Re: gEDA-user: .pcb viewer

[Gene Heskett <gene.heskett@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sunday 25 October 2009, Peter Clifton wrote:
>On Sun, 2009-10-25 at 11:25 -0400, Harry Eaton wrote:
>> > Does geda have a .pcb file viewer, such as is output by the ExpressPCB
>> > free software for windows?  I've got a small tabletop milling machine,
>> > and have been asked to do a board that is about half the size of a
>> > postage stamp.
>> >
>> > And, if so, can it convert a .pcb into a couple of .ngc's for feeding a
>> > milling machine, one for each side of the board?
>>
>> I think there may be some misunderstanding what you are asking here.
>>
>> I interpret your question to be "The windows program ExpressPCB has
>> created a ".pcb" file. Does geda have a viewer for this file?"
>
>Ah - looks like I misread the question.
>
>> Now I don't know anything about ExpressPCB, but it probably creates
>> files in its own (probably proprietary) format and gives them a .pcb
>> suffix.
>
>IIRC, it is a vendor lock-in design program for their fab, so there is
>no way to export from it, not even gerbers. http://www.expresspcb.com/
>Sorry!

Copy that, loud and clear. :(

>Like Harry said, re-designing the board in (gEDA) PCB would be the only
>option here, but I'm not 100% convinced about the output to mill
>commands anyway. Best test that bit first before investing too much time
>in re-designing the board!

Well, I told him early this morning that he would probably be better off just 
having it setup about 20x up on ExpressPCB's smallest double sided board, 
which for a potential market of maybe 150 copies, can be done 50x faster and 
cheaper by the time I invest in those teeny & ex$pensive carbide bits.  
Because my spindle is maxed at 2500 rpms, I'd have to use F speeds similar to 
watching the paints we had 75 years ago dry.  No profit, other than the entry 
on the resume in taking 1 to 4 hours for each side of a board that's half a 
postage stamp in size IMO.  And at my age, I'd do it just for the grins if 
the code conversions were 1/1, that is a much larger problem than the extreme 
prices for the bits I believe.

>If the board's designer can take a screen-shot from express-pcb (perhaps
>one on each layer), you can import the screen-shot as a background to
>trace over in PCB.

That I can do with screen captures and gimp to trim to size from the running 
wine version.

>(Just a note.. the PCB+GL branch _can not_ render background images).
>
>Best wishes,
>
>Peter C.
>
>
>
>
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Cheers, Gene
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