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How do I add a drill to PCB that DRC will respect?

DrLightning
I'm using OrCAD PCB Designer version 16.3. I would like to know the BEST way to simply define an unplated drill hole in my board, that doesn't come from a schematic element (using OrCAD Capture 16.3). I also need to make sure the hole is automagically dodged when the router places traces and also that I get a DRC error if I manually route a trace through the hole. Right now, I'm creating a via without copper, and the pad designer complains about it. Then, after I place it, no DRC happens if I run a trace through it. Meanwhile, I have a footprint with a peg hole in it. I'm having similar trouble with that. This stuff ought to be obvious, but it's not. I see no ability to simply add a "drill"... Thanks in advance for your help

  • A Mechanical Symbol is the best way. Define the padstack, conventionally, a small pad is defined to "land" the drill, Pad Designer will warn you that the pad will be drilled away when you save the pad but you know this is what is intended so accept the warnings. In PCB Editor, File>New, change the type to mechanical symbol and specify a name. Place the Pad just created, again conventionally, this would be placed at 0,0, use Setup>Areas>Route Keepout to define the clearance around the hole. See the MTG parts supplied for some examples.

    By default, the "Hole checks" are off and this is why you are not seeing any DRCs when crossing holes. If you want to go the plain "Hole" route, rather than a Mechanical symbol, in the BRD file, go to Constraint Manager, Analyze>Analysis Modes, open the Spacing Modes, go to each of the branches of the tree, Lines Pins Vias and so on, and enable the Hole checks for each, the Hole entry only controls Hole to Hole. Also set the "To Hole" parameters for the Spacing Constraint set(s) or Net Spacings to get the required spacing.

  • Thanks. Next, the two big holes I added show up in the drill file, but not the drill legend. Specifically, I select menu option Manufacturing / NC / Drill Legend... Then I accept all the defaults and click OK. Defaults are template "default-mil.dlt", legend "DRILL CHART: $lay_name$", output mils, sort ascending plated first, legend by layer pair. In the past I had a case with blind vias, and this same method produced two legends which got placed one after the other as I clicked. Nothing like that seems to be going on here. The holes are missing from the legend and there seems to be no separate legend for them. The holes do appear in the boardname-1-2.drl file (two layer board in this case), so I would think they should appear in the first (one and only) drill legend. Exerpt: ;LEADER: 12 ;HEADER: ;CODE : ASCII ;FILE : hhs_keypad_compass-1-2.drl for board hhs_keypad_compass.brd ... layers TOP and BOTTOM ; Holesize 1. = 35.000000 Tolerance = +0.000000/-0.000000 PLATED MILS Quantity = 16 ; Holesize 2. = 480.000000 Tolerance = +0.000000/-0.000000 OPTIONAL MILS Quantity = 2 Thanks again.
  • Seems like they should show up, try Manufacture>NC>Drill Customization and verify that the Drill / Slot symbols are not null for these drill(s), if they are set a Drill / Slot symbol type and size and re-generate the NC Legend.
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