A question about PROTEL DXP

[wjx197733]

Hi all, I am a fresh man in designing circuit. Who use PROTEL DXP to design circuit?
I want to know how to place testpoint in schemetic?

 

[Syukri]

U can go to Protel DXP web site and read the manual of using PRotel DXP there.

I've used Protel 99SE, I added the test poin when I'm drawing the schematic if I'm not mistaken

 

[House_Cat]

You should use the search feature here for your questions - many times the question has been asked and answered before.

I answered the same question a few weeks ago here:

There is a detailed Knowledge Base note available at:
**broken link removed**

 

[sky123]

Hi,

By the way, if you are new to Protel DXP, you may want to use a different package.
I designed a 4-layer board with DXP, and it is a very good package, but it takes forever to use, it is so slow to create new parts, etc.
But this is because it has so many features I guess.

For rapid design, use Cadsoft Eagle, because it is so quick to generate your own
parts symbols, and get your board designed quickly. I personally think I can work 2-3 times faster with Eagle.

 

[ds18s20]

Re: A question about P*otel DXP

By the way, if you are new to P*otel DXP, you may want to use a different package. I designed a 4-layer board with DXP, and it is a very good package, but it takes forever to use, it is so slow to create new parts, etc.
But this is because it has so many features I guess.

For rapid design, use Cadsoft Eagle, because it is so quick to generate your own
parts symbols, and get your board designed quickly. I personally think I can work 2-3 times faster with Eagle.

Hey Ski123,

What built was your DXP (mine is 8.0.xxxx so no SPs)? In other words did you have any service packs installed?

If you know the answer to #1 then may be you can shed some light about the difference in service packs - what does one gain by installing those service packs - up to this date the latest is 4 I believe

Is it all about fixing bugs or Altium adds extra feature to Protel 2004 by installing all those service packs?

Thanks
~B

 

[House_Cat]

Each service pack to DXP2004 both adds new features and fixes bugs.

To have the most stable and reliable version of DXP, you should have all four service packs installed. Between the original version of DXP and SP-4, several hundred new features and improvements were made.

 

[ds18s20]

Re: A question about P*otel DXP

Each service pack to DXP2004 both adds new features and fixes bugs.

To have the most stable and reliable version of DXP, you should have all four service packs installed. Between the original version of DXP and SP-4, several hundred new features and improvements were made.

House_Cat,

Cool and thanks. Are the SPs cummulative meaning can I just install SP4 on top of original DXP media or do I have to do SP2, then SP3 and only then SP4?

Thanks
~B

 

[House_Cat]

If you are starting with the basic release, you will need to install SP2 (SP2 is cumulative and contains SP1), SP3, and SP4. SP3 must be installed before updating to SP4, and SP2 needs to be installed before updating to SP3.

Starting with SP2, the key encryption was increased from 64 to 128 bytes. A license generated to work with DXP, and DXP with SP1, will not work with SP2 and above. You need a new license for SP2 or above.

 

[sky123]

A question about P*otel DXP

I don't have any service pack installed (it is 8.0....), and it has been quite stable. I just find the design process so slow. For simpler boards, Eagle is so much faster to work with, I can create new component symbols and pads so much quicker.
And the Eagle autorouter always works well for my 2-layer boards.
By the way for my 4-layer board, I found the DXP autorouter awful. I used Specctra for the autorouting instead. This may be because I do not have much experience with DXP, maybe others have had better results.