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Looking for a program for drawing and simulating electric circuits...

Voidness

Voidness

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 2, 2005
847
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The thread title says it all. I know a bunch of windows programs that could do the job, but I couldn't find anything for the Mac. Any suggestions?
 
Eeep...I thought I remembered checking that out once, but it looks like the developer posted it some time ago without linked libraries and never bothered to properly compile it. That being the case, I wonder if it works well enough to bother compiling the source. There must be something else out there, though....
 
iSpice doesn't work, but MI-SUGAR does. MI-SUGAR is a Cocoa application, with a very good Mac-like interface. It's recently been rereleased as an open source program after being a $15 shareware program for a long time. If you are willing to learn some SPICE, it works very well and has an excellent schematic editor.

On another note, while I really like MI-SUGAR, there are some features/improvements that I'd like to see added to it. Unfortunately I don't know Objective-C/Cocoa at all, so I can't add them. It's actually been a motivation for me to learn how to program, because SPICE is one of the things that I really need for school, and MI-SUGAR has the potential to be a really excellent SPICE application.
 
Mr_Brightside_@ said:
i know a guy who uses one, mac based, that he sez is really good... if you wait til tomorrow i can get you its name....
Click to expand...

Let us know. MI-SUGAR is the best one I know of, and it's quite good, but I'd love to know about alternatives.
 
Thanks for MI-SUGAR, very nice app. So now I need to learn SPICE...

I'll try compiling iSpice and see if it's any good. I'll let you know what happens.

EDIT: Meh, it's not compiling, there are over a 100 warnings and one error.
 
Voidness said:
Thanks for MI-SUGAR, very nice app. So now I need to learn SPICE...

I'll try compiling iSpice and see if it's any good. I'll let you know what happens.

EDIT: Meh, it's not compiling, there are over a 100 warnings and one error.
Click to expand...

The only spice you need to learn is how to run analyses and generate plots via text commands. They're pretty simple, and the SPICE manual linked from the MacInit website tells you how to use them. The schematic capture in MI-SUGAR will create a netlist for you. Just draw your circuit and then click capture in the toolbar at the top, and you'll see the netlist appear in the right frame.
 
I'd also like to see schematic and PCB layout programs for the Mac.
I think Capilano computing (or something like that) had some Mac programs, but they may be Mac OS only ...
 
Not sure how complex of an app you're looking for, but if you have X11 installed, you can use the Fink project to get a hold of Dia.

It's very easy to use for drawing diagrams, layouts, etc.

(It's completely free too, under the GPL)
 
The problem with a lot of the suggestions here is that they're for schematic capture and layout applications, when the OP asked for a design and simulation program. So, SPICE is apparently a requirement. For basic schematic design, OmniGraffle works pretty well.
 
For serious drafitng on a Pro level, there is no program better than Powercadd (engsw.com)

I'm using, and have used it on macs for 8 years. I'm not selling it, nor do I represent them, I just am an avid fan. Its cheaper than any other CAD out there, and has the smallest learning curve, that is, if you want to really sketch, design and draw.
 
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