One issue of mine is when I highlight a net, it is too difficult to see. I admit that my schematic is small, especially when I view the whole sheet on my laptop monitor. Right now my HD monitor is connected to my other computer.
One slight possibility is my color choices. I like a black background. I would post the (colors) file if I could remember where it is…But I like my colors pretty well.
Another idea…is there any chance of making a highlighted net blink? (Maybe 1 Hz blink rate). I have no idea whether this would be easily implemented by the developers, but I think this might be very effective.
Does anyone else feel that highlighted nets are not so easy to see? Any other ideas?
Thank you. I have tried that. 50 seems to be the maximum thickness. Rather than inflating the netname text like a balloon (that would be OK!) it puts sort of an “illuminated area” around it. But there is not a lot of contrast to be seen. In the attached screen image, the illuminated area is barely visible around netname Coarse_Ad2. Yes I guess it helps a little…
Why not change only the color of your Net Highlight?
When I’m getting near completion of track laying on a board, I temporarily change my ratnest to thick and bright lime green. It kind of hurts the eyes, but it is hard to avoid so saves missing tracks and being disappointed when DRC complains.
Thank you. It looks like the ratio of demand versus difficulty of implementation has not exceeded a vague minimum threshold.
Another idea: Am I missing some setting which allows me to dim everything OTHER than the highlighted net? If that setting does not exist; I think that dimming is used elsewhere in the software, so maybe that would be easy to implement?
In this case I am viewing a partial design that I stopped working on a couple of years ago. The schematic is dense and has many netlist connectors. I am trying to figure out what I did. So I am not now viewing the ratsnest or the pcb layout at all.
Am I the only design engineer for whom my previous designs become a mystery (even if I built them and they work well?)
I believe that the H hotkey addresses viewing of pcb layers; I am really looking at only the schematic right now.
But with the schematic netlists, there is a weird behavior (I don’t think the default H hotkey assignment is intended to do anything useful with the schematic??)
Yesterday I have changed most (or maybe all but I think I missed some) of my netlist labels from (KiCad default) font to Tahoma font.
If I double click on a netlist label I can confirm (1).
If I click once on the netlist label and then hit H, it shows KiCad default font, even if it has been changed to Tahoma.
So I do not see that the H hotkey helps me with what I am trying to do.
No. Been there, done that. I get a foolish feeling when I realize I’m reinvention a wheel I previously invented.
I’ve even pulled out undocumented, fully assembled,experimental boards, and wondered why, when and for what purpose they were built.
Sometimes I wonder why I bother to make stuff when I could buy something off the shelf. Like this radio alarm clock that started off with a flip display, which I then replaced decades ago with a 70’s clock chip and LED display, which is now playing up and will soon be replaced with a MCU and LED display. I could buy a new clock radio that even has a wireless phone charger. I suppose because I can, I like writing firmware, it keeps me out of mischief, and I hate throwing out the retro case.
I draw the line at hifi equipment though. I listen to music all the time and I don’t want to be thinking how much distortion is in my design while listening. Not to mention that a good amplifier is seriously hard engineering. (No, I don’t have audiophile pretensions or want to go into speaker cabinet making, I am satisfied with good clear sound from off the shelf equipment.)
Making stuff is good for the brain and emotions. In these retirement years, it keeps the brain ticking over and is also satisfying to realize all those years of education and experience are still not entirely wasted.
