Orcad 16.6 Tutorial =link=

Getting Started with OrCAD 16.6: A Complete PCB Design Guide

OrCAD 16.6 remains a staple in the electronics industry for PCB design, known for its powerful schematic capture and robust simulation capabilities. This guide walks you through the essential stages of the design flow—from starting a project to generating manufacturing files. 1. Creating a New Project Everything starts in OrCAD Capture. To begin a design: Launch OrCAD Capture and select File > New > Project.

Choose Project Type: Select "PC Board Wizard" if you plan to create a layout, or "Analog or Mixed A/D" for PSpice simulations.

Organize Your Folders: It is best practice to create separate sub-folders for your schematics, libraries, and outputs within your main project directory to keep your data manageable. 2. Schematic Capture Basics The schematic is the "blueprint" of your circuit.

Placing Parts: Use the Place > Part command (or the 'P' shortcut). If a part isn't in the default libraries, you can create a custom symbol or download them from sites like Mouser using tools like the Samacsys Library Loader.

Wiring: Use the Place > Wire tool to connect pins. Ensure your nets have logical names (e.g., VCC, GND) for easier layout routing.

Annotation: Use the Tools > Annotate command to automatically assign unique reference designators (like R1, C1) to all components. 3. Footprint Creation and Assignment

Before moving to layout, every schematic part needs a physical "footprint."

Using Footprint Wizards: In OrCAD PCB Editor, you can use the Package Symbol Wizard to quickly generate footprints for standard parts like headers or ICs by entering dimensions from a datasheet.

Pad Designer: For unique parts, use the Pad Designer to define specific drill sizes, copper pad shapes (circular or square), and solder masks.

Linking to Capture: In the schematic, right-click a part, select Edit Properties, and enter the exact name of your footprint in the "PCB Footprint" field. 4. PCB Layout and Routing

Once upon a time, in a small lab filled with the hum of old monitors, an engineer named Alex faced a daunting task: designing a 5V power supply from scratch using OrCAD 16.6. Chapter 1: The Blueprint orcad 16.6 tutorial

Alex began in OrCAD Capture CIS, selecting File > New > Project to create a fresh workspace named "Power_Supply". He chose the PSpice Analog or Mixed A/D option, knowing that simulation was the only way to avoid "the magic smoke" later.

Setting the Stage: He navigated to the Libraries and started placing components—a linear regulator, some capacitors, and a simple connector.

The Connection: With a few clicks of the Wire tool, he linked the pins, carefully naming the nets to keep the layout organized. Chapter 2: The Physical Form

With the schematic complete, Alex had to give his virtual parts a physical body. He opened the PCB Editor to build a custom footprint for his connector.

The Pad Designer: He used the Pad Designer to create a circular pad with a 0.039-inch drill hole, ensuring it had enough copper for a solid solder joint.

The Footprint Wizard: Using the Package Symbol Wizard, he defined a 9-pin header with a 0.1-inch lead pitch, setting Pin 1 as a square pad for easy identification.

The Silk Screen: He added a neat rectangular outline on the Silkscreen Top layer so he’d know exactly where the part sat on the board. Chapter 3: Bringing it to Life

After mapping his footprints back to the schematic symbols, Alex generated a Netlist and moved into Allegro PCB Designer. He laid out the board, carefully routing traces to handle the current.

Introduction

OrCAD 16.6 is a powerful software tool used for designing and simulating electronic circuits. It is widely used in the field of electronics engineering for creating schematic diagrams, simulating circuit behavior, and laying out printed circuit boards (PCBs). In this tutorial, we will guide you through the basics of OrCAD 16.6 and provide a step-by-step approach to get you started with using this software.

Installation and Launching OrCAD 16.6

Before we begin, ensure that you have OrCAD 16.6 installed on your computer. If you haven't installed it yet, you can download the software from the Cadence website and follow the installation instructions.

Once installed, launch OrCAD 16.6 by double-clicking on the icon or by searching for it in the Start menu (on Windows). The software will launch, and you will see a welcome screen with various options to create a new project or open an existing one.

Creating a New Project

To create a new project, follow these steps:

  1. Launch OrCAD 16.6 and click on "File" > "New" > "Project".
  2. In the "New Project" dialog box, select "OrCAD Project" and click "OK".
  3. Choose a project name, select a project location, and click "OK".

OrCAD 16.6 Interface

The OrCAD 16.6 interface is divided into several sections:

  1. Menu Bar: Located at the top of the screen, the menu bar provides access to various menus, such as File, Edit, and Help.
  2. Toolbar: Below the menu bar, the toolbar provides quick access to frequently used commands, such as New, Open, and Save.
  3. Workspace: The workspace is the main area where you will create and edit your schematic diagrams and PCB layouts.
  4. Navigator: The navigator pane is located on the left side of the screen and provides a tree-like view of your project.

Creating a Schematic Diagram

To create a schematic diagram, follow these steps:

  1. In the navigator pane, right-click on "Schematic" and select "New Schematic".
  2. In the "New Schematic" dialog box, select a template and click "OK".
  3. The schematic diagram will be created, and you can start adding components and connecting them.

Adding Components

To add components to your schematic diagram, follow these steps:

  1. Click on the "Component" button in the toolbar or press "Ctrl + C".
  2. In the "Component Browser" dialog box, search for the component you want to add.
  3. Select the component and click "OK".
  4. The component will be added to your schematic diagram.

Connecting Components

To connect components, follow these steps:

  1. Click on the "Wire" button in the toolbar or press "Ctrl + W".
  2. Click on the first component and then click on the second component to connect them.
  3. The components will be connected with a wire.

Simulating the Circuit

To simulate the circuit, follow these steps:

  1. Click on the " Simulate" button in the toolbar or press "F5".
  2. In the "Simulation Settings" dialog box, select the simulation type and click "OK".
  3. The simulation will run, and you can view the results in the " Waveform" window.

Designing a PCB Layout

To design a PCB layout, follow these steps:

  1. In the navigator pane, right-click on "PCB" and select "New PCB".
  2. In the "New PCB" dialog box, select a template and click "OK".
  3. The PCB layout will be created, and you can start adding components and routing traces.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have covered the basics of OrCAD 16.6 and provided a step-by-step approach to get you started with using this software. We hope that this tutorial has been helpful in understanding the features and capabilities of OrCAD 16.6. With practice and experience, you can master the skills of designing and simulating electronic circuits using OrCAD 16.6.

Additional Resources

For more information and advanced tutorials, you can refer to the following resources:

We hope that you have enjoyed this tutorial and will continue to learn and explore the features of OrCAD 16.6.

This covers the essential steps from schematic capture to PCB layout. Getting Started with OrCAD 16

3.7 Design Rule Check (DRC)

1. Getting Started

Step 4.2: Generating NC Drill Data

  1. Manufacture > NC > Drill Legend – generates a drill table.
  2. Manufacture > NC > NC Parameters – set format to 2:4 (leading zeros).
  3. Manufacture > NC > NC Drill – generates the .DRL file.
  4. Check Output drill hole symbols and Generate tool report.

Step 2.4: Power and Ground

References

  1. Cadence Design Systems. (2014). OrCAD PCB Designer User Guide: Product Version 16.6. Cadence Technical Publications.
  2. Mitzner, K. (2011). Complete PCB Design Using OrCAD Capture and PCB Editor. Newnes.
  3. Cadence Support. (2020). Troubleshooting Netlist Import Errors in Allegro/OrCAD. Answer ID 11778866.

Appendix A: Keyboard Shortcuts (OrCAD 16.6)

Step 1 – Prepare schematic for layout