Gary0747 Posted September 3, 2020 Report Share Posted September 3, 2020 I am wanting to clean up and consolidate several hand drawn bits of paper for my Avionics and Electrical systems. Is there a simple to use program or APP out there that is inexpensive and does not require a bunch of training? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Posted September 5, 2020 Report Share Posted September 5, 2020 (edited) AutoCAD LT is fairly inexpensive and straighforward, but nothing will cost less than Google Sketchup . . . . It's also fairly easy, but is made for 3D stuff rather than 2D drawings. If your handwriting is legible, I can be bribed. As a mechanical engineer, I came through school the hard way with triangles, dividers and a pile of pencils but made the leap to CAD in the 90s and was dragged kicking and screaming over to AutoCAD v. 2.0 . . . . Now it's much simpler Edited September 5, 2020 by Hank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kortopates Posted September 5, 2020 Report Share Posted September 5, 2020 Are you an EAA member? Free Solidworks CAD program if you are.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLCarter Posted September 5, 2020 Report Share Posted September 5, 2020 3 hours ago, Hank said: As a mechanical engineer, I came through school the hard way with triangles, dividers and a pile of pencils but made the leap to CAD in the 90s and was dragged kicking and screaming over to AutoCAD v. 2.0 . . . . Now it's much simpler I installed AutoCad on my computer some 20 years ago, then spent a week trying to draw a straight line with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLCarter Posted September 5, 2020 Report Share Posted September 5, 2020 On September 3, 2020 at 10:36 AM, Gary0747 said: I am wanting to clean up and consolidate several hand drawn bits of paper for my Avionics and Electrical systems. Is there a simple to use program or APP out there that is inexpensive and does not require a bunch of training? If Hank doesn't want to mess with it I'll take a look at it, I've done several for local RV's being built. Most were done from photos of the drawings, even got handed a torn cardboard box flap with a schematic on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriscalandro Posted September 13, 2020 Report Share Posted September 13, 2020 Eagle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Posted September 13, 2020 Report Share Posted September 13, 2020 On 9/3/2020 at 10:36 AM, Gary0747 said: I am wanting to clean up and consolidate several hand drawn bits of paper for my Avionics and Electrical systems. Is there a simple to use program or APP out there that is inexpensive and does not require a bunch of training? Any progress? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary0747 Posted September 18, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2020 No progress Yet. I was hoping to find something simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry 5TJ Posted September 18, 2020 Report Share Posted September 18, 2020 How about trying the Express PCB schematic tool — Express PCB Their “classic” package includes a very simple schematic drafting CAD tool. Free. Runs under Windows. About as simple to use as a Ticonderoga #2. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob865 Posted September 18, 2020 Report Share Posted September 18, 2020 For basic stuff Visio works pretty well....if you have a copy. I have a copy on my work PC and after a little trial and error it's pretty easy to use. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricJ Posted September 18, 2020 Report Share Posted September 18, 2020 38 minutes ago, bob865 said: For basic stuff Visio works pretty well....if you have a copy. I have a copy on my work PC and after a little trial and error it's pretty easy to use. I was just gonna say, rather than climb the learning curve of a CAD program like Eagleware or ExpresPCB, something general and simple like Visio does an excellent job for connecting blocks in diagrams and labelling things. If you don't need it to generate a netlist or a BoM or something, there's no need to use a CAD program. Even as an EE for several decades, I much prefer Visio for this sort of thing, i.e., block diagrams, etc. If you don't have it as part of an MS Office installation I think there's a way to d/l it for free, but I'm not positive about that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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