🚀 go-pugleaf

[My apologies: I sent a previous version of this note with the
 wrong program names below.  Ignore this comment if my Cancel-article
 got to your site in time.] 

I've been interested in the recent discussion of PC board layout
programs.  I grabbed Pads PCB demo program and the and Protel Windows
demo.  Like others, I failed to get Pads to install (one attempt
handily overwrote my CMOS.  Cute, guys).  Protel loaded and seems very
interesting.

HOWEVER, I'm in the business of trying to figure out reasonable layouts
for prototype boards (one-off constructions on perfboard, not PC
boards).  For that, the assumptions of a PC board program aren't quite
right:  I want wiring on one side only (the underside), I can tolerate
some crossovers, but I want to minimize the number of them, and
maximize the simplicity of the wiring that needs to be done.  I want a
program that will help me position the components reasonably, within
those constraints.  Of course, I need to be able to "lock" some
components/connectors and allow the others to float.

Any suggestions for (a) programs that do this; or (b) parameters to
tweak in Protel (or some such) to achieve this?

Many thanks.

-Dean
--
Dean Pentcheff  (Internet: dean2@tbone.biol.scarolina.edu) (803) 777-8998
Department of Biology, University of South Carolina, Columbia SC 29205