Rich sent it, and here is what I got.
Worked smooth as silk with updated adobee, and window-eyes 5.0.
Was able to cut and paste the text as well.
SHORT TAKES
Steve Ford, WB8IMYQST [log in to unmask]
By Don Coltrane, KJ4UC
1739 Cumberland Trace
Acworth, GA 30102
[log in to unmask]
I have no formal training in electronics, but I love home-
brewing. I’ve always wanted to try a program that allowed me
to model electronic circuits on the computer, both to see if my
design worked, and to see what does not work. All the pro-
grams I have tried in the past were either too complex, or didn’t
live up to my expectations. I recently downloaded a program
called CircuitMaker Student Version that was mentioned in
“The Doctor Is IN” (QST, January 2004, page 53) and I have
fallen in love with it. This is a small program for the Windows
operating system (only 3.24 MB), so even with a dial-up con-
nection it is no problem to download.
Drawing It Out
When I installed CircuitMaker on my computer, I was
amazed at how easy it was to learn. You can begin building
and testing your own “virtual” circuits within minutes.
When you click on the PARTS icon in the toolbar, a drop-
down menu appears showing the parts that are available. If
you want to put a transistor in the design area, click on the
PARTS icon, select MAJOR DEVICE CLASS and scroll down
to transistors. The MINOR DEVICE CLASS box then displays
your choices. Everything from Darlingtons to enhancement-
mode MOSFETs is available. Click on BJT, for example, and
you’ll see a list of 50 different transistors to choose from. If
you double click on a 2N3904, you will be taken back to the
design area. One more click at this point will place the tran-
sistor in the design.
Other parts can be placed in similar fashion. You can then
drag the parts into position with your mouse. By right click-
ing the parts, other parameters can be changed such as the
orientation or the component value. An option to duplicate
the part is also available, which saves a few steps when put-
ting multiple parts of the same type in a circuit.
All of the parts in the design area can be interconnected
simply by clicking on the + icon and moving the cursor over
the lead of the part you want to wire. When you do, a red box
will appear. Click the box and, as you move the mouse, a blue
line will trail behind. Think of this blue line as a “wire.” As
you reach another component lead, another red box will ap-
pear. Just click again and the parts will be instantly connected
between those two points. If you make a mistake before click-
ing the second time, press the ESC (escape) key and the op-
eration is aborted. (Another way to erase is by clicking on the
DELETE TOOL. The cursor then becomes a lightning bolt.
Touch the tip of the lightning bolt to the part or wire you want
to remove and it will vanish with a single mouse click.)
Modeling
Now comes the fun part. Let’s say that you’ve completed a
circuit for your project, or copied a circuit from QST, and you
want to see how it works. No need to buy test equipment be-
cause CircuitMaker will take the measurements for you.
With the circuit displayed on screen, click on the RUN icon
and multimeter will open. With the multimeter (PROBE tool),
you can check voltage, current and power at any point. You
can check waveforms with the CircuitMaker oscilloscope by
making it active and then holding down the shift key and, for
example, clicking the base and the collector of an amplifier
circuit. You can see amplification taking place right before
your eyes.
The Verdict
CircuitMaker is a boon to experimenters. You can use it to
design, test and learn about the circuits you have been seeing
in books and magazines for years. Don’t be afraid to try new
things. You can design a circuit on a whim, then change com-
ponents and see what happens. This is all part of the learning
process, and the more you use CircuitMaker the more you
learn.
The student version is free, but it has limitations. The help
section in particular is truncated. The student version is also
limited to a maximum of 50 devices per design (any type) and
the device library is limited to 1000 models. The symbol edi-
tor and macro features are disabled as well. Despite these limi-
tations, CircuitMaker Student Version has more than enough
power to keep you building—and dreaming.
Manufacturer: Altium Limited, 12A Rodborough Rd,
Frenchs Forest NSW 2086, Australia. Download from the Web
at www.circuitmaker.com/. System requirements: Windows
98/NT/2000/XP with a Pentium-class PC with 32 MB of RAM
and 40 MB of hard disk space.
CircuitMaker Student Version
June, 2004
Product Reviews:
TS-480SAT and TS-480HX HF + 50 MHz Transceivers
Short Takes:
CircuitMaker Student Version