In message <961122183316_1251566949@emout05.mail.aol.com>,
RonSwinden@aol.com writes
>Do any of you wizzes have , or know of a programme that would help me draw a
>presentable looking circuit diagram for my Europa. I can understand my own
>efforts but I shudder to think what anyone else would make of it. I got to
>try a panel planner which I thought might have a circuit programme on its
>back but if it had I couldn't find it, nor for that matter could I get the
>panel planning bit to do much either. Ron S No 33.
Speaking as a DOSman there are now quite a few cheap and cheerful CAD
programmes on CDrom for around a tenner from the high street outlets
like Currys and PCWorld. By no means as sophisticated as the Autocad or
any of the other high end (and cost) systems they mostly follow the same
routes. The trick in most cases is to build up the circuit from symbol
libraries (or create your own set) to represent items like switches and
breakers etc. and simply join the relevant bits together with straight
lines.
You can also do a half reasonable job with CorelDraw again by inserting
predrawn symbols either self created or available within some of their
own standard libraries. Earlier versions like release 3 now are being
remarketed on CD as cheap entry level packages aimed at educational
users etc. Corel handles text and graphics with great ease and the
results will look extremely professional.
The nice thing about Corel is that with a scanner you can make a more
readable diagram by scanning illustrations from catalogues of the more
recognisable bits of an aircraft's electrics and draw the logical
connections with simple lines.
Autocad market AutocadLite which again will handle this quite well but
is now starting to become a bit pricey and hardly worth outlaying unless
you needed a full blown CAD system for other purposes.
Proper circuit oriented programmes like Quickroute which are aimed at
printed circuit board layout and design have facility for producing
ordinary circuit diagrams and the entry level version costs around 30
pounds. I have an old version which I often use to knock out all manner
of circuits though it lacks some versatility and breaks some Windows
rules.
All the examples quoted are vector oriented and will run under Windoze.
Windows Paint could be used at a pinch but being bitmap oriented the
results will be bitty at best.
--
Graham E Laucht
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