Circuitmaker ...or how Altium plans to give You something for nothing
Author
Message
Yes I guess "fluff" like that deserves to be priced at that point. Nothing in that page appealed to me. "Clever" web designers bragging about their latest achievements, but essentially nothing about the product that they were supposed to announce.
Level: 10k+ Postman
Joined: Tue. Jan 9, 2007
Posts: 12489 View posts
Location: Clay County, Texas, u.S.A.
Where's the pressure coming from?
Kicad?
Digi-Key is teaming with Mentor Graphics.
Mouser is teaming with National Instruments.
http://iut-tice.ujf-grenoble.fr/kicad/
http://www.digikey.com/product-highlights/us/en/mentor-graphics-designer-software
Last Edited: Thu. Sep 18, 2014 - 11:04 AM
Level: Raving Lunatic
Joined: Wed. May 2, 2007
Posts: 6163 View posts
Location: Nieuwegein, Netherlands
I guess, Altium is finally getting to know that there are a lot of illegal hacks out in the field.
I wonder how long this product will stay free.
On the other hand it is something people will play with and then want at work too (or not).
No information on the limitations :(
I would love to use it for my home projects ( I use Altium at work already, so libs are all done deal)
farnell has teamed up with eagle ( they just bought the company which is really teaming up for better or worst ;) )
Yes and RS Components has DesignSpark.
.... and Kicad is supported by CERN and their giant underground bike track. 
Last Edited: Thu. Sep 18, 2014 - 05:59 AM
Level: Raving Lunatic
Joined: Wed. May 2, 2007
Posts: 6163 View posts
Location: Nieuwegein, Netherlands
valusoft wrote:
Yes and RS Components has DesignSpark.
.... and Kicad is supported by CERN and their giant underground bike track.
special test facility Ross ?
Level: Moderator
Joined: Wed. Mar 28, 2001
Posts: 29716 View posts
Location: Sydney, Australia (Gum trees, Koalas and Kangaroos, No Edelweis, but plenty of Corona beer)
Free and Extendable
CircuitMaker will be free to start,
Interesting, I still use a version of Circuitmaker from 2000. Back then it was owned by Protel with Circuitmaker being the schematic capture and simulation package and Traxmaker being the PCB program. It's not a bad simulation package for trying out ideas.
I guess they will offer a free pin-limited and layer-limited version with the option to upgrade both as your designs grow.
Level: Moderator
Joined: Wed. Mar 28, 2001
Posts: 29716 View posts
Location: Sydney, Australia (Gum trees, Koalas and Kangaroos, No Edelweis, but plenty of Corona beer)
Just registered with them. Please note:
- Free to start, and extendable through purchased enhancements, so you can expand the software as your designs become more complex and challenging.
The idiots killed Circuit maker when I was about to purchase it years ago. So let's see what happens next.
oh goodie... free to start... but costs lots to continue. No thanks.
I watched the push/shove youtube demo for Kicad yesterday and was very impressed. And I am told that it can also import eagle designs and components, so that would overcome a lot of inertia for me. But where will I find the time... oh the time....
Level: 10k+ Postman
Joined: Tue. Jan 9, 2007
Posts: 12489 View posts
Location: Clay County, Texas, u.S.A.
Olimex is giving Kicad a go for some of their open source hardware.
valusoft wrote:
CAD TopoR 6.0: Light control routing example. (YouTube, 3m53s)
I watched the push/shove youtube demo ...
ignoramus wrote:
http://circuitmaker.com/#why_circuitmaker
moderator if apropriate shift it elsewhere ( the topic I mean )
whooo, seens to be a nice tool, I will give a try... I think I already try one from digikey... But I'm asking myself how do you protect your IP on online tools 
Level: 10k+ Postman
Joined: Tue. Jan 9, 2007
Posts: 12489 View posts
Location: Clay County, Texas, u.S.A.
IP can be bounded by patent, copyright, or trade secret.
- Copyright - initially the default is no copies and recommended to state "All rights reserved"; else select an off-the-shelf copyright, or create your own, and place this copyright into the schematic with a reference on all sheets and the same for the PCB for all layers (QR code or Micro QR code). "... but they’re still important as a way of making clear the ways in which you want others to use your designs.", http://www.oshwa.org/sharing-best-practices/ (Open Source Hardware Association)
- Trade secret - sign it, encrypt it, secure it (likely not online, will be behind a firewall OR by sneakernet, small set of keys amongst team members and/or partners, data at-rest encryption). https://www.crypto-stick.com/, "web of trust" in https://www.debian.org/events/keysigning
Though the following is about software there are off-the-shelf hardware licenses (somewhere):
Last Edited: Thu. Sep 18, 2014 - 11:57 AM
Level: 10k+ Postman
Joined: Tue. Nov 11, 2003
Posts: 10333 View posts
Location: Bartlesville Oklahoma USA
I've often wondered if I should grow up and start using kicad instead of freepcb. I even installed it once.
If you don't know my whole story, keep your mouth shut.
If you know my whole story, you're an accomplice. Keep your mouth shut. 
Registered, but how well it will work in a Windows VM under windows could be an interesting experiment.
Neil
I used dipTrace to design some nrf mini-breakout boards which I sent to OshPark. I find it frustrating that if I want to make a simple adapter or breakout board in KiCad I have to design a schematic along with the PCB.
Level: 10k+ Postman
Joined: Tue. Jan 9, 2007
Posts: 12489 View posts
Location: Clay County, Texas, u.S.A.
Altium's Free PCB Tool Available for Test and Evaluation
Altium wants users to test drive and kick the wheels on CircuitMaker PCB tool
by Bernard Cole
5/27/2015 00:00 AM EDT
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1326693
...
Some of the features in the professional Altium Designer version are not included on the free CircuitMaker. "Missing are such high-end and legacy features required by very advanced high performance designs such as rigid flex design, high speed routing, and signal integrity simulation," said Max Clemons, Product Engineering Manager at Altium. "But virtually everything else is there."
...
"I think everyone will be more surprised at what we included in CircuitMaker rather than what we did not such as full impedance load control and differential pair routing, 3D modeling, cross-probing and a variety of navigation features."
...
via
Fritzing and CircuitMaker: Adventures in PCB design
As easy as building Ardiuno breadboard
by Bernard Cole
6/16/2015 09:42 AM EDThttp://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1326876
Edits : bylines, fixed 1st URl, added quotes.
Last Edited: Thu. Jun 18, 2015 - 06:12 PM
Level: 10k+ Postman
Joined: Tue. Jan 9, 2007
Posts: 12489 View posts
Location: Clay County, Texas, u.S.A.
brunomusw wrote:
But I'm asking myself how do you protect your IP on online tools
Blog
Announcement: CircuitMaker Beta 2 Now Available
by Max Clemons
(approx. 10-June-2015)
http://blog.circuitmaker.com/#Blogs/CircuitMaker-Beta-2-Now-Available
...
Sandbox Projects
...
Sandbox projects are visible only to you, and allow a maximum of 2 projects to be designed in private at a time.
This is an ideal for those that don’t want their projects to be part of the open hardware community, or simply want to design in private until their project is completed.
At any time you can easily make your project Public, and this will free up a slot in your Sandbox.
...
Level: 10k+ Postman
Joined: Tue. Jan 9, 2007
Posts: 12489 View posts
Location: Clay County, Texas, u.S.A.
Olimex on Wordpress
A33-OLinuXino Open Source Hardware Linux SBC with Quad Core Cortex-A7 ARM processor running at 1.5Ghz
18 May 2015
...
Why not KiCAD?!
https://olimex.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/11905/#comment-18515
Dave Jones, a former employee of Altium, evaluates CircuitMaker.
http://www.eevblog.com/2015/06/1...
That was a short experiment for me. I signed up for the account, activated it and then tried to log in. No joy. So I click the "forgot password" link and it does nothing. I ignore it for a day and tried again today with the exact same results.
I'm generally concerned about pouring my efforts into learning, and then designing, in a tool that is either new (and therefore may be discontinued), freemium (where the pricing model may change) or linked to a component distributor (who may decide it isn't core), or linked to a contract manufacturer (who may shut shop). So I won't be going for Circuitmaker as it ticks two of my boxes above. I'll be sticking with Kicad - which by the way are planning to release a new stable version this July.
If anyone wants to dip their toes in Kicad, check out Chris Gammell's tutorials - the workflow can be tricky to start, but once you get it, it makes complete sense.
Level: 10k+ Postman
Joined: Tue. Nov 11, 2003
Posts: 10333 View posts
Location: Bartlesville Oklahoma USA
AndyTallack wrote:
If anyone wants to dip their toes in Kicad, check out Chris Gammell's tutorials - the workflow can be tricky to start, but once you get it, it makes complete sense.
Thanks for the link. I use freepcb but wonder if I should grow up and learn kicad.
If you don't know my whole story, keep your mouth shut.
If you know my whole story, you're an accomplice. Keep your mouth shut.