I sometimes struggle with certain steps, and cannot seem to find any way to answer them.
I wanted to create a simple R2/R ladder DAC with microcontroller on a PCB, just as an example.
I opened up an instance of DIPTRACE and was faced with various Crystals to place. Alright, some are there, but none were the frequencies I wanted (nor did I really want to search each model's name for availability or specifications on digikey) so I chose one myself.
On Digikey, I hit ... MHz crystal, through-hole, in stock, 16MHz for the purpose of my attempt and found one.
http://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/ATS16B/CTX1085-ND/2640031Alright, Its manufacturer name is ATS16B which isn't in there, but if it was I pretend not, and am satisfied. I find out it is in an HC49/US package from the specifications - and then all goes blank.
I can find a similar package in DIPTRACE that has an HC49/U, two leads. Scrolling down I find one with an HC49/US footprint and for some reason it has three leads - or at least three circles indicating such from first look. It confuses me if that is even the right footprint.
Should I ignore all of the defaults and assume they are for some other general purpose, and create my own crystal each time? Is there some sort of quick generator to say ... "HC49/US footprint, desig=X1, name=16MHz" and have a footprint I can now use?
I remember Eagle you can create libraries, however that took so many steps I started to regret having to do this. I seem to recall Altium having some sort of component generation wizard, but do not use it.
I have no trouble making a schematic work, but translating it in to PCB with proper footprints and names and all of this from parts I find (say generic op-amp in a standard DIP-8 package) I do not know whether I should create a new part, use a same sized DIP-8 and rename it (I really dislike doing this, it feels dirty) or there is some sort of step.
Alexander.