The second symbol, I needed for my first schematic on v5.1.2, was of the universal 4-pin telephone socket/jack. It accepts the telephone 4-pin plug in order to connect the house telephone set to the phone line. Once again, I have no choice but to draw it myself as I did with the first symbol, I needed, which was a 3-digit 7-segment LED (to do it I had to erase by mistake the symbol of a 4-digit with which I started as a template ).
For instance, my first project on KiCad v5, is redrawing a DC volt/current meter which I did in the past in a couple of hours (from scratch) by using a very old KiCad version (BZR2356, dated 2010). Now, I expect it will take about a week (if I am lucky). Meanwhile I hope, during my learning stage, there will be no serious damages among the official files
For the symbol, no you don’t need to draw it yourself. You may not be thinking of the correct name though. Look in the Connector library for 4P4C, that means 4 Position and 4 Connector.
Now, you will probably have to create your own footprint for the PCB as the PCB mount side of these connectors have no standard. The actual electrical pads are fairly standardized among all the connectors, but placement of retaining clips, alignment studs, position of pad pattern to component body outline are not at all standardized.
@KerimF Welcome to the officially unofficial KiCad User Form!
KiCad currently has a pretty dang good Library System going on; from Symbols to Footprints to 3D models. However, as KiCad is Open Source, and was all (until just recently) volunteer, you get exactly what you paid for it and what you decide to put into it.
It is currently expected that new KiCad users will need to learn to make their own custom Symbols and Footprints and store them in their own local custom libraries.
Nearly everything in KiCad has been much improved over a very short (for OpenSource) period of time.
Recommend that you download the last official version, or even maybe even better, a Nightly of the V5 branch (not the V6 branch).
You are right, Anders, and this morning I followed this path. Now I have:
RJ11_4pin_phoneJack_mid
RJ11_4pin_phoneJack_bck
(I noticed there are two Chinese jack types in my local market, though having same 4-pin layout).
I run KiCad version 5.1.2-1. And you are right. KiCad has evolved rather very fast. This couldn’t happen without the personal efforts of the remaining good people living on our planet Earth
On the other hand, there is no reason at all for anyone (including myself) to complain while using KiCad. And it is just a matter of time for a user to be familiar with and build his own libraries (as I do now ). The resulting fruit is working on a real professional CAD program which is kindly offered for free by great volunteers.
).
). The resulting fruit is working on a real professional CAD program which is kindly offered for free by great volunteers.