ampage archive

Vintage threads from the first ten years

PCB Design for tube amps

 

6/23/2003 2:40 AM

Leo

PCB Design for tube amps I'm interested in building a pcb based tube amp but I cant find any pcb design program that comes with vacuum tube models. So far I have downloaded several programs (circuit maker, protel, pcb123) and they include vacuum tube models, but only for the schematics, not the pcb design. I have searched all over the place and havent found any libraries either. Am I stuck with designing the physical layout myself? Any help is appreciated.

 

6/23/2003 4:31 AM
Todd Hepler	Hi Leo     Duncan has a few tube spice models @   http://www.duncanamps.com/spice.html     HTH!     -Todd

 

6/23/2003 7:40 AM

Chris B

Hey Leo,     I just had an idea here. You might try modeling your tube design in circuitmaker and use terminals (i.e., use a terminal labeled "A" to connect to the plate, "B" for cathode, etc.). I haven't tried this myself, but I'm assuming that the trouble is that circuitmaker can't draw a tube socket pinout on it's PCB designer. If you use terminals and just run wires from solder pads on the PCB to chassis mounted sockets, CM doesn't have to draw the tube sockets on the board.     Hope this helps,     Chris B

 

6/23/2003 2:23 PM

Leo

My intention is putting the sockets right on the board. I finally found a program called Eagle and downloaded a tube library for it. Its a very easy to use program and I recommend it to anyone interested in designing their own pcb with built in sockets. You can download it at http://www.cadsoft.de/ You have to download the tube library separatedly at ftp://ftp.cadsoft.de/pub/userfiles/libraries/tubes.zip     Just put it inside your eagle directory and add it on the menu.

 

6/23/2003 3:06 PM
jeremy-Scinnimim Amplfiers	the only problem w eagle, is thye limit the board size to 3 x 3 inch or so. would have to pay for the full program to get a larger panel.   protel should be able to do what you want, but it costs 8K. only bad thing.     jeremy

 

6/24/2003 2:07 PM

steve conner

A good free PCB software I tried a while back is Protel EasyTrax. It's Dos only but can be run under Windows 9x.     http://www.beta-layout.com/download/easytrax.zip     There are some new video drivers at this site that goto 1600x1200     http://www.airborn.com.au/layout/easytrax.html     Note: It has no schematic capture, you draw the tracks directly. For simple boards like tube amps this should be no problem.     To print, you have to have a HP Laserjet or Postscript compatible printer. If you're smart, you can use a Postscript utility like Ghostview to make it print on any printer (worked for me)     Steve C.

 

6/27/2003 3:02 AM
Leo	Bump

 

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