Hi,

Been out of the electronics world for a bit, but I've got a project that I would like to design/simulate.

What is the industry standard simulation program. I downloaded LTspice because a lot of people suggested it but, it seems outdated, tiny library and not much official support. It's a free program so I'm not expecting much.

Is there an industry standard program? How much is it?

Also something that can be ported over for PCB design would be good.

If I can answer anything to narrow down the selection please let me know and thanks for your time

Jon

 

It depends greatly on what you want to simulate and your budget. There are numerous good simulation programs that are part of the PCB design layout environment but they generally are beyond the reach of a hobbyist. What is your interest?

 

Interest right now is a bit of analog simulation, I used pspice back in the day but I really want something that is actively supported. I started with LTspice, but the parts seemed very limited (is that just me?)

For example I want to design a current limiting circuit that is going to be used in a possibly unstable voltage range, that sort of stuff.



I figure there must be major player with some well put together library.
Lets say $1000 buget.
Anyone know what cadence is worth?

Of the free ones is the LTspice the goto? What about TI's spice simulator?

Thanks

 

Ltspice should be adequate for the design of a current limiting circuit. It's commonly used by members of these electronic forums. What models are you looking for?

TI's Tina spice simulator is fine but you should check on its model library to see if it meets your needs. Tina sells a version that likely has more models.

Pspice and Electronic Workbench (part of National Instruments Multisim) are both widely used Spice simulators with a large model library but I don't know if they fit in your price range. A less well-known simulator well within your price range is Topspice which appears to have a large model library also.

 

A less well-known simulator well within your price range is Topspice which appears to have a large model library also.

Yes - I can support this statement. TOPSPICE is a nice simulator and esay to handle (much simpler than LTSpice - for my opinion).