Imported Eagle Schematic and Board into Kicad 8.0.0

[DanChianucci]

Imported the project into Kicad 8. And made multiple manual fixes

Schematic:

• Changed all symbols into native kicad "builtin" library symbols where available.
• Annotated some unnamed nets, and added an RF net-class where appropriate.

PCB:

• Added Design Rules matching JLCPCB manufacturing guidelines
• Manually Fixed the GND and Power zones
• Use Design Rules to specify clearance to CPWs
• Fixed a couple of minor DRC issues
  • ie moved some vias <1mm to follow the min hole-hole clearance
  • Rerouted a few non-rf traces so they didn't go between the pads of 0402's (soldermask bridging DRC complaints)
• Changed to equivalent Kicad "builtin" kicad footprints where available.
• Added 3D models to all footprints where missing
• Merged the Mask Layer Polygons into their own footprints instead of directly in the PCB.

I'm not sure if this is something you are interested in merging. I saw there was an older Kicad branch but not much work has been done on it for a few years.

[jankae]

Hi, thank you very much for this. Whenever I open this project in Eagle I am always reminded again why I don't use Eagle anymore for new projects (only KiCad or Altium). So yes, in general I am interested in this!

However, I also believe in "never change a running system" and don't anticipate incremental new changes to the LibreVNA hardware design (if there will be a new hardware version, it will be a completely new design done in KiCad from the beginning). I don't really want to run into any potential issues due to the conversion from Eagle to KiCad, no matter how small the risk. The Gerber files from Eagle are confirmed to be working and I'd like to keep it that way.

Because of that, I will probably not merge this unless you have assembled a working board based on these new KiCad files, sorry.

[nateof8]

Jan, I've been looking at Dan's conversion and it is quite clean. I did a gerber comparison layer by layer and found only minor differences which were explained in his pull request. I plan to produce and populate the board to verify and test. I've been unable to locate the East Ever balun, so will probably change that out for a Mini Circuits TCM1-63AX+.

[trytuna]

Thank you very much @DanChianucci very nice conversion. I would really like to build one from these files to get it verified that it's working. I could build one spare which I can provide to @jankae so that he can take a look at it. It would be really cool to get this merged to main.

@jankae I've read that the board was designed to be ordered on JLCPCB with the 7628 stackup. I've selected "Impedance Control" and selected this:

Is that correct? Everything else I need to consider before I order it?

Such a cool project @jankae by the way. I very much appreciate it!

[jankae]

I would really like to build one from these files to get it verified that it's working

You are probably aware but just in case you are not: if you want to use the LibreVNA, it is likely cheaper and faster to buy it. But of course I can understand the appeal of building it and appreciate any input there as well :)

Is that correct? Everything else I need to consider before I order it?

That stackup is correct. Before you order I would check if you can source all the parts, some of them were hard to find a while back and I am not up to speed on the current situation. Other than that you should not run into any problems (at least I hope so).

It would be really cool to get this merged to main.

I also really appreciate the effort by @DanChianucci and actually feel quite bad about not merging this already. There are however a few arguments that keep me from doing so:

• I would prefer the hardware design in this repo to be identical to the produced LibreVNAs and even though they are small, there are tiny changes in the Kicad conversion
• At this point, I am not really making incremental hardware changes to the design anymore. It has been in production as it is for quite a while now

But if there is confirmation that the Kicad files can be used to build a working board, I will reconsider this.

By the way: I have fully transitioned from Eagle to Kicad for new projects a year or two ago. Of course that does not help here, but future designs will not need a conversion anymore.