What's your favorite circuit simulation software for beginners?
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Up to now I haven't delved into circuit simulation software, but I do recognize that it can be a really useful tool. So, which one should I use? LT Spice is, of course, free and widely available. However, Falstad looks a bit friendlier to me. That said, systemvision (https://www.systemvision.com/) looks like it might be even better.
I like the circuit animation of everycircuit (http://everycircuit.com/). I'm not sure whether it is limited in the kinds of IC's it can simulate though.
What else should I maybe consider?
Anyone here have a favorite that they'd like to recommend, and why?
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@neverdie I've used only Falstad's simulator. But found some problems with it, for example Op amp was doing something weird when was fed with 0v, and I had to build physical prototype to check my sanity:)
Anyway it is pretty useful and easy to comprehend, but I wish something more robust. Thanks for sharing other options, I will try them, though I can't access systemvision, it seems it doesn't like my IP for some reason.
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In his time, he also started with a Falstad's, and he suited me all over the place.
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I use EasyEDA, it is a free, zero-install, web and cloud-based EDA tool suite which integrates powerful schematic capture, mixed-mode circuit simulator and PCB layout in a cross-platform browser environment, for electronic engineers, educators, students, and hobbyists.As EasyEDA is completely free, super easy to use, and feature-rich, it holds the first place.
Pros:
Huge and ever growing community
Parts library is quite massiveVery powerful simulator
High-quality PCB designing is possibleDesigning circuit/PCB is free from any kind of hassle.
Beginners can easily get started to EayEDAEasyEDA is completely FREECons:Getting the simulation done is kinda difficult. You need to follow the guide.
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What used to be circuit.io was purchased by autocad and then later folded into tinkercad. A bit basic, but very easy to use because you're interacting with component pictures (think fritzing). What makes it interesting is that not only does it do circuit simulation, but it has an arduino simulator in it as well. Thus, you can program the virtual arduino and see how it interacts with your simulated circuit.
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It looks as though I'll be settling on LTSpice for the simple reason that it's widely used and I want to be able to import the models of the actual components that I'm using. I'm going to attempt building an ultra low voltage power converter from scratch so that I have more control over self-starting when harvested currents from a solar cell are just a few microamps. Not many, if any, of the pre-made circuits seem to handle that scenario without crashing the input voltage. To do it, I will need to run the components at sub-threshold levels, which I'm guessing most simulators won't handle well. Most likely it will be either an astable self-blocking oscillator or a ring oscillator to initiate the self-starting.
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This post is deleted!
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Just saw this in my Hackaday Feed:
https://hackaday.com/2020/01/08/commercial-circuit-simulator-goes-free/
I'm not sure it fits the "beginner" category, but cost is no longer a barrier to entry.
