Question(s) about Visio.....

[Jack_Hester]

I am able to purchase Visio Premium through my company and the Microsoft Home Use Program.  The cost is $9.95 plus $13.00 for a disk.  I always get a disk, but I'm still downloading to have immediate accesss to it. 

As I know nothing about this program, but see that it is used by some of the members for their layouts/schematics, how steep is the learning curve?  I'm a little slow these days, but always willing to give something like this a try.  And, let it prove me worthy of the challenge.  I would appreciate all information and help on using this piece of software.  Thanks.

Jack

[HotBluePlates]

I too bought Visio through the Home Use Program (I really like saving the money!).

I found the learning curve a little steep at the beginning. It would have really helped me to have someone in person show me how to accomplish some of the basic Visio tasks. I spent several hours one day beating my head against the wall trying to accomplish a simple task in Visio. The following day, I figured out the "easy way" and the same task took less than 1 minute.

I have been using Visio mostly in place of a CAD program, to make mechanical layout drawings. The ultimate goal is figuring out "will it fit?" and considering if my current amp project should be built some way other than the stock original form.

Visio have been invaluable in answering that question. One problem though: you need a library of amp parts, preferably scaled to match the actual physical size of the part. I've spent a bunch of time creating parts drawings in Visio and adding them to various stencils. I did download Sluckey's zip file of parts that he and Barry created. However, I've also needed drawings for non-typical parts (specialized switches, XLR jacks, non-standard resistors and caps), so I've also spent a lot of time with either manufacturer's data sheets, or with the actual part and a steel rule marked in 64th's of an inch, to accurately draw the parts to scale.

I think it's been worth it. I know that I probably know less than 10% of Visio's capability, and I've spent about 3 months tinkering with it. What would help is a face-to-face meeting with some of the resident Visio experts to get tips and tricks; I'm sure writing them out (and creating screenshots relevant to your version of Visio) would be an enormous task, even for fairly simple operations.

It would probably help if you have some existing background with other Microsoft Office products, especially Powerpoint, so that you have some frame of reference for some of the simpler Visio functions. In the Army, folks joke about "Powerpoint Rangers," who have built so many briefing slides they know all the cool functions and shortcuts. I just about earned my Powerpoint Ranger tab during my last deployment.

[DummyLoad]

everything we (richard and i) do is done with visio. it's a decent CAD application. it's pretty intuitive. you won't be disappointed unless you graduate to designing an automatic transmission or the like. turbo CAD is also a very decent application as is autocCAD LT.

start with:

when you open the app there will be 7 tabs [ file - home - insert - design - data - review - view ]

file tab - new button - double click engineering button - select part & assembly - select metric or US units radio button - double click create button

deign tab - size button [ letter, legal, B, C, etc.. ]

design tab - orientation button [ portrait or landscape ]

design tab - page setup < click the little <. thingy and another window will open >

select page size tab - pre-defined size - select ANSI engineering (for Inch pattern drawings) - select drawing size [ A, legal, tabloid, B, C, D, etc.. ]

select drawing scale tab  <usually we work in 1:1> - pre defined scale - select Mechanical engineering (Inch units will be in tenths, hundredths, thousandths).

to get started drawing stuff: 

home tab - next to pointer tool there is a drop box - select it - chose [ line, ellipse, rectagle, arc, freeform ] after you click and select tool, you drag to open a rectangle, ellipse, or click srart of line move cursor then click to end the line or arc or freeform line. 

ping us in a message if you get stuck and pressing the F1 key makes no sense to you. we'll be happy to help you through the problem, assuming we are able to.

youtube is another good help resource.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=visio+&oq=visio+&aq=f&aqi=g4g-s1g2g-s1g2&aql=&gs_sm=3&gs_upl=1384l2412l0l2867l6l6l0l1l1l0l52l231l5l5l0

--DL

[Jack_Hester]

Thanks guys for the information.  I think that I now have a starting point.  I was a bit overwhelmed by it, when I first opened it.  However, I found some 'stencils' from the ARRL '08 Handbook that has lots of components and tube bases.  I have not attempted to use them yet, as I am more on home turf with ACAD.  Now, I will make an honest effort to 'build' something in Visio and see how it goes.  I will use your information to proceed, and will give an accounting of my adventure.  Work hours are starting to interfere with fun time (no complaining, here).  Big Unit outage coming up soon, and planning is almost as much a chore as the actual work.  I'm not supposed to carry a personal computer to work, but I may carry my old laptop and keep it in the truck, until the weather gets hot.  If I wind up on any night shift this Spring, I'll use it as Visio practice time, as most night shifts consist of following contractors and their needs.

Again, thanks.  Really good start, now.

Jack

[bnwitt]

I have found the versions of Visio later than 2003 to be very cumbersome to work with.  I am still working with version 2003.  When Microsoft went to the "Ribbon" interface the program became a bear to work with in my opinion.  Version 2003 is the easiest version to use and is just as powerful as the later versions.  The only thing that is improved in later versions is the cad export function.  Even the new version's cad export is glitchy though.  I starded using Visio when it first came out.  Most people don't know that Visio and Intellicad (now cadopia) were created by the same group of people.  They sold Visio to MS and released the code for intellicad to a consortium.  They got rich.  MS' first upgrade cost a rediculous amount of money, had no tool improvement (great copy protection though) but made them money which is all they care about.  I purchased each subsequent version up to 2007 then realized the program was just getting worse for me to use.  If you're and IT guy or need org charts the later versions are for you.  Drawing mechanical, electrical or architectural 2D plans is easy with the older versions of Visio.  The power to create your own templates and objects is what makes repetive functions fast.  Also the array function is something I use hundreds of times a day when doing solar designs.  Visio 2003 is awesome.