laying out custom PC boards

[Mark Shieh]

What's the best and/or easiest way to design a custom PC board?
Just sit down and think it through or is there some software out
there somewhere that'll take IC dimensions, pin connections, etc.
and spit out a design? What's the current state-of-the-art for
hobbyist-level board etching? Just how does one take a design
from a magazine page and etch a board?

Thanks,

REPLY TO: dm...@psu.edu

[Thomas Sparks]

There is a book out there called "Making Printed Circuit Boards" by Jan Louise
Axelson. (c)1993 McGraw-Hill/Tab Books 4142

It is probably about state of the art for hobbyists.

There is also some FREE pcb layout software out there offered by Protel. at
ftp.protel.com. (Don't use your browser, use FTP software for this) look under DOS
TOOLS. It works best if you download it to a floppy and unzip it from there.

--

Pithy quote that sums up my intelligence,
sense of humor, and philosophy of life HERE:

If you take the abundance of silicon sand on earth as some sort of
sign from God, then one might reasonably conclude that God wants
us to make more computers, but we better make more beer bottles
just in case. --Thomas Sparks