slots in 15.2

You need  to produce a route output - what fun!

ncroutebits.txt
0.6 T200
0.65 T201
0.7 T202
0.75 T203
0.8 T204
0.85 T205
0.9 T206
0.9271 T207
0.95 T208
1 T209
1.05 T210
1.1 T211
1.15 T212
1.2 T213
1.25 T214
1.3 T215
1.35 T216
1.4 T217
1.45 T218
1.5 T219
1.55 T220
1.6 T221
1.65 T222
1.7 T223
1.75 T224
1.8 T225
1.85 T226
1.8542 T227
1.9 T228
1.95 T229
2 T230
2.05 T231
2.1 T232
2.15 T233
2.2 T234
2.25 T235
2.3 T236
2.35 T237
2.4 T238

Thanks GigaDyne,

It is my understanding there is not an absolute mapping of Tcode to drill size - it can be generated randomly.  Is this your understanding?

Chris

Hi Chris,

We also do not typically send an NC Route file to the vendor either, but we have in some instances started defining slots within pad designer.   This at least provides an easy way of having the slot show up in the drill legend.  We still provide an outline of the slots on the board_geometry/outline layer as well as dimension and provide a detail of them on the Fab drawing.   We usually don't use many slots on a board, so doing it this way is not a big deal for us. 

Regards,

Randy

Thanks for the reply Randy.

What concerns me with the new slot definition is I don't see them output in the ncdrill.log file, and I can't tell if they actually exist in the ncdrill.tap file - I doubt they do! 

Up until now we have specified a slotted padstack using 2 drills (1 at each end) for slots which are longer that 1X the width, and using a single drill for the smaller slots.  In the case of the single drill there has alway been the possiblity that the slot won't be rotated properly.  That is where you have to dig in and actually draw the outline of the slot and either provide a picture of it and/or dimension it. 

I thought the whole reason for Cadence addressing slots was to eliminate the need for all of this supporting documentation and get things embedded into the design.  But if people aren't using nc_route, then they must not be using these slotted padstacks other than for the drill chart - as you say.

Chris

Hi Chris,

They definitely do not show up in the ncdrill.tap file,  thus the need for the dimensioning(including slot radius) on the fab drawing.   In the past and still today we sometimes will position one drill with a non-standard/unique drill size in the center of the slot.  Then we manually modify the drill legend to indicate the slot.

I can understand the rational for putting the slot data in the NC Route file,  but I agree that releaseing a NC Route file does not seem to be a standard practice thus significantly diminishing the value of the slot capability.

Randy