Work1

ExpressPCB is a free schematic capture and PCB design/layout program. It is a very easy program to learn and use. It is used by many QRPers and homebrewers for creating schematic diagrams and PCB layouts. If you do need boards made, ExpressPCB maintains very competitive prices for small runs with excellent service and quality. The PCB program is used for ordering boards only from ExpressPCB (does not generate a "Gerber file" that can be used with other vendors).

I have used ExpressPCB for making hobby boards to impedance controlled 4-layer boards at work and have always been satisfied with their quality, price, and snappy turnaround and delivery.

This website page is intended to share some examples of what ExpressPCB can produce, and to share some custom components I have created over the years for the programs. They are placed here for you to outright steal and use as you wish. While ExpressPCB does provide a huge library of parts, some are awkward in appearance or not the symbols or format we are used to using. Building your own components or stealing some of those on this site will make a nicer, more professional looking schematic.

The following is a file I prepared for the 2007 ARCI Potluck contest. It contains some general schematic diagram components, such as transistors, LEDs, coils, transformers, capacitors and connectors.

Click on the drawing to enlarge to see the components. This is a graphic file and NOT the one you'll use to grab the components.

From the ExpressPCB schematic program with the "potluck.sch" displayed, you can select any desired component and save it to your custom components folder.

In the ExpressPCB folder, you will find three sub-folders:
PCBComponents_Custom - Where your custom PCB footprints are stored
SchComponents_Custom -Where your custom schematic components are stored
SchSymbols_Custom - Where your custom schematic symbols are stored

For example, inside the SchComponents_Custom folder, you will see individual files of all custom components you have saved (files with the .s extention). From here, you can add, delete or rename any file you wish. You can also add new component files. For example, you can save the custom components that might be on your work computer to a memory stick, then transfer them to your home computer by copying them to the proper folder.

DELETING A CUSTOM COMPONENT
We all create and save a custom component we want to delete. You can not delete a custom component, once saved, via the program. Instead, find the component in the ExpressPCB folder (described above) and delete the unwanted file.

ADDING A CUSTOM COMPONENT (from an external source)
You can steal custom components from this website, your friends computer, or perhaps your work computer and temporarily save them on a memory stick, email them to yourself, etc. Then, copy the desired files to the ExpressPCB custom component folder(s) (described above) as desired. This copies one component at a time into a separate file.

For the purposes of sharing custom components, such as through this website, it is easier to put them on an ExpressPCB schematic or PCB sheet, share the schematic (filename.sch) or PCB layout (filename.pcb), then select the component(s) you want and save them from the program. This transports numerous components on a single schematic file; you can then select the custom components you want and name and save them through the program. Another advantage is you can ungroup the custom component and make any alterations you'd like to suit your needs before saving them.

Example: Let's save the custom NPN transistor component (top-left of schematic) which has a bold transistor outline. Select the "Q1 2N3906" component. The transistor will be blue when selected. Note that the "e,b,c" designators are not blue as they are not part of the component. From the top toolbar, select COMPONENT then SAVE CUSTOM COMPONENT. Enter the desired Name (NPN, 2N3906, etc.) into the dialog box and click SAVE. It's now yours! When you insert it into your schematic, you can then change "Q1" to anything you want or "2N3906" to "2N2222," etc.

From the schematic, select the component you want and to alter to your taste. On the top toolbar, select UNGROUP COMPONENT. This breaks it into individual items. You can add or delete what you wish. Then, select all the items desired for the component (draw a box around it with the mouse) and select COMPONENT and GROUP COMPONENT from the toolbar. In the dialog box, enter desired Part ID and Part Name (you can actually leave these blank if you want, and fill in later when you insert into your schematic). Click OK to complete, then SAVE as described above.

Below are files of custom components and footprints I've created for QRP projects and at work. Contact me if you have some of your own you'd like to add here.

Click here to download the file (Potluck.sch). The schematic program, and this schematic file, should automatically load if you have ExpressPCB resident on your PC.

To find where these files are saved, from the ExpressPCB schematic program, click on VIEW, then OPTIONS, then select the MISC tab. The box "Directory where custom PCB and schematic components are saved:" points you to the path to the ExpressPCB folder. You can access the desired folder/file with your desktop Computer or Windows Explorer task button.

When you create and save a custom schematic component or symbol, the program saves it as a file with a .s extention. Custom PCB Components (footprints) are saved with a .p extention. They are saved in a folder (directory) called "Express PCB" somewhere on your PC. (Do a windows search if you can't find it).