??Electronic Circuit Simulator??

[Michael Hall]

Can anyone give me a decent freeware electronic circuit simulator? I have a few plans and am wanting to simulate them on the computer to see what happens!! :)

[Michael Hall]

I would like the URL if possible! Cheers :-)

[jeffs555]

I like MicroCap, it is easy to use. It is a rather expensive commercial program, but they have a downloadable demo that will simulate circuits with up to 50 components. http://www.spectrum-soft.com/index.shtm You might ask in the DIY electronics forum, someone may have other suggestions. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=199

Jeff

[jeffs555]

Here is another one that also looks good, and is free. It is called SwitcherCad but is a spice simulator that will do general analog simulation. http://www.linear-tech.com/software/

Jeff

PS There is a yahoo discussion forum for this simulator. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LTspice/

[Michael Hall]

Thanks very much, i will be downloading them for a go!

cheers

[Norm Tripp]

PSpice is by far the most widely used circuit simulator for home/amateur use, and is still actively used and supported in many university programs as a teaching aid. PSpice is a PC version of the original SPICE simulator created at Berkley under UNIX.

It's popularity is based on a "demo" version which was made available from its creator, MicroSim Corp, years ago. The demo has more than enough capability for any home use. I use version 7.1 which seems to be the best suited for home use and runs OK under Windows.

MicroSim was acquired many years ago, and the new parent corp (Mentor?)no longer distributes the free software, but you can still find university sources on the web. Google "PSPICE V7.1" and you'll get lots of info.

There's a pretty big learning curve to use the software, but it's well worth the investment in time for an active hobbyist. You can simulate dozens of circuit ideas in a couple of pleasant hours after dinner.

There are several circuit design textbooks which are essentially step-by-step tutorials for using the software and are highly recommended. I own severl of them and I'll post the title/author of the best of them tomorrow if I remember. The textbooks are available used cheap from amazon.com

[Bob Baker]

I have been using SIMetrix (Intro version 2.5; Newbury Tech Inc) and find it to be very easy to use and has few limitations. Later versions I tried had more limitations, and I found them to be unusable. I don't know where you'd find the earlier version at this time.

[mmormota]

SwCadIII from Linear is free, unlimited, and really good. Easy to learn, fast, lot of functions.

[Michael Hall]

Thanks guys you have all beena great help! Now the big learning curve has started, doubt it will ever end though as with most things :-)!!