Drafting Electical Schematics - Part 2

This course is the second in a series of three courses suitable for students of electrical drafting who wish to develop an in-depth understanding of AutoCAD/IntelliCAD/DraftSight CAD software. It is part 2 in a series of courses comprising the following:

  • Electrical CAD 1 (which provided an overview of CAD drafting in the electrical field)>
  • Electrical CAD 2 (this course)> and
  • Electrical CAD 3.
Tip Important: You must have a copy of either IntelliCAD, AutoCAD or DraftSight installed on the computer that you are using so that you can switch to the CAD application and complete training exercises. It really should be a 'proper' version of the software, not a trial version of IntelliCAD® or AutoCAD®. Either can be used since they are command compatible.

Cost of courses

  • Online learning via broadband

The most popular option is to take a course as an online learning student. Our online broadband learning courses features rapid enrolment, many multi media instructional movies, online forums, multi-choice reviews, questionnaires, submission of assignments, email support etc. This is an enhanced learning experience at an affordable price. Click one of the broadband online learning sites above and click on the blue information button to sample a course. Visit www.softwaretutor.designcad.com.au and enrol now. The course cost is $AUD75.00 for >30 hours of high quality training.You can pay by PayPal which accepts direct deposit and credit cards and start immediately or send us an email requesting an enrolment. We will enrol you and post out an invoice. Payment can then be made by direct deposit. Our bank details will be on the invoice. We do offer reduced rates for students from the same organisation.

One-on-one training (Adelaide or Canberra - in our offices or yours).

We can provide face-to face training. Each course takes one day and costs $AUD550.00. We do require some information about what it is that you or your organisation hopes to achieve by training so that we can prepare appropriate materials in advance of the course.

Each participant in one-on-one full day courses is automatically enrolled at no extra cost in the broadband learning version of the matching course (at either softwaretutor.net or landscapetutor.net). This would normally cost an additional $250.00 per person. In this way, students get a double benefit - personal tuition and the ability to access any of the written instructional materials online, replay any of the demonstration movies, download sample files, log questions, take quizzes and submit assignments for review.

Some assumptions/prerequisites

We assume that you have completed Design Cad's Electrical CAD 1 course prior to enrolling in this course. This is important, because this course depends heavily on many of the concepts illustrated earlier in Electrical CAD 1.

Our aim

In this course, we will build on your knowledge of CAD which you gained from our Electrical CAD 1 course. As you will recall, the earlier course concentrated on the overall CAD process and no comprehensive detail on individual CAD commands was provided. We certainly did not explore various options available within individual commands. So, in this course, we want to take the opposite tack and provide you with an 'in-depth' look at CAD exploring most of the individual CAD commands in some detail.

So, we aim to provide you with:

  • A thorough understanding of the individual AutoCAD/IntelliCAD commands used to create CAD drawings.
  • An explanation about why a particular command is used and make suggestions for the selection of commands appropriate for particular drafting functions.
  • The confidence needed to build a complete drawing of the type produced in your normal working day.
  • Advice on the appropriate strategy for creating and maintaining drawings within projects.
  • The tools necessary to construct drawings to AS1100 drafting standard.
  • An appreciation of the productivity gains which can be generated ‘down the track’ by customizing and automating your CAD software.

A word of warning - we will build your knowledge up slowly and build a firm base for your future work. You will not begin serious drawing until the second module. Please be patient!

  Tip Please work though each module in turn as (we hope you see) there is a logical progression.   

  Module

   Description

Drawing Full Size

Modelling the real world - the importance of recognizing that when you create a CAD drawing, you are drawing full size. In Australia we work in mm when producing electrical schematics. Using various enquiry commands to reveal information 'hidden' in the drawing database. DISTANCE, ID, AREA and LIST commands. Examining a typical electrical symbol and checking the LIMITS value and the setting for the base point of the drawing.

The drawing interface

Revisiting the AutoCAD and IntelliCAD drawing interface. Using toolbars, drop down menus and toolbars. Customizing the pull down menu area, adding a new drop down menu with cascading menu items. Managing multiple drawings - switching from drawing to drawing. Examining various toolbar items. Using the Property Painter. Importing raster images, tracing over scanned images. Creating a company logo using primitive elements. Using keyboard shortcuts and function keys. Developing a keys drawing which can be used to access function keys. Applying text and using some of the text justification tools. Building an A1 sheet incorporating a company logo to AS1100 standard.

Entity Snaps

Placing entities in drawings using software aids. Using the OSNAP command with its various options - the Mid, Int, Node, Per, End, Qua, Cen entity snap options. Using handles and grips to edit entities.

Manipulating Selection Sets

Understanding selection sets. Picking entities. Experimenting with various methods of creating selection sets. The wp, oc, f, po, and all options of the SELECT command. Selecting and operating on groups of entities according to their properties.

Draw 1

Reviewing the basic system for entering commands. Transparent commands. Surveying the available methods of point data entry - Cartesian coordinates, polar coordinates, relative polar coordinates, 3D coordinates, cylindrical coordinates. The DRAWORDER command. Surveyor's units. A close examination of the commands used to place drawing primitives in a drawing. LINE, PLINE, (widths, tapering, curve fitting etc.) ARC (3 point, Start, Center, Angle etc.), the CIRCLE command.

Draw 2

A continuation of the various DRAW commands - SPLINE, ELLIPSE, POINT, RECTANGLE, POLYGON, DONUT, PLANE (TRACE), ELLIPTICAL ARC,  FREEHAND (SKETCH),  DONUT etc.

Draw 3

Using tracking in AutoCAD. <!--webbot bot="PurpleText" PREVIEW="simulate tracking in ntelliCAD" -->Surveyor's units, The DLINE command, using ORTHO, loading a linetype file, setting LINETYPE, linetype scales - LTSCALE, HATCHing areas, using the BHATCH command, hatch pattern files. XLINES and RAYS.

Viewing Skills

Improving your knowledge of the view group of commands. Creating named views when working in large drawings. Controlling your view of a CAD drawing using various options available under the ZOOM, PAN, HIDE, VPOINT, REGEN and REDRAW commands. The importance of the UCSICON, the UCS and DVIEW commands. Using DVIEW and the Twist options to rotate and align 2D drawing. The use of Paper Space and Model Space. Using stored views to advantage in laying out presentation drawings. Loading and manipulating external references. Importing and exporting DXF files. Some comments about 3D coordinates and the Z direction. SHADE, HIDE and RENDERING. The ZOOM options - n, nX, nXp etc. Accurate scaling in floating viewports. The visibility of linetypes on layers. Using VPORTS in tiled model space, storing and manipulating views.

Preliminaries

Using Windows Explorer or Your Computer to make some project folders and sub folders ready for managing projects. Copying sample files from an exercises folder. Tuning your computer for CAD software. Installing IntelliCAD/AutoCAD. Adjusting the CAD environment for smooth working. Setting a default (prototype) drawing suitable for you work. Locating prototype drawings in various versions of AutoCAD. Adjusting limits, snap, linetype, dimensioning styles in the prototype drawing. Setting some important variables using the UNITS command. Copying iso3098b.shx font files so that lettering meets AS1100 standard.

When you have finished this course

  Please enrol in Electrical CAD 3 where we cover editing entities, assigning attributes to blocks, plotting & printing from paper space etc.