Hello,
To make a long story short, my company will disapear in two or three years. I've been designing all sort of electronic devices for about 30 years, using OrCAD, Protel, and Altium (the later for almost 10 years).
Of course I will continue to practice my job, probably as self employed, in the field of high-end audio amplifiers and such, a field that has been a hobby since school.
My problem is that I like tubes (or valves if you prefer). When it comes to size this technology is exactly the contrary of the nowadays trends. No valves in SMD, no Sir !
Of course I could continue to use my Altium license, but to keep it up to date costs a lot of money, and if it's acceptable for a company making profit from it, it will be unacceptable for a very small one like my future one.
I feel that there should be something between the small van (standard Eagle - 100x160 mm) and the 200 Tons Mine Hauler (pro - 4000x4000 mm - Christ! who makes such huge boards ?).
Maybe a simple sturdy pick-up, allowing 6 layers and something like 200x200 mm routing area ? Or even better: turn the simple van into a great pick-up and allow the standard version to work on a 200x200mm area.
I'd rather work with Eagle, but other packages are on the market, lower priced (or even free) allowing 1000x1000 or even more.
Best regards,
Jacques
