Hey all!
Returning from quite a long hiatus. Excited to be back and see many familiar names and faces.
I used to use Eagle with modified gaussmarkov's library and then eventually madbeans. It looks like Eagle has gone through some... interesting changes? Autodesk, fusion 360, needing a license - is it worth figuring all that out, or is there a better option for the 2023 DIYer?
Thank you!
I use KiCAD 6.0 as do lots of other pedal builders. It is free and highly functional.
I was working on a list last year:
https://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=129068.msg1245602#msg1245602
It seems like KiCAD and Diptrace have the big positive over eagle that 3D modeling is available in a free version. I am new to PCB design, having done just a couple in Eagle. I am working to switch to Diptrace because of all of Eagle's stuff.
Rullywow has a library for Diptrace. Not sure what libraries there are for KiCAD.
I finally switched to KiCAD 7 and it has some welcome additions. And the built-in libraries should cover you (they even include tubes (https://kicad.github.io/symbols/Valve)!).
Definitely KiCAD here, though I haven't upgraded to 7.0 yet.
As I've put it before: "free or not, if it was good enough for the Large Hadron Collider, it's good enough for me!"
(Just as background, CERN does substantially contribute to the KiCAD project, but I can't say for sure that they used it on the LHC.)
-- T. G. --
Kicad++
I use custom symbols and footprints, because I'm OCD, but other than that, works out of the box and has batteries included.
I still miss Altium, but less and less.
Kicad for PCBs. I moved from Eagle/autodesk and haven't turned back. Absolutely enjoy it.
Fusion 360 (free) for models and stuff. You don't need to pay for membership - you are allotted so many editable files before it caps out. When it caps just mark your old projects read only so you can start up a new one. Could always go back to make it editable again - provided you've made space for it within the allotment.
That's been my workaround.
Amazing, thanks everyone! Looks like I'll be learning KiCAD!
Paint Shop Pro 7.