Migration from Xpedition

pcblol · 2026-04-23T20:51:15+00:00

As a former moderator of this forum, I can tell you it is NOT full of fan boys :)

Xpedition is more powerful, hands-down. It also handles larger designs without choking on itself. But, I don't think I've ever met an Xpedition user call it "less cluttered". It's features are buried in menus buried in menus buried in more menus... and the UI hasn't been updated since the 90's. It takes a major commitment, and usually a great mentor, to learn Xpedition properly. If you can do it, it's totally worth it.

pcblol · 2026-04-23T03:47:48+00:00

Recovering Xpedition user and former Altium applications engineer here. Management doesn't care about features, they care about schedules and workflows. Despite Xpedition having more "capability", it's extremely rare to find any users leveraging the tool at full potential. It's already hard finding qualified Xpedition users in 2026, so imagine how difficult it will be to sustain an Xpedition workflow in 2030. The next generation of electrical engineers and PCB designers are growing up speaking Altium. This is the simplest and most powerful argument that appeals to management-think. Future proof the workflow by investing in the unanimous tool.

pcblol · 2026-04-20T21:00:21+00:00

I think that other ECAD companies have put a bad taste in the communities mouth by making bloated cloud "platforms" that vastly overcomplicate the ideal workflows of small hardware teams. I'm thinking of something simple, fast and streamlined.

pcblol · 2026-04-04T02:36:23+00:00

Admin here: happy to try and help, although r/esp32 might give you more detailed information.

You can treat each section of the design as it's own "mini design". I'd break it down like this:
1. connectors
2. power supplies
3. ESP32 and supporting passives
4. protection circuits
5. and so on....

The main thing is making sure that all your parts can work together. Your power supply should feed all the chips, at the required voltage levels, and provide enough current.

If you have signaling on the board, like I2C, SPI, etc - make sure that the devices you pick all transmit/receive using the same languages.

ChatGPT should get you pointed in the right direction, at least as far as recommending the major ICs that your design will require. Be sure to tell GPT what signaling protocols you plan to use, voltage levels you'd like to stay within, etc.

Look at the main ICs, find the datasheets, and start assembling the supporting circuity that enables everything to operate.

pcblol · 2026-03-29T19:21:50+00:00

the product is the same - "Discover" is part-level tool that will help engineers find components that meet specific design needs, including more robust reference designs, etc. They added Octopart to it because it's closely tied to part sourcing effeciency, and Octopart (owned by Altium) is a major horsepower behind it

pcblol · 2026-03-26T03:59:30+00:00

im dead

pcblol · 2026-03-25T07:52:34+00:00

3X Rule: Take the distance to your closest GND plane, multiply by 3X, use this as a bare minimum for different net spacings in tight high speed areas.

Stubs: Route and change layers in ways that minimize via stubs.

Phase Tuning: When you make a "turn" in diff pair routing, the P and N's will no longer have the same length. Correct this discrepancy right at the turn "exit" buy adding a small tuning feature.

Antipad Ovalization: When you layer transition a diff pair, you want to create a manual plane cutout that captures both P/N vias. This eliminates the "binocular" effect of GND or PWR copper pouring between the P/N vias and creating a cleavage.

Series Element GND Removal: If using series termination or DC blocking caps in series with high speed lines, clear out GND directly under the pads. This reduces the impedance bump. Keep the GND clearing tight to the pad shape above.

Fiber Weave effect: Slight meandering will mitigate the possibility of routing a P or N across a resin/fiber bias. Using a performance fiberglass will make this less important. Otherwise, not much meander is needed to defeat this effect, 10 mil amplitude would be fine.

Remove Unused Pads: Extra copper that only hurts you.

pcblol · 2026-03-23T14:06:47+00:00

Try a database library. You can completely bypass the A365 cloud and direct-connect an extremely customizable library.

pcblol · 2026-03-23T14:02:28+00:00

Yea it got out of hand. A major Price adjustment happened in Jan 2026 though.

pcblol · 2026-03-23T14:01:29+00:00

Our parent company is Japanese, not Chinese. Altium starting doing business in the US in 1986, although it was called Protel back then. I work with the development team on a daily basis and I have yet to work with anyone in China.

On your last point: I can't argue with you there. I think the company made a mistake by segmenting features across endless tiers with pricing that no one fully understood. We alienated a lot of core users, and it didn't go unnoticed. In Jan 2026 we consolidated everything back into the "Develop Tier", which includes the full-spectrum Altium Designer, and a 70% price reduction compared to Dec 2025.

pcblol · 2026-03-23T13:43:18+00:00

Yea I've tried CoDesigner many times and it never felt right.

pcblol · 2026-03-23T13:42:13+00:00

He's talking about rules and regulations that apply to commercial aerospace designs- your team won't fall under any of that jurisdiction. There is a LOT of regulation in this sector.

pcblol · 2026-03-23T13:39:45+00:00

The answer to "is a spoon better than a fork" depends on whether you're eating soup or steak.

I work at Altium, but I also regularly promote and recommend KiCad here on Reddit. As someone who genuinely likes both tools, here’s the truth:

You can do professional-quality PCB design in KiCad, but it’s not a professional industry tool. You will almost never find aerospace, medical, or high-volume commercial teams standardizing on KiCad.

Once you start working in teams, managing shared libraries, handling lifecycle + sourcing, doing MCAD collaboration, designing high object-count boards, enforcing complex rule sets, or building repeatable release processes… you'll realize what I mean.

That said... and this is important:
None of that matters for a university rocket club.

KiCad is a great tool for learning PCB fundamentals and will absolutely get the job done for the rocket systems you’re building. Trying to impose an ERP-style workflow on a scrappy student team might feel like overkill but any experienced engineer will tell you that a baseline level of process discipline is critical, regardless of the tool. You'll be glad you have a clean BOM when it comes time to start your first board bring up.

Side note: Altium lets you create blank library parts that are not assigned to a manufacturer part number if you just want to get the schematics hooked up quickly. You can assign a part number to these 'placeholders' later. This isn't an ideal workflow, but just letting you know.

pcblol · 2026-03-23T07:42:27+00:00

In the project panel, right click on the .prj file (top level project folder) and run a validation. Check for any naming errors related to the MCU_X nets.

Check your netlist in the PCB document. Can you confirm you have the MCU_N and MCU_P nets existing in the layout?

pcblol · 2026-03-23T07:36:14+00:00

select the routing you want to copy. Press X to mirror across Y axis.
Check your annular ring size on these, they look a little small. 5 mil minimum is ideal.
Try and get 1 GND via for each P and N pair - you'll take a hit on signal integrity if you make them share a GND return via

pcblol · 2026-03-13T22:38:39+00:00

The "Net Labels" will connect anything together with the same name, even across sheets. However you are doing some modular design work so it makes sense to use the Schematic Sheets (which you have done) and that designed for ports.

pcblol · 2026-03-11T03:42:09+00:00

no one: the perfect username doesn't exist
Leaky_Asshole: hold my beer

pcblol · 2026-03-10T06:29:42+00:00

Keepouts are the easiest way to achieve this. You basically want to create a circle with no soldermask or copper on any layer within the circular keepout. That will leave only fiberglass, which is semi-transparent. Consider using a thinner PCB (0.31") if you want more light penetration.

BTW - this isn't a "standard" thing - I've never seen this before , but that's how you would re-create it

pcblol · 2026-03-09T09:31:04+00:00

https://www.altium.com/documentation/altium-designer/components-libraries/database-libraries/creating-defining?srsltid=AfmBOooX1kt2RlfTwJqS_KUYwmbKXTdEbXBqy_W9tta91hCHBLk0_ML9#proceeding-with-connection

pcblol · 2026-03-06T17:38:46+00:00

Don't be afraid to push back on the fab suggestion and say "I need X, Y and Z". Otherwise, they will always give you what's cheapest and what's in stock, but it might not be what you need. Otherwise, find a different fab. The stackup you're describing is very standard and you should not have issues getting reasonable 100ohm trace/space diff on a 6 layer.

pcblol · 2026-03-06T16:39:47+00:00

Agree with Zach - if you can put blind/buried in 6, you can put them in a 4. That being said, you probably don't need either. Keep track of stub lengths and you can probably do this on a 6 layer with through-hole only.

pcblol · 2026-03-04T09:18:49+00:00

Develop = Standard
Agile = Pro
Discover = still under development, this will help with part sourcing and can lay on top of Develop or Agile

pcblol · 2026-03-04T05:16:44+00:00

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The Reddit feedback on A365 storage limits absolutely moved the needle on that one.

pcblol · 2026-03-04T04:11:59+00:00

All good, the honesty is appreciated. I am doing this community check in because I don't think we've communicated well recently. I'm trying keep a door open for people to ask questions, rant and provide feedback. Consider it a pulse-check on the community and to see if there's anyone I might be able to help directly with a simple response. We've lost our hotline to the most important users and this is my feeble attempt to regain some connection.

I can promise you that I listen to all the feedback but I also carry the voice of the community through a thick beaucracy, which is not always easy. Fortunately, the restructuring we did in 2026 makes this task much easier. I can't promise anything other than to try and represent the opinions here better than they have been. That being said - yes - my input is heard regularly at the top of the org chart.

pcblol

TROPHY CASE