Re: gEDA-user: ground planes and thermals

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Quoting handsome greg <xdissent@xxxxxxxxx>:

> i would like to have a ground plane on one whole side of my pcb, with
> thermals connecting the actual grounded pins to the plane, and
> isolation pads making sure no connections are made for non grounded
> pins.  do i have to draw a huge rectangle on my ground plane layer?
> im not sure i understand how thermals work in pcb either.  are
> isolation pads taken care of automatically?
>
> side note:  how can i get vias incorporated into my netlist?  i can't
> seem to lay a via without it looking "wrong" as far as pcb is
> concerned.
>
> thanks alot!
> handsome greg
>

Draw the big rectagle.  It will automatically clear all pins and pads.  Use the
add thermal too to put thermals on the pins you want to connect to the ground
plane.  For surface mounts on the ground plane side, I use a line from the pad
to the plane.  Currently there is no easy way to have a pin connected to the
plane directly without a thermal.

Darrell Harmon