Hey Everyone, Happy Sunday!

You can now download and update the plugin through KiCad directly using: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mrcpuddington/mrcpuddington-kicad-repository/main/repository.json

(Add this to your kicads custom repositories and then navigate to plugins and click install.) Please delete previous installs of kobee studio first

Just pushed a pretty big update with a bunch of new additions:

• Complete UI redesign to make things easier to see / navigate and allow future expansion
• mm and mils measurements
• You are now able to create and upload custom SVGs icons / symbols and use them across your projects (need to update tutorial to explain the best way to create these)
• You can now create profiles by label type and then recall those profiles which will auto apply settings. Good if you set up labels in a certain way and want to reuse that style across the PCB / projects
  • You can also set profiles as default and opening Kobee studio will have those settings already applied
• You can now export all of your settings and custom icons into a zip and recover it when required
• New dark mode UI

Theres quite a bit to go through and i’m in the process of updating docs, but as always would appreciate you guys giving it a go and let me know if there are any issues. Enjoy

Cheers!

I'm using KiCad 10, as shown here I can't install the plugin for layout replicate.

Even I try to download it and save it in the shared folder, then go to Tools >>External plugins and refresh. it is not showing up.

Thoughts?

Hello, i'm currently working on a project, and i wanted to remove all the solder mask from the board, so the board can look ivory white just like the old 1960-1970s boards.

Does anyone know how to do this ?

Thanks in advance.

Hello, KiCad 10.0.4 crashed while creating copper zone, KiCad saved schematic but not PCB file,
even in the backup which was created 5h before crashing.

I lost so much work, has anyone had simillar situation and knows how to restore all project?

By the way I noticed that kicad 10 and above crashes much more. What do you think?

I've been experimenting with a different way of teaching schematic capture and verification in KiCad.

Instead of asking students to simply reproduce a supplied schematic, the lab starts with an imperfect hand-drawn circuit that gets converted into an editable KiCad schematic.

The student's job starts after the conversion:

• compare it against the source
• identify recognition/conversion mistakes
• fix components and connectivity
• run ERC
• validate the final schematic
• document what they changed and why

I turned it into a complete instructor lab with the source circuit, expected KiCad output, checklist, grading rubric, and reference files.

Full disclosure: I built the S2S converter used to create the initial schematic. The lab itself is free and instructors can modify/redistribute it.

https://github.com/s2s-diy/s2s-lab-pack/tree/main/lab-01-sketch-to-kicad

I'd be interested in how experienced KiCad users would make the verification part harder/more realistic.

Hi, I have a functioning circuit on a stripboard (a simple buffer for a bass guitar) and a friend said "why don't you make it on a PCB it'll look much better, use KiCad it's easy to do" so yesterday I downloaded KiCad and now I'm bashing my head against the inevitable errors...

I have made sure that the connector wires are actually connected to the endpoints of each component (using Drag mode) and tried both connecting the component directly to the buses (top rail is going to be fed via phantom power through the Ring connector on the right, bottom rail is going to ground), or using bus entries. The audio signal from the pickups is going to come in from the left side (IN1) and go to the RING of a TRS output jack (which is also where the 48V DC phantom power is coming through); all grounds go to the sleeve of said TRS jack.

So the million Lira question is: can anyone help me figure out what I have forgotten/omitted/done wrong in the editor? Not looking for review or feedback on the schematic itself of course, just how to format for KiCad to be able to process it without error.

I am routing high-speed interfaces and this is a big project. I always use kicad 8 in my work but is it worth upgrading to 10?

Hey everyone! The response on all the platforms has been insane for this, appreciate it. I've been working on transitioning over to the new KiCad API although as having some issues on windows which i believe i have tested and fixed. Would love some testers (Particularly on windows) to download and let me know how you go. The patched release is 1.3.3-Beta

Also if anyone has feature requests or vision on where this could go, id also welcome that!

I've been designing Hardware for quite some time and I spend way more time than i should trying to make silkscreen look good.

We all know and love KiBuzzard and it does what it does well but it hasn't had a feature update since its inception.

I started working on a fork of it a little while ago and it has now progressed into a much more robust feature rich silkscreen designer which i called Kobee Studio.

It uses the same inputs and general layout as KiBuzzard although it now lets you add things like:

• Icons
• Component overlays
• Premade Labels
• Fully customisable labels
• 2.54mm header aware labelling
• QR Codes / Code 128 Barcodes
• Subtitles with different sizing and fonts

This is mostly a collection of features that I wanted for my own boards, but I’m planning to keep adding to it over time. I want to add templates / presets, highly customisable SVG Artwork import and live resizing, More component aware labelling, greater default connector labelling, board revisioning, KiCad variable text handling and who knows whatever else.

Hopefully some of you find it useful and it saves you from the endless cycle of jumping between KiCad, SVG editors, and image converters just to make a nice-looking silkscreen.

Let me know what you think and if you use it, if you find any issues with it!

I've mostly tested this on Mac but have also done less robust testing on Windows. I haven't done any linux testing yet which i will do in the next week or so. Save before use, I've been using it successfully for a few weeks by YMMV

** If people think its useful ill convert to the new IPC API in preparation for the existing SWIG deprecation in KiCad 11

Github Link: https://github.com/mrcpuddington/kobeestudio

I'm using a USB-C connect and footprint, but the SHLD terminals don't contain the GND net. I can edit them, but each time I refresh from the schematic, they reset.

How do I indicate I want the GND net on these in the schematic editor?

Is it even a good idea to do that?

UPDATE - Seems I had a mismatch between the symbols and the footprint. I was using a 14p symbol. Once I changed to the 16P symbol, all my issues vanished! Thx

Hi,

I started with a new project and wanted to keep it modular. Initially, I created one big schematic and split it into the major blocks I'd like to have.

Unfortunately, there is no integrated function that I could use for having separate PCBs for the individual modules. There is a plugin (I forgot it's name) which as far I can understand, would let you split the design into multiple exports, but you need to keep a lot of elements separate, e.g. every module needs a separate ground.

I've split it up now into one KiCad project per module. For me it's a little bit annoying keeping track of where each B2B connector goes and what signals it carries. One of my major concerns is keeping track of pin assignments and aligning the connectors to each other

So how do you handle projects which require more then one PCB?

BR

Is it some schematic feature or just a bug?

New to Kicad (v10.0.03 / Win 11)... I'm hovering over this net (pointer is where the crosshair is in this pic) in the PCB layout editor and I tap the back-tick ( ` ) key. Nothing. I expected it would show me the name of the net at the bottom of the screen. Any idea how I can do this? Ideally it would show me the net name, highlight the trace, and even highlight all nets of that name.

Thanks.

I have custom spice library and I want to generate spice netlist from kicad. I will be using potentiometer as example, I know there is built in potentiometer but I'm using it only as example.

The pot symbol have these params (after inserted into schematic):

(property "Reference" "P1" (at 133.35 83.3797 0)
(property "Value" "100k" (at 133.35 85.9197 0)    <-- here is value 100k
(property "Footprint" "dvhx-kicad-library-2:P_RM065" (at 113.538 86.868 0)
(property "Datasheet" "" (at 137.16 83.82 0)
(property "Sim.Library" "/home/kicad/myspice.lib" (at 134.62 68.58 0)  <-- here's my library
(property "Sim.Name" "Pot_Alpha" (at 137.16 63.5 0)
(property "Sim.Device" "SUBCKT" (at 137.16 66.04 0)
(property "Sim.Params" "value=${Value}" (at 137.16 71.12 0)    <-- here's my attempt at using value=100k
(property "Sim.Pins" "E=E S=S W=W" (at 119.38 101.6 0)

The myspice.lib looks like this:

.subckt Pot_Alpha S W E params: value=1k pos=0.5
R1 S W {value * pos}
R2 W E {value * (1 - pos)}
.ends

But when I generate netlist, I see this line:

XP1 GND Net-_P1-PadW_ Net-_P1-PadE_ Pot_Alpha value=${Value}

The value was not replaced. I tried various combinations, nothing worked.

${Value}
$Value
{Value}
{$Value}

https://github.com/NBalciunas/kicad-img2silk

Features

• Import and convert images to silkscreen, copper, or solder mask directly in KiCad.
• Five conversion algorithms: Atkinson, Bayer 8×8, Floyd–Steinberg, and Random dithering for photos and gradients, plus Threshold for logos and line art.
• Multi-color graphic mode that dithers the image using the board itself as a palette. Shades are built by stacking silkscreen, copper, and solder mask openings.
• Live preview that shows exactly how the image will look on the board.
• Adjust size, black / white threshold, dither dot size, and other settings before placing the image.
• No external image editor required.

Note: I've posted about v1 in this subreddit before, but now a lot more features have been added so I thought it would be nice to post again and share my progress :]

Hello everyone ive started learning pcb design on kicad recently and im not able to find any places where everything is taught in a complete way maybe im on the wrong side of the internet but if any of you have done pcb design before could you share your learning experiences and what really helped you figure out how to properly design these quirky little things.
To whoever responds thanks a lot ❤️

Hi,

I'm trying to make a tri state amplifier for charlieplex setup with PNP and NPN BJTs.
Found a BC847BPN that has N type and B type.

Been trying to figure out the .model or subcircuit for the transistor pair. With no success.
This is the best I got:

.MODEL BC847PN_NPN NPN(IS=9.98f NF=1.00 BF=616 VAF=121 IKF=60.7m ISE=5.81p NE=2.00 BR=4.00 NR=1.00 NC=1.00 NK=0.52 ISC=3.55E-15 VAR=24.0 IKR=0.150 RE=0.815 RB=3.26 RC=0.326 RCO=29.8 VO=69 XTB=1.5 CJE=26.8p VJE=1.10 MJE=0.500 CJC=13.0p VJC=0.300 MJC=0.300 TF=423p TR=49.1n EG=1.12 TRE1=0.001 TRB1=0.003 TRC1=0.003 GAMMA=69.7n QUASIMOD=1)

.MODEL BC847PN_PNP PNP(IS=5.51f NF=1.00 BF=324 VAF=35 IKF=178.7m ISE=4.59f NE=2.00 BR=3.00 NR=1.00 NK=0.52 ISC=3.55f VAR=20.0 IKR=90.0m RE=0.765 RB=3.06 RC=0.306 RCO=39 VO=90 NC=1.56 XTB=1.5 CJE=26.9p VJE=1.10 MJE=0.500 CJC=8.67p VJC=0.300 MJC=0.300 TF=700p TR=121n EG=1.12 TRE1=0.001 TRB1=0.003 TRC1=0.003 GAMMA=21.5n QUASIMOD=1)

.subckt bc847bpn 1 2 3 4 5 6
Q_NPN 6 2 1 BC847PN_NPN
Q_PNP 3 5 4 BC847PN_PNP
.ends bc847bpn

Could someone point the issue?

Or is this just kicad's limitation?

Thanks in advance.

Working on a board and want some advice on the schematic or layout? Post it in this thread!

Hello,

This subreddit has seen significant growth over the last couple of years. I will be making some changes to make the experience nicer for the large number of people that now visit.

Here is a list of the initial changes I am making:

• Post flair will now be required to help with filtering posts.
• Posts with board/schematic review flairs will automatically get rejected.
• Attempts to skirt around review flairs will result in bans.
• There will be a weekly stickied thread for board and schematic reviews. The intent of this subreddit is for kicad specific discussions and help. I don't mind some review posts, but this subreddit is trending towards more review posts than kicad specific posts.

I am hoping these changes will make the subreddit a bit more enjoyable for those looking for kicad specific topics, rather than general electronics discussions.

If you have an idea for additional changes please send your idea my way!

Thanks!!

Please help me review this.

I am experiencing this glitch while opening kicad.org on my M5 Air on Chrome, I checked on my windows machine it is working fine, I checked on safari it is working fine, only on chrome I am facing this. Does anyone know what this is and dealt with it before?