I have used Qucs (not QucsStudio) for years. Nice article, but it doesn't touch my two biggest pain points:
(1) Transient analysis is unreliable. Jacobian error. Jacobian error. JACOBIAN ERROR. Fixing this involves magic thought patterns (is there something in this circuit that might be unstable? maybe throwing resistors everywhere will help? Or changing the minimum timestep?) and luck. I have spent more time dealing with this than any other thing in this software; often it's easier to give up and build the circuit IRL.
The software gives you NO hints or help as to what is causing these sim divergences or how to fix it. Brick wall. I exploit a bug to get the graphs to re-render using only the half-calculated results, so I can _try_ to see the circuit behaviour just before the issue, but often this doesn't work.
EDIT: Sorry the article does touch on this in the conclusion:
> Obviously, QucsStudio also has its limitations. It is sometimes frustrating to find that a simulation stops converging when a parameter is slightly changed. In general, using QucsStudio requires a deeper knowledge than other tools, typically paid tools, where the convergence of simulations is more refined. This can lead to unexpected delays in the design process.
Frustrating indeed >:(
(2) Interface uses an old version of Qt, which my distro doesn't provide the libs for. This means I can't compile or run Qucs any more. Instead I run the Windows .exe using wine (note: crashes if you have any themes/visual styles setup in winecfg, make sure to go back to the classic windows theme).
Are either of these things improved in QucsStudio?
(1) In theory, QucsStudio kernel simulator might be different to Qucs' one (qucsator). In my experience transient simulations usually converge without problems. The main issues I get take place in harmonic balance simulators.
(2) QucsStudio does not have native installer for Linux. So you depend on wine.
(1) Transient analysis is unreliable. Jacobian error. Jacobian error. JACOBIAN ERROR. Fixing this involves magic thought patterns (is there something in this circuit that might be unstable? maybe throwing resistors everywhere will help? Or changing the minimum timestep?) and luck. I have spent more time dealing with this than any other thing in this software; often it's easier to give up and build the circuit IRL.
The software gives you NO hints or help as to what is causing these sim divergences or how to fix it. Brick wall. I exploit a bug to get the graphs to re-render using only the half-calculated results, so I can _try_ to see the circuit behaviour just before the issue, but often this doesn't work.
EDIT: Sorry the article does touch on this in the conclusion:
> Obviously, QucsStudio also has its limitations. It is sometimes frustrating to find that a simulation stops converging when a parameter is slightly changed. In general, using QucsStudio requires a deeper knowledge than other tools, typically paid tools, where the convergence of simulations is more refined. This can lead to unexpected delays in the design process.
Frustrating indeed >:(
(2) Interface uses an old version of Qt, which my distro doesn't provide the libs for. This means I can't compile or run Qucs any more. Instead I run the Windows .exe using wine (note: crashes if you have any themes/visual styles setup in winecfg, make sure to go back to the classic windows theme).
Are either of these things improved in QucsStudio?