** 2 page review Scooter / 1172 words **

Derryck Croker reviews Scooter, a PCB layout program...

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Printed Circuit Board (PCB) layout programs are undoubtedly a niche product. Over the years the Atari platform has been better served than most with programs such as PCBoard Designer and Platine translated and released in English. Scooter is the latest to cross the language barrier offering professional level features at a hobbyist's price tag. Scooter is equally at home producing complex PCBs or simple designs - like the LaceScan board covered in the step by step tutorial.

Scooter runs in any resolution above 640x400 pixels (ST high) and where sixteen colours or more are available they are used. Scooter includes intelligent "autorouting", a feature normally only available in packages aimed at the professional market. Autorouting can automatically transform a higgledy-piggledy mass of components and their connections into a neatly laid out PCB ready for production!

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The combination of side menus, drop down menus and popup menus provide a comprehensive range of options. The menus are well organised so you're not confronted by choices until they're needed. For example, after setting the track thickness a right mouse click accesses a popup menu offering further options, to set the shape or radius of track corners and so on. Solid areas, typically used as "ground planes", can be drawn using polylines then filled with a selection of hatching designs.
Boards with up to 20 layers can be produced and each layer can be individually named, tinted, hidden and printed out. Scooter's ability to produce an outline for use with Numerical Control (NC) milling machines should more than satisfy professional users.

Lending library
Component outlines and the numbering of component pins are vital when laying out and routing a board. All components must adhere to a numbering system so the correct connections can be made. Using a numbering system makes it possible to include components which only work properly one way round (polarity-sensitive) in the netlist, diodes are one example.
Scooter includes a comprehensive selection of components but for the odd occasion something you need isn't included the layout screen can be used to create or modify an existing component.

Scooter really does ease the process of printed circuit board design and is a pleasure to use. Even for one-off designs it's probably quicker to use Scooter than stripboard and for small batch productions it's an ideal choice. A save-disabled demo version is obtainable from most PD/Shareware libraries, CIX or any Atari supporting BBS connected to the Fanfiles network as SCOOTER.ZIP.

** Step by step sequence **
LaceScan using Scooter

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I'm using Scooter's connection list feature to route the board. Referring to a circuit diagram each component can be checked off as each connection is added to the list. I've left the switch out of the design. The netlist, saved as LACESCAN.NTL, is compiled using TRANSFER.PRG which also checks the file for syntax errors.

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** On Reader Disk logo here **
{Connection list for LaceScan}
{The components: R1 = 4K7, IC1 =74LS10, IC2 = 74LS74, CON1 = 8W block}
{The connections}
{ Power supply }
"Vcc"    CON1 1 = IC1 2 = IC1 13 = IC1 10 = IC1 14 = R1 2 = IC2 4 = IC2 11 = IC2 12 = IC2 14 ;
"Gnd"    CON1 2 = IC1 7 = IC2 7 = IC2 13 ;
{ The rest }
"RTS"    CON1 3 = R1 1 = IC2 2 ;
"DEin"   CON1 4 = IC1 1 ;
"DEout"  CON1 5 = IC1 8 ;
"HS"     CON1 6 = IC1 4 ;
"VS"     CON1 7 = IC1 5 = IC2 10 ;
"Reset"  CON1 8 = IC2 1 ;
         IC1 11 = IC1 12 ;
         IC1 6  = IC1 9 ;
         IC2 9  = IC2 3 ;
         IC2 5  = IC1 3 ;
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After loading the required components from the macro libraries they should be renamed to match the names entered in the netlist

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The rubber-band zoom tool makes things easier on the eye and means Scooter is easy to use - even at lower screen resolutions

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The 'Ratsnest' option tidies up the connections to signal paths which run from point to point. Menu entries for Track width, Clearance and Grid each display further option menus

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Here's the fully routed board using 90 degree bends with the copper side favouring routing across the board and the component side up and down. Grey lines indicate tracks on the component side of the board. The vias (where the track passes from one side of the board to the other) can be seen. Individual connections can be made to blink using the Show command, which makes them easy to check
I did make several minor manual adjustments, for example, I moved the via towards the lower left of the board down four tenths leaving a straight connection to the connector
** end step by step **

** Boxout **
Making Printed Circuit Boards
PCBs are created using special copper faced boards. Using a PCB design program, such as Scooter. Designs are output as a "mask" which protects the masked areas of the copper surfaces from a ferric chloride etching solution, while allowing unprotected (unmasked) copper areas to be dissolved away. There are two ways of transferring the mask to the copper:

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* Heat transfer
* Photographic
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The heat transfer process involves using a domestic iron and special paper, available from electrical suppliers (such as Maplin in the UK). The design is laser or photocopied onto the special paper and ironed onto the copper which transfers the toner to the copper surface ready for etching.
The photographic method uses copper boards with a special coating sensitive to ultraviolet light. The design is output onto transparent film which is then held in contact with the ultraviolet coated copper faced board and exposed to ultraviolet light. After exposure and image development the exposed (unmasked) areas of the coating are washed away leaving the masked areas of copper protected from the etching solution. It's easier than it sounds and all the necessary materials are readily available.
** end boxout **

** Product box **
Rating: 85%
Product: Scooter-PCB v2.10c
Publisher: HK-Datentechnik, Hubert Kahlert Heerstraße 44, D-41542 Dormagen, Germany
UK distributor: Peter West, 38 Woodfield Avenue, London, W5 1PA
Tel: +49 (0)181 997 2218
Email: xlator@cix.co.uk
Cost: £50 + £2.50 P&P (includes printed manual)

System: All Ataris, 1Mb memory minimum and 640x400 resolution (ST high) or higher.
Points for:
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* Powerful yet easy to use
* Available in English with UK support
* Separate print/plotter programs support most popular devices, including image output in GEM or IMG format
* Reads Platine format files
* Reads PC Multiwire (MLT) standard format netlists
* Print component outlines for screen printing etc.
* Many other things I've run out of space to list!
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Points against:
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* No global command to restore a routed board back to the constituent signal paths - although with up to nine backup levels and a Save as option this isn't too bad.
* Autorouter algorithm sometimes selects a complex path where a simpler one exists - either use this feature to route only the signal paths or keep an eye on it!
* No registration marks produced for double-sided layouts
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** end boxout **