KiCad EDA problems with library, help from an old friend!

I was going through the tutorial that came with KiCad (downloaded from MDX4.org). On page 6 of the tutorial, point 3.6 it says “select the ‘device’ library” but I could only see the library ‘power’ even though I can see that lots of other libraries (including ‘device’) are in the ‘library’ folder. I tried moving the ‘library’ to different places but it made no difference.

So I joined Yahoo! Groups for KiCad users and put the question out there. I had a couple of responses both of which were very helpful. One in particular was helpful and it was from a guy called Andy. I sent an email to Andy to thank him and then noticed his surname. It turns out he is the same Andy that I went to college with and also worked alongside in the R&D department of Kelvin Hughes. This was more than 30 years ago! What a very small world we live in. I do remember him as being a really nice and helpful guy so will keep in touch. Thanks for your help Andy.

I can now carry on learning how to use this EDA software (bear in mind I’m using a Mac). It seems to work fine but I will report any problems or not.

While I was going through this problem I did look for alternatives and came across DipTrace which works on a Mac and that also seems very good. Though you do need to pay for using it, they have a freeware version (I don’t believe it has limitations) and the price is scaleable depending on your needs and it is much cheaper than many other EDA software so do give it a go.

Ok, back to the tutorial…

PS
Here is the help I received from Andy with getting the device library to work:

“Kicad works slightly differently to other PCB design packages. You have
to tell kicad what libs to use on a project by project basis.

In each of the programs, eeschema, pcbnew, etc, there is a preferences
menu, under that you will find library. That will list the libs that the
project knows about. There is an ADD button which obviously adds a
library.

That’s all you need to use.

You will see many comments regarding library management, but the one
thing to remember is that kicad libs can get replaced during upgrades,
so it’s best if you maintain your own copies somewhere safe. As you get
on with the system you will make mods to the libs, and it’s really
annoying to see your changes vanish after an upgrade.

There is a default template in /usr/local/kicad/share/template
called kicad.pro

(I expect the mac version will store them somewhere similar.. they will be
under kicad somewhere)

After a while if you find that you are always adding the same libs to
each project you can modify that file and add the libs there, then they
will be added automatically to each project.

Andy”

EDA Software (Electronic Design Automation)

I’m just going through “PCB Design Tutorial” by David L. Jones. This is a generic tutorial so does works for all EDA software. I think it best to get an over-view first.

It all happened in a puff of smoke

I can see why the loud bang and the room full of smoke and white powder. When the left channel blew I simply cut the power leads to it and carried on with the right channel. But that blew also and exactly the same component – a large decoupling capacitor, electrolytic. That was the clue to the problem, I had put 16V electrolytics in instead of 63V. Hadn’t noticed until now. So that was a nice easy fix!

To PCB or not to PCB – that is the question (now answered)

Again the board has ‘blown up’. All worked well a couple of days ago but I was working on one channel yesterday and noticed smoke coming from the other! I can’t see what has gone wrong but obviously something has shorted out and taken a few components in the process. So I may not like PCBs and prefer hand-wiring for sonic purity reasons but I also have to balance out the fact that the finished amp system needs to be affordable and if it takes me 2 days to build the amp board and another 2 days to fault find it that raises the cost by too much. So I have decided to go down the PCB route and at the moment am looking for them to be built in China. If all goes well with the company chosen I will let you know who they are and how to contact them. I am going to go with a company that gives instant quotes via their web page so you can see the price, adjust the spec and see what difference it makes to the price. Obviously quality is important so I will order some and see how they are before recommending the company.

The next job will be to find some open-source software for me to layout the boards in a way that will give me the correct files to send to this Chinese company. I’ll let you know how that goes also.

I am actually quite excited about using a PCB – it has been so hard not using one that the idea of things getting easier and quicker is now very appealing! Oh how the might (ideas) have fallen.

Amp board build

The power amp section of this board is now complete, next I need to add the preamp, then its testing will begin…

Amp Board Construction

I have now started work on building the amplifier board. This contains the pre-amps as well as the power amps. I’ll add a photo once the board is completed.

Lab PSU Finished

The Lab PSU is finished with everything running and I can work with music playing in the background. I can now get on with the pre/power amp unit. It has been over 10 months since I was last able to work on it so I am having to spend some time reacquainting myself and working out where I left off. I can see most of the work has already been done, the only thing left is to work out the placement of the headphone circuitry. That really won’t take long and I can then start building the amp!