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Oct 04, 2019 This tutorial will teach you how to create a circuit schematic, perform a simulation, and view circuit waveforms in LTspice for Mac. A basic understanding of electronics is expected. LTspice is an extremely valuable tool for designing and simulating analog based circuits. LTspice tutorials from CMOSedu.com are found here. Video tutorial on using LTspice on the Mac is found here. LTspice uses Level=8 for BSIM3 and Level=54 for BSIM4 (information about models from MOSIS is found here). Getting started with LTspice.pdf (From Linear Technology, Inc.). Suggestions for speeding up LTspice simulations are found here. May 22, 2019 Instructions for Installing LTspice on Mac OSX The instructions below are for installing the Windows version of LTspice on MAC. We use this approach since the Mac version of LTspice is not user friendly and some features are even missing. Step 1: Install WineBottler This is a software used to run some windows softwares on Mac without having a.
Ltspice Tutorial For Mac Download
FavoritedFavorite15Introduction to LTspice
Linear Technology provides useful and freedesign simulation tools as well as device models. This tutorial will cover the basics of using LTspice IV, a free integrated circuit simulator.
Getting Started
To download LTspice IV for Windows click here, and for Mac OS X 10.7+ click here. Linear Technology updates these packages so check the website for updates. I linked the executable because this is the version I will be using for the tutorial.
Note: For Ubuntu Linux users, you can look into using a Wine derivative called PlayOnLinux. One of our customers tested it out with Ubuntu. You can check out their forum post for more information.
Here are some installation guides for PlayOnLinux:
Here are some installation guides for PlayOnLinux:
Once you open an instance of LTspice IV check out the video below to see how to get started navigating through the menu, setting your schematic and waveform preferences, adding a new schematic, placing parts and organizing your schematic and finally running a simple DC operating point on a voltage divider.
Helpful Hints
Hot keys and Simulator Directives - Make your life easier with shortcuts. The Simulator Directives are your Dot commands. I suggest you look through these very carefully in the HELP menu in LTspice. The help menu will show you the syntax and give descriptions for each one. Specific commands will be covered one-by-one in future videos. If you are having trouble getting one or more to work please head over to the forum.
Labels- Turn to page 23 to see how to label values such as using 8k instead of 8000.
Simulation: Transient Analysis
A time domain transient analysis is where a parameter such as a voltage or current is plotted against time. If you are looking at an output you can see the behavior over a specified length of time. For this example we are going simulate the output of a half-wave rectifier. For this type of analysis we will cover how to add an AC signal source to your schematic and choose a specific diode.
Simulation: AC Analysis
Ac analysis provides the frequency response of your circuit. The output waveform will be a bode plot showing you the amplitude and phase across a specified frequency range. Usb b4.09.24.1 driver for mac. There are several options with AC analysis. You can view frequency response as a bode plot, on the Cartesian coordinate plane with the real and imaginary axis and you can view it as a Nyquist plot.
We are going to build a passive, first order, low-pass filter and see what information can be obtained about the circuit from the plot.
Simulation: DC Sweep
A DC Sweep is a type of simulation that allows you to vary the voltage or current of a specified device. On all schematics of SparkFun's parts we give you a voltage range for which the product can safely operate. I thought it would be a good idea to check a Sparkfun product to see just how accurate those voltage ranges are. For this example we are going to look at the Electret Microphone Breakout Board.
Simulation: Noise
Noise analysis let you view the noise inherent in your system as well as injected noise from outside source when modeled properly. Noise is most commonly concerning in op-amp circuit where precision is everything. For example, a battery management system using op-amps to sense the current. Charging cycles of rechargeable batteries as well the load current are very important parameters to monitor for the overall health of the battery and safety of the user. A noisy op-amp circuit may skew that current reading and cause unwanted effects such as incorrect current readings on the microcontroller which keeps the battery from being over or under current. I'm sure an audio example would have been better to use here. But you get the idea, noise can be bad when it is unwanted.
We are going to continue using the pre-amplifer circuit from the Electret Mic Breakout Board and run a noise analysis. LTspice can model the [shot, flicker and thermal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noise_(electronics) noise your circuit.
Simulation: DC Transfer
The DC Transfer function calculates the low frequency gain and the input and output resistances of your circuit. Continuing with the Electret Mic Breakout Board product as our example we can first compute the transfer function. We know that the output voltage is biased at 1/2 the input voltage. Since the Transfer function describes the behavior of the output as a function of the input and we can say the transfer function should be equal to 1/2. If we choose VCC to be 5V then Vout is 2.5V. This circuit should have low output impedance because we want op-amps to operate like ideal voltage sources. This ensures maximum power is delivered at the output giving your ADC the best values. The closer the output impedance is to zero the better. Similarly we want the input impedance to be high as to not draw current from the source. Let's sim the transfer function and verify it has been designed accordingly.
Creating a New Model
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There are several steps to create your own model in LTspice. A model consists of a subcircuit and a symbol. For an example, we are going to build a model for a potentiometer. It will be based off the SparkFun 10k trimpot. A few months ago I designed a soldering kit for personal use based off the 555 timer. LTspice does not come with a standard potentiometer so we will build one. Most of the time simulating a trim-pot as a resistor is fine. But I plan on giving this kit to new students of electronics and want them to understand the difference between a resistor symbol and its use and a potentiometer symbol and how it is used in this circuit.
See the video below to create your own potentiometer model in LTspice.
Adding Third Party Models
There are many ways to import third party models into LTspice. I have found one particular method to be the fastest and easiest for importing models and subcircuits. Eventually, I will add another video on the Forum on how to do this other ways. If you have a way that works for you, please share on the forum. If you are having trouble using a specific method just ask on the forum and I will respond with a video.
Resources and Going Further
- Check out the new forum for LTspice! Here you can ask questions, post solutions, get example circuits from the tutorial, see new videos every week and find a community for LTspice. I know that there are many forums out there for LTspice but there is something awesome about a fresh forum.
- Here are some video tutorials put on by Linear Technology.
- The LTspice Getting Started Guide from Linear Technology.
- This list will be updated periodically.
LTSpice introductory tutorial
The circuit for this first LTSpice tutorial is a familiar one. It was used in class, and it is a nice example of a circuit that can be handled using node-voltage, mesh-current, or superposition techniques.
- Launch LTSpice and start a new circuit.
- On Windows, launch the program and choose 'New Schematic' from the File Menu.
- On macOS, launch the program. A 'Welcome to LTSpice' dialog appears with some options for opening files. Since this is a first timer's tutorial, you should choose 'Start a new, blank schematic'.
On either system, a blank schematic drawing window opens. (The Mac version has no menu bar or clickable icons at the top.) You can save the file now and give the schematic a name when saving or wait and save it later after the circuit has been laid out. - Place the voltage source. Right click somewhere within the window and from the pop-up menu, choose 'Draft –> Component'. The 'Select Component Symbol' dialog opens. You could try clicking around in the component list at the bottom until you find 'voltage' (for voltage source), but it easier to just use the search function. Within a few letters, the voltage source component be found, and the voltage source symbol will appear in the box at upper left.Select 'OK'. The dialog closes and we are returned to the schematic drawing window. A voltage-source symbol is attached to the cursor. Siouxsie banshees downside up rar. Move the cursor to somewhere in the left-center portion of the window and click to place the voltage source. The cursor still has a voltage source attached to it, and we could place more sources if we wanted. Since we need only one source, hit the escape key to get out of 'placement mode'. The source has a default name of 'V1' and no value – it's just 'V'. Note that if we wanted the source oriented horizontally, we can do that while it is still attached to the cursor by using the key combination 'control-R'. ('On the Mac, 'control-R' and 'option-R' both work to rotate.) You can also mirror the symbol using 'control-E'. The symbol can also be rotated after it has been placed – see the editing section below.
- Place the current source. Repeat the process used for the voltage source. Right click and choose 'Draft –> Component'. Start typing 'current' into the search box. Once the current source symbol shows up, click 'OK'. The current-source symbol is attached to the cursor — move it somewhere to the right of the voltage source and click to place it. Finally, hit 'escape' to stop placing current sources.
- Place the four resistors. It is the same process for placing the resistors. Right click and choose 'Draft –> Component' from the pop-up menu. Start typing 'resistor' into the search box. Once the resistor source symbol shows up, click 'OK'. The resistor symbol is attached to the cursor — rotate it ('control-R') move it somewhere to the right and above the voltage source and click to place it. Place the other three resistors, rotating as needed. The resistors will be numbered sequentially as you place them. Once all four are placed, hit the 'escape' key to stop the resistor placement.You do not need to be overly careful about placing the components in any particular order or arrangement. Names, locations, and orientations can all be changed later, if needed. If you know how you want the schematic to appear, you can save a tiny bit of time by placing them carefully and in the right order now, but it is not necessary to go over-the-top with pre-planning the component placement — just put them down and fix them later if needed.
- Wire the components together using the wire tool. Right click and choose 'Draft –> Draw Wire' from the pop-up menu. The cursor turns into a giant set of cross-hairs that extend across the entire window. These are helpful in aligning the placement of the wires. Move the cross-hair to the terminal at the top of the voltage source and left-click on the terminal to start the wire. Move the cursor up to draw a vertical section of wire, left-click again to introduce a 'corner', and move right towards the left end of the resistor. Left-click on the left-hand terminal of the resistor to end that section of wire.Continue wiring to connect all the other components according the original circuit digram. A wire can be 'ended' on an existign wire to make a T-connection, which is indicated by a small square dot. (Similar to the circular dots used to show connections on circuits in class.) When finished (or at any point when you want to 'stop wiring'), press the 'escape' key to go back to the normal drawing mode.Note to Windows users: Occasionally, I have noticed that a wire does not end properly on a component terminal — after you click on the terminal and move away, the wire continues to be drawn. To stop it, go back to the terminal and left-click again — the wire will then terminate. (Or at least it always has for me.) The is a minor bug and does not happen all the time. Perhaps it is peculiar to only my Windows set up. I have not seen it on the Mac version.
- Add the ground connection. Every SPICE circuit needs a ground connection. Like in the node-voltage technique from class, it can be anywhere, but there must be one. (A common SPICE user error is the omission of ground. You will get an error warning if you forget it.) Right click and choose 'Draft –> Label Net' from the pop-up menu — a Net Name dialog appears. Select 'GND(global node 0)' and click OK. Back in the drawing window, a ground symbol is attached to the cursor — move it to the desired location and left-click to place it. Then use the wire tool (from step 5 above) to wire it to the rest of the circuit.You can have multiple ground symbols in the schematic. Every ground symbol will be treated as being to connected to the same node (node 0) in the circuit — there does not need to be an explicit wire connecting all the ground points. Using multiple ground symbols can help clean up a complicated circuit.After all the ground connections have been place, press the 'escape' key to end 'ground mode'.
- Now we are ready to move on to the next step — adding parameters and editing.
The specific values for the components must be entered. If desired, the reference names for the components can be changed. Also, any changes to the circuit layout can be done now.
To change component values: hover the mouse over the value text — the cursor changes to an 'i-bar' — and then right-click to bring up a dialog where the value can be changed along with the font size and justification. Enter the desired value. As opposed to what is preached in class, SPICE treats units are optional — you can enter units, but they will be ignored. SPICE knows that a voltage source needs a value in volts, a resistor needs a value in ohms, etc. Pre-fixes can be used and are encouraged. For example, a 1000-Ω resistor could be listed in SPICE as simply 1k.
Changing component reference names is done in the the same manner as changing values. Note that in SPICE, reference names 'should' have the first letter correspond to the type of component, followed by letters and numbers to distinguish individual parts. For example, Vxxx for voltage source, Iyyy for current source, Rzzz for resistor, etc. However, in LTSpice the standard convention is not mandatory, and if you would like to name the voltage source 'bill', it will work. (LTSpice adds a 'V' in front of 'bill' when the netlist is built.)
Use tools in the 'Edit' item of the pop-up menu to move components, move text ( names and values), re-configure the wiring, or delete anything. A few comments/hints:
- 'Undo' is your friend. If you make a mistake during the initial layout or wiring, simply undo and start over.
- To enter an editing mode, first move the cursor away from any components so that it is in an open area of the drawing window. Then right-click and select the desired editing tool. If the cursor is above a part when right-clicking, a dialog opens in which more detailed information about that part can be entered. We don't need that now.
- There are two options for shifting the location of parts and text, 'move' and 'drag'. To invoke either, right-click and choose either 'Edit –> Move' or 'Edit –> Drag'. Then left-click on the particular part to attach it the cursor so that it can shifted. Shift it to the new location and left-click again to lock it into place. The difference is that 'Move' will pick up the part and dis-connect it from any wires. You would then have to delete the old dangling wires and re-wire the part back into the circuit. Using 'Drag' will move the component along with the wiring, re-routing as best it can to the new location.
- The functions 'Delete' and 'Duplicate' work as expected. Right-click and choose either from the 'Edit' pop-up, and then left-click on the component, text, or wire to be deleted or duplicated. The duplicated item can then be moved to the desired location.
- Note to Windows users: Drag does not work properly on Windows for me. Using 'drag' moves only the wires and leaves behind the actual component — not exactly the intent. Again, this may be a peculiarity of my particular set up. Also, attempting to do a group move or drag has been wonky, with only some of the intended items being included in the group. Your mileage may vary.
If you want to shift a group of components, you can use the move cursor to drag across a groups that you want to move and shift them (either moving or dragging) en masse.
When moving values, names, or other text — things that don't have wires attached — 'Move' and 'Drag' function identically.
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Ltspice Tutorial For Macbook Pro
Below is the circuit after changing names and values. (The basic layout was not edited at all.)
Next we tell LTSpice what type of analysis we would like to do. LTSpice is a bit unique in that it uses the text commands from the original text-file-input version of SPICE and embeds them right into the schematic. Renditions of SPICE from other companies generally use dialog boxes to enter the the information about analysis type. LTSpice's approach is cute, but it does require us to know the text descriptions of the analysis options.
For this circuit, we are keeping it simple and want only to find the DC values of the voltages and currents in the circuit. In SPICE, a simple DC analysis is known as an 'operating point' simulation, and the relevant command is '.OP'.
To invoke it, right-click out away from the circuit, and in the pop-up menu, choose 'Draft –> SPICE Directive'. In the dialog box that opens, type '.OP'.Click 'OK' to return to the drawing window. The text '.OP' is attached to the cursor. Move it off to the side somewhere and click to place it. When the simulation starts, LTSpice will look for the text to determine what type of analysis to do. We will look at other types sof analysis (transient, DC sweep, AC sweep) in future examples later in 201 and in 230 sometime in the future.
Finally, we are ready to simulate and see the results. This is where we begin to see some differences between between the Windows and macOS versions.
Before doing that, it might be a good idea to name the schematic and save it on the disk, if that was not done earlier. (At this point, it would be a shame to lose everything due to some random failure.)
To begin the simulation, right-click in an open area of the drawing window. and choose the 'Run' menu item. Script debugger 7 0 2 – applescript authoring environment. Or click the 'Run' icon at the top of the window. (Since the Mac has no menu and so few icons, we should avail ourselves of the opportunity to actually click on a command!) The simulation will be done in a second or two.
With the Windows version, a window will appear with a list of the DC operating point values — the voltages at each of the nodes and with respect to ground and the currents through each of the components.
Note: Current directions are a bit tricky. SPICE always reports the current flowing in the direction from the first listed node to the second listed node in the netlist. However, since the netlist is generated by the program based on the schematic, we don't know how SPICE is 'drawing the current arrow', unless we look at the netlist. Usually, that's not worth the trouble, instead use KCL and KVL to confirm every balances using the magnitudes and the reported node voltages.
Go back to the schematic. Hover the cursor over a node and hold down the left button. The cursor turns into a tiny 'voltage probe'. When the button is released, the corresponding voltage is 'measured' and printed right onto the schematic. This can be done at each of the nodes — the resulting view is shown below.
The DC values that are listed on the schematic can be changed. In particular, we can list the currents. For example, right-click directly on the '24V' text representing the voltage of the left-hand node (which is just the source voltage). A dialog opens, and in that dialog the value being displayed can be changed. (Note that the display is initially aliased to V(n001) — the voltage at node 001.) In the lower text-entry box, type in 'I(Vs)' — or just double click on that item in the list. This represents the current flowing in the voltage source. Make sure there is only one item listed in the entry box. Click 'OK' at the top.
The node voltage value (24V) has changed to the value of the current through the voltage source (-750mA). Other current values can be displayed in the same manner — first display a node voltage using the voltage probe and then change the display to the desired current. (Editorial comment: There does not seem to be any way to display currents directly without going through a node voltage first. Personally, I find this a bit tedious — it is probably easier to simply use the voltages and currents from the window that pops up at end of the simulation.)
At this point, we can change values in the circuit to see how the voltages and currents change. Or change the sources and run a different type of simulation. Or, if we have found the found the results that were needed, we can copy and paste the the circuit and the calculated results into a report. That's the beauty of SPICE — once the basic circuit has been created, there are many possible things that can be done.
Ltspice Tutorial For Mac Computers
When we are finished with simulations for this circuit, we should save the schematic to disk, and then shut down LTSpice. If we later think of more simulations that we would like to do with this circuit, we can re-open the schematic and continue from where we left off.