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Tim Olson
Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 2872
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 Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 10:04 am Post subject: CAD Software Pirep |
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Hey all,
I have no tie to this group or product...but it's something I ran across
while looking to do my panel layout and I'll use it for
migrating my RV-10 electrical layout to my RV-14 plan also. I
figured it's worth telling you all about since CAD is a topic that
comes up here often.
I found and used an app call QCad. http://www.qcad.org/en/
It's an open source CAD app that works on Windows, Mac, and Linux.
I myself use it on both Linux and Windows and have found it
basically flawless.
I'm a big fan of open source. It's nice to be able to try
products and pay where and when you get a benefit. QCad is free to
download and use, but some of the "pro" features time out after
15 minutes I think. But you can still use them for the first
few minutes every time you start the app. I used it that way for
a couple days until I knew it was a good product. Then I purchased
the "pro" version. The website sells it in euros, but at the
top of the screen you can change to other currency and the current
price is $38.74 in USD. For CAD software, that's a bargain, so
I gladly paid it.
Being open source they also have a community forum and when I had
a question, I tried the forum and was shocked that I got an
answer almost right away. So it's nice to have free support as well.
At any rate, I just thought it would be something that may help
some of you, so I wanted to pass it along.
To show my ignorance, there is something I haven't yet figured out.
This is a "2D" CAD program. Everything I've done has been 1 layer
so far. But, I have opened CAD drawings in the app that were drawn
in "3D". So I'm not sure how you define software as 2D or 3D...
Years ago I used CAD software in school and could project lines
in a Z axis. I at least *think* you can do that in this app.
(I haven't tried) But it at least appears you can work in 3D.
I don't know if you can change perspectives though. So perhaps
3D just means you can rotate and move objects around? It's definitely
not solid modeling CAD software though.
But, it does seem perfect for panel layouts and electrical plans.
Tim
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glastar(at)gmx.net
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| Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 11:39 am Post subject: CAD Software Pirep |
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Good Pirep for that program need to look into it once, open source rocks
definitively 
Having worked close to 10 years in 2D/3D modellers its not about 2 or 3
axis. A 3D program does
work with solid bodies and can calculate intersection and curves out of
these 3D volume bodies
so that is much more complex and needs a lot of calculating power You
can export from a 3D
modeller the bodies but then the description is no longer in terms of
bodies instead lines and points.
Thanks Tim
Cheers Werner
On 23.02.2015 19:03, Tim Olson wrote:
| Quote: |
Hey all,
..............
I found and used an app call QCad. http://www.qcad.org/en/
It's an open source CAD app that works on Windows, Mac, and Linux.
I myself use it on both Linux and Windows and have found it
basically flawless.
...........
To show my ignorance, there is something I haven't yet figured out.
This is a "2D" CAD program. Everything I've done has been 1 layer
so far. But, I have opened CAD drawings in the app that were drawn
in "3D". So I'm not sure how you define software as 2D or 3D...
|
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nuckolls.bob(at)aeroelect
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 1:45 pm Post subject: CAD Software Pirep |
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At 12:03 2015-02-23, you wrote:
--> AeroElectric-List message posted by: Tim Olson <Tim(at)myrv10.com>
Hey all,
I have no tie to this group or product...but it's something I ran across while looking to do my panel layout and I'll use it for
migrating my RV-10 electrical layout to my RV-14 plan also. I
figured it's worth telling you all about since CAD is a topic that
comes up here often.
I found and used an app call QCad. http://www.qcad.org/en/
It's an open source CAD app that works on Windows, Mac, and Linux.
I myself use it on both Linux and Windows and have found it
basically flawless.
I'm a big fan of open source. It's nice to be able to try
products and pay where and when you get a benefit. QCad is free to
download and use, but some of the "pro" features time out after
15 minutes I think. But you can still use them for the first
few minutes every time you start the app. I used it that way for
a couple days until I knew it was a good product. Then I purchased
the "pro" version. The website sells it in euros, but at the
top of the screen you can change to other currency and the current
price is $38.74 in USD. For CAD software, that's a bargain, so
I gladly paid it.
I looked over the features at
http://tinyurl.com/pljydv8
. . . note that features in italic are Pro version only. If you want to suck in any of the .dwg files from my website, you'll want the Pro version.
To show my ignorance, there is something I haven't yet figured out.
This is a "2D" CAD program. Everything I've done has been 1 layer
so far. But, I have opened CAD drawings in the app that were drawn
in "3D". So I'm not sure how you define software as 2D or 3D...
The term 'layers' in the context of CAD programs refers to the assignment of elements to "layers" which may be visualized as pages stacked on top of each other . . . totally transparent except for what drawing elements are on them. You can turn layers on/off at will . . . elements on off layers disappear and cannot be edited until you turn the layer back on.
Years ago I used CAD software in school and could project lines
in a Z axis. I at least *think* you can do that in this app.
(I haven't tried) But it at least appears you can work in 3D.
I don't know if you can change perspectives though. So perhaps
3D just means you can rotate and move objects around?
The closest this program comes to 3D is the isometric drawing mode which is a quasi 3D . . . used extensively in catalog drawings and exploded view assembly drawings. A process that is easy to learn and quite useful. The 'solid' drawings in the 'Connection are isometrics I did in AutoCAD . . .
[img]cid:.0[/img][/b]
It's definitely not solid modeling CAD software though.
Correct. While it supports layers, it's a 2D program.
But, it does seem perfect for panel layouts and electrical plans.
Agreed
There's another free program called NanoCAD
http://tinyurl.com/pqw35rw
Very powerful clone of AutoCAD. If you're already familiar with driving autocad, the transition into nanocad is smooth and painless.
Bob . . .
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Eric M. Jones
Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 565
Location: Massachusetts
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| Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 4:23 pm Post subject: Re: CAD Software Pirep |
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(partial repost) "It's the stingy guy who pays the most" --Click and Clack
Trying to get the cheapest (or free) software is unlikely to save anything.
Ebay has full boxes of recent versions of TurboCAD or DesignCAD with manuals and disks and support and users forums AND FREE SHIPPING for $10. Grab one.
I used to work at a company with a horribly expensive CAD program (Cadra)...$3K/SEAT++++. And if you wanted, let's say, a font, oh that's $$$$ more per SEAT. And they held tutorials for $$$$. Cheeze.... Telling them they were crazy never made me popular.
I was always converting files and doing special jobs using DesignCAD. Furthermore tiny little DesignCAD had a tiny button marked 3D...and that big CAD program could only dream about having a 3D capability. Now of course Cadra has vanished.
TurboCAD is similar and better in some areas. Some users do some things in DesignCAD and other things in TurboCAD on the same drawing. Amazing.
DesignCad is a true 2d/3d program see attached solid model of my switch guard. But you can buy copies of Solidworks on Ebay for cheap. It in in some ways more up-to-date.
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_________________
Eric M. Jones
www.PerihelionDesign.com
113 Brentwood Drive
Southbridge, MA 01550
(508) 764-2072
emjones(at)charter.net |
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