I wanted to use an generic brand of Wire-to-Board Header Connector in my PCB design. The Oupiin 4071 Series, available from local electronics component supplier, Altronics, fitted the bill. Trouble is, Oupiin doesn’t have footprints for the 4071 series available for download.
Fortunately, it turns out that Molex Type KK 254, Series 6410, connectors are mechanically and functionally equivalent to the Oupiiin 4071 Series, and Molex have footprint files available for download from their website. But the Molex .dra and .dsm footprint file formats are not readable by KiCad.
.psm is supposed to be the file format for Siemens Solid Edge CAD software, which I don’t have, so I downloaded the free Community Edition from the Siemens website.
However, after installing Solid Edge Community Edition, I was unable to open the.Molex .dsm footprint file.
The next day, it dawned on me to check the KiCad built-in footprint library. I was surprised to find it had all the footprints for the Molex Type KK 254 Series 6041 Wire-to-Board Header Connectors.
There are probably many substitutes for that footprint… It is a single row of however many THT (Through Hole Technology) pins with a 2.54mm (1/10th.inch) spacing.
Connector_PinHeader_2.54_vertical is one. There is probably a Package_SIP to suit also.
Rather than spending hours searching the internet to find suitable footprints, it is worth your effort to spend a little time learning to use the Footprint (and Symbol) Editors.
After a couple of hours learning to modify or create footprints or symbols, something like you needed can be made in under 5 minutes.
There is a basic introduction here and if you have problems, you know where to ask for help. Someone will answer any problems you have and there is also the FAQ (in blue) at the top of this, and every other forum page, that is worth reading.
Nearly all are user developed, often by scripts these days. Manufacturers often want to control distribution of their own footprints with restrictive licenses
Has anyone tried SamacSys’ component search engine? I searched for the Oupiiin wire-to-board connector footprint and got an email response with a download link within 24 hours, but I didn’t register to download it. I wasn’t sure if it was a free or paid service.
I have a personal preference for creating my own schematic symbols and footprints, mostly because I do a bit “unusual” things. I also find KiCad’s editor’s for schematic symbols and footprints quite easy to use.
From what I understand of Samacsys they are quite friendly and try hard to resolve issues. There have even been people from Samacsys answering some questions about them on this forum.
And from their website:
SAMACSYS MODELS ARE FREE!
Fortunately, SamacSys have solved this challenge for the world! SamacSys provide 2D and 3D models for the millions and millions of components in use today. SamacSys provide these models in formats for all the leading design software tools and what’s more, they’re FREE for engineers to use! SamacSys have also made it really easy for engineers to create models for new components, where a model doesn’t already exist. And using the SamacSys platform, once a new model has been created, it’s made available for every engineer in the world to use. All our models are industry-compliant and checked to the highest quality standards. Engineers can even choose to customise and keep their own versions of models if they choose to!
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Edit / Addition:
I am not sure how Samacsys puts bread in the mouths of their employees. From the link below it looks like they sell their tools to IC manufacturers, so the IC manufacturers can make schematic symbols and PCB footprints which are then compatible with a wide range of EDA suites.
