Yes, that's the software. And if I look around the back of the current PC I use, there's that dongle, hanging off the printer port. Dusty, grubby, but still hangin' in there. Of course, my software these days sits on a backup CD now, but the original floppies are in a box somewhere around here.
You may be wondering how anyone can put up with such old software like this. But, when it comes down to it: 1. It's worked well 2. It keeps getting faster each time I upgrade the PC. (How often can you say that about software?) 3. My demands are few (Maybe a dozen small to medium sized boards per annum) 4. I have my component libraries all down cold, and 5. It's cheap Nice to have features of AutoTrax include the schematic preparation. But I'd really like to keep access to those older boards. Some end up getting reworked for new boards, but it's looking increasingly like a tough 'to do'. Sigh. Maybe I'll just have to sit down with the old and new Protel files on some paper and work out the conversion the hard way. (Sounds like a job for Perl - Oh, how I admire those who can program in that stuff) Yvet --- Robert Mitchell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I have located the box containing my original Protel > disks and manual. > Unfortunately, I no longer have a computer with a > 5.25 disk drive > installed and anyway, I have no idea where the "key > card" required to > run the PCB editor is. > The requirements for this program, Protel PCB Edit > V3.12 are: > IBM-PC/XT/AT computer or compatable. (There is a > note that the program > uses integer arithmetic, so there is no advantage in > installing an > 8087/80287 Numeric Coprocessor.) > MS-DOS or PC-DOS, version 2.0 or greater. > One Unoccupied Half-card Slot (for the Key Card) > 2 Disk Drives - one floppy and one either floppy or > hard disk. > 256K (or greater) RAM > CGA or EGA graphics card > Colour Monitor > Microsoft Mouse > Printer (for check prints) > Plotter (Pen and Ink) > (It supports HP-GL, DM-PL and Roland DXY 800 > languages) > Photoplotters (Gerber) are also supported and > Excellon format drill > files can be produced. > The manual carries the name HST Technologies Pty. > Ltd. and the copyright > dates on each of the disks are 1985, 1986, 1987. > > Someone at Protel subsequently "lent" me Protel > Toolbox which offered a > Design Rule Checker, Automatic Placement, > Photoplotter Utilities (Gerber > viewer and panelizing), Net List Editor, Protel to > DXF converter, PCB > File scanner (genrates a report on the PCB file) and > something for > "Multi-layer Routing. I cannot recall what was being > charged for these > add-ons. The copyright date on the program disk is > 1990. > The manual that came with these tools carries a > copyright notice which > says "Original Reference Manual Copyright ACCEL > Technologies Inc.. It is > also noted that ACCEL market the product in the > Americas under the name > "Tnago-Tools". > > This was the first Protel PCB program and I recall > that I bought it from > a Board manufacturer for about $850 (Australian > Dollars). I think it was > marketed under the Tango brand name in the US. > I did not get the related schematic package as I > already had the Omation > schematic capture which produced Protel-compatible > netlists. (I found it > somewhat unreliable package which required > occasional reboots of the > computer.) > > Just a bit of history to put the conversion problem > into perspective. > > Bob Mitchell <snip> __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ____________________________________________________________ You are subscribed to the PEDA discussion forum To Post messages: mailto:[email protected] Unsubscribe and Other Options: http://techservinc.com/mailman/listinfo/peda_techservinc.com Browse or Search Old Archives (2001-2004): http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] Browse or Search Current Archives (2004-Current): http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
