kicad at some point, but hate having to learn how to use a new piece of software after just getting my head around diptrace!
Altium looks very powerful, but has way too many features for what i ever build with basic2 layer boards for my hobby projects, I may take a look at it again, I know it has a huge library of components.
methods
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An older version of Eagle is much easier to learn. Here is my take:
Eagle
Made by Electrical Engineers
KiCad
Made by Software Engineers
In principle KiCad executes on many ideals. . . but in practical use Eagle did a lot of fundamentals "better" (IMHO). I used Eagle for years... did not have many problems at all. When I switched to KiCad it was like "ACK!"... the simple things you expect... just were not there.
Example
Eagle does scripting really well. If you want to write a little text file that punches via at a series of X,Y coordinates... and connect those nets... Eagle works like Magic. KiCad.. arghumph! You can do it, but... er... the community is... er... not as trustworthy. I guess you have to do it in Python or something. I avoid Python like a half eaten sandwich down by the river.
You can download add-ons to the old Eagle and they were truly beaten in and worked well (actually validated, EH HEM). With KiCad I feel like I am debugging the product for them so they can eventually charge Altium prices. I have done enough free debugging in my time.
My next step is to hit that Fusion 360 combo pack that Eagle now offers.
///
You need a file right now?
I would use KiCad (because I am fresh)
You need advice on what to try?
I would try Fusion 360 with the PCB package
You a professional?
Altium or one of the other Pro packages, all the way
... I am a Test Engineer... so we get to do whatever we want. Simple PCB boards that are very mechanical leaning. Some USB-C or 1G Ethernet is as fast as I ever have to go - and - both of those will basically work on a 2-layer PCB with no impedance matching.
-methods
Eagle
Made by Electrical Engineers
KiCad
Made by Software Engineers
In principle KiCad executes on many ideals. . . but in practical use Eagle did a lot of fundamentals "better" (IMHO). I used Eagle for years... did not have many problems at all. When I switched to KiCad it was like "ACK!"... the simple things you expect... just were not there.
Example
Eagle does scripting really well. If you want to write a little text file that punches via at a series of X,Y coordinates... and connect those nets... Eagle works like Magic. KiCad.. arghumph! You can do it, but... er... the community is... er... not as trustworthy. I guess you have to do it in Python or something. I avoid Python like a half eaten sandwich down by the river.
You can download add-ons to the old Eagle and they were truly beaten in and worked well (actually validated, EH HEM). With KiCad I feel like I am debugging the product for them so they can eventually charge Altium prices. I have done enough free debugging in my time.
My next step is to hit that Fusion 360 combo pack that Eagle now offers.
///
You need a file right now?
I would use KiCad (because I am fresh)
You need advice on what to try?
I would try Fusion 360 with the PCB package
You a professional?
Altium or one of the other Pro packages, all the way
... I am a Test Engineer... so we get to do whatever we want. Simple PCB boards that are very mechanical leaning. Some USB-C or 1G Ethernet is as fast as I ever have to go - and - both of those will basically work on a 2-layer PCB with no impedance matching.
-methods
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