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.

[YuryW]

Hi,
Where can I download LibreVNA project files in KiCad 8?

[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+.