freestompboxes.org

I've tried out LT spice a couple of times. It seems ok for signal tracing, but I'm more interesting in simulating frequency response of a circuit. If there are variables (like potentiometers) in the circuit it's a pain to set up correctly, and I don't think I've ever seen a result that looked correct when graphed (probably user error) The shortcut keys are also really annoying. Come on, control Z should always be undo.

Any suggestions for something a bit more user friendly that is either free or affordable? I don't need anything super powerful.
I downloaded the TINA demo, which looks promising (uses shortcut keys that make sense) but the full version is $480.

I use QUCS running under Ubuntu. As with most things Linux the user manual is 'make it up as you go' but once you download a few examples and see how other people have done things it starts to get a lot easier. It is free.

My trouble is I only use it every few months and I have forgotten most of it each time (it's an age thing).

QUCS - Quite Universal Circuit Simulator.

cool, i'll check it out. I have ubuntu on my laptop but rarely boot in to it.

I have the same problem with LTspice. I rarely use it and when i do I have to re-learn everything. It doesn't help that it makes everything super tedious.

Hi Brian,

Try Circuitmaker (student version is free but only does 50 components)

http://my.ece.ucsb.edu/bobsclass/2C/Sim ... _maker.htm

I messed around with a few programs but kept coming back to Cmaker because it did the basic stuff so easy.

A couple of fiddly presets have to be made to do the freq plots you mentioned but still a lot easier to work with than some of the high end stuff.
Oh you can sim Valves Also.
Phil.

phatt wrote:Hi Brian,

Try Circuitmaker (student version is free but only does 50 components)

http://my.ece.ucsb.edu/bobsclass/2C/Sim ... _maker.htm

I messed around with a few programs but kept coming back to Cmaker because it did the basic stuff so easy.

A couple of fiddly presets have to be made to do the freq plots you mentioned but still a lot easier to work with than some of the high end stuff.
Oh you can sim Valves Also.
Phil.

Cool... I'll check this one out too. 50 components would probably be fine, because I never try to spice whole circuits. Usually parts of them to see if they work correctly, or to find out why it's not working. I did the math on this tone control I'm working on, and it doesn't really sound like I expected it to.

Thanks

Brian M wrote:I'm more interesting in simulating frequency response of a circuit. If there are variables (like potentiometers) in the circuit it's a pain to set up correctly, and I don't think I've ever seen a result that looked correct when graphed (probably user error).

The variant 5Spice works great for this. There is also a free version you could test drive. http://www.5spice.com/

In my circuits class (I'm studying to be an electrical engineer), we used PSpice. It has frequency sweep capabilities.