I designed my last PCBs in the 90ies but now would like to restart.
Since I have to decide about the software to use - and since I don’t have the time to test all options - here a question to all board designers in BLF:
Which software do you use, KiCad, Eagle, or what else?
I use EAGLE, but I will probably use KiCad in the future as well.
I use Eagle. Texas_Ace uses KiCad and says it’s easy to use. I tried KiCad and found it impossible to learn. Eagle seems easier to me. There’s an old Eagle Tutorials thread here that will help you get started. The newest version of Eagle is a bit different than what the OP used. And the OP of that thread wasn’t an expert himself, so there were things he didn’t know how to do properly. But, it was good enough to get me started. There are also other tutorials to be found online, as well as Eagle parts libraries. OSH Park also supports both Eagle and KiCad files natively. The OP of that Tutorial says to export to Gerbers, but that’s because he was missing some layers that Eagle files require to upload correctly to OSH Park. Since you’ve done PCB design before, you should be able to pick up Eagle quickly. Maybe Kicad too. I dunno.
If my memory serves me right I even used Eagle back in the 90ies. I downloaded Eagle and KiCad meanwhile and will create a schematic and board with both of them to check which fits me best.
So I started with the free Eagle version for now, and to raise my learning curve I would like to import an existing driver project. Searched a while in BLF yesterday but couldn’t find a project with schematic and board file. Does anybody know of a public project (might also be obsolete) with this files available?
Oshpark should have enough projects that have the files attached
I downloaded a lot of them yesterday but only could find two driver PCBs with board files, none with schematic file. Most have gerber files attached. But I will go on looking …
I think by default, the schematic won’t be uploaded to OSH Park because it isn’t necessary for their production. But I’d be glad to share some of mine with you. I’ll have to wait until I get home to upload them. It really is easier to see what’s going on and make modifications when you have the schematic file together with the board file.
EDIT: Also, if you don’t know, Eagle will generate a board file from a schematic file. You then have all the pieces just lying around, waiting to be carefully positioned the way you want them. You can use that feature to start over on a board when you want to change the layout a lot, but don’t want to change the schematic or parts list. Just change the name of the board file so that it breaks the link, and Eagle will make a new one. I also do that to make multiple versions of a board when I’m not sure what I want. The boards are viable in OSH Park without the schematic, so you could use one schematic to make several OSH Park projects easily.
That’s great, thanks!
Which specially bothers me is to get everything right for the production process (board borders, drill holes, cut outs, layers, masks etc.). Since I have to wait 3 weeks or more until the boards from OSH park arrive here I would like to have least possible failed tries.
Well, OSH Park has design rules you can download and apply to all your Eagle projects. That’s what I do. Also, OSH Park requires a certain amount of distance from copper to the outside edges. What I do for that is make all my boards that much bigger, so they can be filed down to the copper at the edges. I also use metric measurements for the grid when designing my boards, and try to measure everything as precisely as possible. I also try really hard to make all my stuff as technically correct as possible (limited by my knowledge of the correctness of the technicals), so that it’s predictable and reproducible. The Eagle schematics don’t like being switched from their default sizing grid. The library parts are generally made to fit that grid, so the wiring connections can fail to make if the grid is changed. So, I leave that alone and just use it with the default grid.
The OSH Park rules aren’t up to date, some things have changed. Just look online for the rules. For example the minimum drill size is now 10mil, and in the file it’s still 13mil.
Good to know! Thanks Schoki!
Here is a Google Drive folder with several pairs of Eagle sch/brd files accessible to anyone who wants to look at them. I didn’t finish some of these, so feel free to finish the ones I didn’t and share them back with me. :innocent:
Also, the circuitry on these is pretty much deprecated compared to what BLF drivers are using these days. But these drivers will work with most of our current firmware options anyway. Just not as reliably and efficiently as the better circuit arrangements some of our members have shared. Still, it wouldn’t be too hard to modify these to meet current standards, either.
Anyway, have fun playing. And if you come up with something Totally Awesome, don’t blame me! 
Thanks a lot, David! Will look at them this weekend.
Thanks for the hint, Schoki.
Eagle free version has only 100x160mm board size, which is okay for small drivers.
But if you need a bigger board like for a clock or a display it wont work. I find the area verry limited, if you place bigger parts.
The payed version is subscription based and need a regular IN connection which is bad if you run the system in a virtual machine.
Yeah, I don’t like the subscription model either. And it’s even more limited, only 80 square centimeters allowed and a maximum of 2 layers. But should be sufficient for flashlight boards.
Flashy Mike, how are you doing with your PCB designs restart? Have you decided between KiCad and Eagle? I’m curious which you find more intuitive to use.
Well, the start was really hard. Eagle is so un-intuitive! Even for the most simple actions I had to google a lot. Now - after little sleep and many curses - I know most of what I need to know, finished a schematic for a completely insane driver (details top secret for the moment since I don’t know if it even works :person_facepalming: ) and am trying to squeeze everything on a board and do the routing.
Will reveal the project in a while but can say already it fit’s my nickname pretty well …
I have studied your schematics and boards, it helped a lot, thanks again! Had only a quick glance to KiCad, it seems easier to start with, but after all the effort I’ll probably stay with eagle.
Awesome! I’m looking forward to seeing what you came up with!