Bring out yer Diptrace

I hated building the schematic and then assigning footprint to each component in kicad before moving on to the board layout. I found it much more intuitive in diptrace. Now that I've got the hang of diptrace, maybe I'll try kicad again
 
Harry Klippton said:
I hated building the schematic and then assigning footprint to each component in kicad before moving on to the board layout. I found it much more intuitive in diptrace. Now that I've got the hang of diptrace, maybe I'll try kicad again
Click to expand...
You can assign a footprint to a symbol in your library and then it’ll be done automatically. A bit of work to setup but then your layout process gets a lot faster.
 
Affordable prototyping = affordable mistakes = many lessons learned for $12.

dHtGODD.jpg


-I used a film cap footprint for one of the electrolytics 🙃 it's installed on the under-side of the board.
-One of the gangs on the footswitch daughter-boards is upside-down 🙃 I had to switch some wires around.
-LED daughter-board from my first PCB order is more borked than I care to explain :poop: but I made it work.

*Despite my mistakes, the circuit, Aleph Null's Peacock Parallel Fuzz is in-tact, functional and sounds absolutely fantastic in all of its' permutations!
Updated boards are in production- if you're interested, keep an eye out in the 'PIF' section in a week or two.
 
szukalski said:
Still playing around but a major benefit is the footprints let you define labels a lot easier. I always hated messing around with that at the end of a layout.
Click to expand...
You can define label positioning in a footprint in diptrace FWIW. Add text, right click it and select from the “show” menu. You’ll need to briefly populate refdes and value as you do it. This is how DT suggested doing bottom layer refdes labels and while that doesn’t work, it does let you nail label positions ahead of time
 
dawson said:
Affordable prototyping = affordable mistakes = many lessons learned for $12.

dHtGODD.jpg


-I used a film cap footprint for one of the electrolytics 🙃 it's installed on the under-side of the board.
-One of the gangs on the footswitch daughter-boards is upside-down 🙃 I had to switch some wires around.
-LED daughter-board from my first PCB order is more borked than I care to explain :poop: but I made it work.

*Despite my mistakes, the circuit, Aleph Null's Peacock Parallel Fuzz is in-tact, functional and sounds absolutely fantastic in all of its' permutations!
Updated boards are in production- if you're interested, keep an eye out in the 'PIF' section in a week or two.
Click to expand...

WAY digging that little LED-CLR daughterboard. Cool as FORK!


AND LOVING this too:

HawmnGK.jpg
 
szukalski said:
You can assign a footprint to a symbol in your library and then it’ll be done automatically. A bit of work to setup but then your layout process gets a lot faster.
Click to expand...
You can also do it via a BOM sheet and it’s a good way to make sure each symbol has a corresponding footprint. I’m not at my computer right now, but I can show how to do it later. There’s a button up in the toolbar specifically for it.

Here you go:

https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/kicad-workflow-question-from-diptrace-user.19618/post-242695

You can copy/paste footprints or look them up 👍🏼
 
I really enjoyed the VHT Deliverance that I laid out in an earlier post, but I wanted to change the knob/switch layout and add a switchable boost. Plus, I am still playing around with KiCad (DipTrace is nicer for manual routing FWIW but KiCad wins everything else).

1710421052269.png
1710421095477.png

Whilst I was at it, I thought I'd try to make a drill template PCB as well using pin headers for the boundaries.
1710421180348.png
 
is there an easy way to export a schematic from diptrace to a PDF? I know I can choose print to PDF but it doesn't show the component values when I do that. Maybe I'm missing a setting somewhere.
 
You can put "bill of material" (BOM) in the assembly layer as a table or show the values in the assembly layer (part properties and there is a tab next to silk) and then filter it out in the print preview.
 
would anybody care to share some workflow tips on creating components and patterns? I've done a couple, but it was a struggle and my file structure is a mess too. I still get a little mixed up on the nomenclature too with libraries, patterns, and components as well.
 
FWIW this is my method.

I try to take an existing footprint from somewhere if I can, and just clean it up / amend it to what I want. Usually it just means changing up the pad sizes. I don't do brand-specific footprints/components, just a generic resistor one for example. I have a similar structure to BigMonk, but group all the caps into one library because it makes it quicker to use them (for me).

If I do value-specific components, such as for SMD pre-assembly, then a naming convention is really useful. DipTrace lets you order your library, but KiCad auto-sorts based on name, so I for caps/resistors, I use like below:

1712125180562.png 1712125208520.png

I use the component indicator code for ordering, ie. a 100pF cap would be marked 101, so that's C1, 100k resistor is 1003, so that's R3. It's a bit annoying but it aligns with product codes so it's a nice way to learn it.
 
I've decided I want to start moving my "production" pedals over to microcontroller-based relay switching with optocoupler muting to reduce pops on switching, so I started with the one pedal I didn't think it would fit on, the only thing I make that has a pair of tubes in a 125B. It took about 8x my average time to route, but I made it work.

440556151_982711312769582_175203965253293644_n.jpg
 
vigilante398 said:
I've decided I want to start moving my "production" pedals over to microcontroller-based relay switching with optocoupler muting to reduce pops on switching, so I started with the one pedal I didn't think it would fit on, the only thing I make that has a pair of tubes in a 125B. It took about 8x my average time to route, but I made it work.

View attachment 74062
Click to expand...
It is quite funny, I have recently made a universal relay switching module for confined spaces where you can't fit a big momentary switch, such as in your effects. It uses an MCU and a hall sensor to sense the foot actuator. I am testing it now on 3 of your pedals but it can be used on any pedal that uses the standard @PedalPCB footswitch pattern. I plan to write a few words about it soon.
 
Smrtokvitek said:
It is quite funny, I have recently made a universal relay switching module for confined spaces where you can't fit a big momentary switch, such as in your effects. It uses an MCU and a hall sensor to sense the foot actuator. I am testing it now on 3 of your pedals but it can be used on any pedal that uses the standard @PedalPCB footswitch pattern. I plan to write a few words about it soon.
Click to expand...
Oh cool, I actually did something similar-ish but with a momentary 3PDT for a direct drop-in for my builds, kind of as a proof of concept. I don't really like the momentary 3PDTs as they still have a rather stiff click to them. Very interested to hear how the hall effect sensor goes.
 
It works great so far. I have copied this from Dr. Vahlbruch, he calls it Magtrab. Dead simple, but a bit finicky to set the distance of the sensor and mod the switch (glue the magnet).

IMG_20240420_195842816.jpg
IMG_20240420_195903325.jpg
IMG_20240420_200537722.jpg

I already have a better version. I was rushing too much and left the cap on the bottom side. The newer version fits everything on the top side and is a bit smaller. The good thing about it is that I can connect a momentary switch instead of a hall sensor and it will work the same.
 
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