Re: MicroSim's PSpice Student vs. SiMetrix Intro

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Original poster: "Paul Benham by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <paulb-at-woodanddouglas.co.uk>

I have also started playing with SImetrix, and being no computer expert, I
have still managed to simulate a few things very quickly.  Definitely worth
evaluating in my book.

Cheers,

Paul.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2002 7:50 PM
Subject: MicroSim's PSpice Student vs. SiMetrix Intro


> Original poster: "K. C. Herrick by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <kchdlh-at-juno-dot-com>
>
> Recently I downloaded PSpice Student v. 9.1--all 28 MB of it--and after
> making a few attempts at it have regretfully concluded it is a prime
> example of what we Americans of a certain age would refer to as a kludge.
>  I threw up my hands and looked elsewhere.  Either you can't teach this
> old dog new tricks or it really is a kludge.
>
> What I found was SiMetrix Intro, a free version, at
> http://www.newburytech.co.uk and a miserly 6 MB or so to download.
> Perhaps this has already been mentioned on the List but if so, I'll
> repeat it.  I can't quite believe the difference in user-friendliness and
> ease of understanding as compared to the MicroSim product.  I can't wait
> to get into it further--and wish I had had it available years ago.
>
> It's all one program:  You draw your schematic in a window, including
> signal sources and utilizing handy component-type buttons (R's, C's, L's,
> wires, signal sources, etc.).  You edit component and signal values with
> no more than a few mouse-clicks.  You then click on Simulator|Choose
> Analysis & set the stimulus parameters (pulse-once, pulse-continuous, ac,
> dc, step, frequency-sweep, etc.).  You then click on Simulator|Run
> and...Whammo!: all the voltage and current waveforms at all the circuit
> nodes are instantly calculated and put onto your HD.
>
> So next, you can click on Probe and then select from a great long
> drop-down list of types of measurements to be plotted.  Click on one of
> them (say, voltage or current) and you get a little "probe" pointer
> on-screen.  Move that to where you want to "probe", click again
> and...Whammo!: a pop-up graph appears with the appropriate waveform that
> exists at that location in the circuit!  Then you can add, delete or
> change a component, Run again, and plot again--on the same graph, thus
> giving a comparison of before & after.  And you can do that any number of
> times, building up a set of waveforms--differently colored and you can
> hide them or delete them among other options.
>
> The Help manual is very straightforward and thorough and is a pleasure to
> read.  As to help, you even get a little pop-up window in the corner of
> the screen that will tell you what error you've just made and recommend
> what to do about it.
>
> This program is outstanding.  I've hardly begun to describe all its
> features.  Maybe the MicroSim products incorporate all that I've
> described; I don't know because I was so put off by the unfriendly GUI
> and the wholly impenetrable Help manual.
>
> Check into this!
>
> Ken Herrick
>
>