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Now that the "hangover" from the holidays is
behind us we can begin to work on making make
good on our new years' resolutions.
In this issue we discuss:
- A method for providing fast turn BGA
reballing service using a technique that
BEST has perfected in 2006
- A new PCB repair kit that we have
developed for land repairs
- A look into our 2007 BEST training
schedule
- A sneak peak at what people are saying
about the soon-to-be-released VISTA O/S
Wishing You and Yours a Healthy Happy New Year!
Bob Wettermann, CIT
President
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Fast Turn BGA Reballing Technique
Developed |
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Recently BEST has developed and
perfected a reballing technique for area
array devices which is designed for
speed and fast turn-around of small
quantities.
The tooling is designed and fabricated
at BEST. The stencils are custom made
for your device patterns using the BEST
laser.
After applying flux to the bottom of the
part, a polyimide stencil corresponding
to the size of the balls and part pads
is aligned over the part. The properly
sized solder balls are then poured into
the apertures with the fixture keeping
the StencilQuik(TM) stencil affixed to
and aligned with the part. The assembly
is then reflowed, cleaned and inspected.
This technique is one that is
straightforward and is used when a
moderate number of the same part pattern
reballing is required. The tooling and
stenciling is designed for multiple
reball cycles.
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BEST Announces 2007 Class Schedule |
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We have put together and released our
2007 solder training, inspection and SMT
assembly class schedule. The following
classes will be held in Chicago in the
first half of the year:
IPC/WHMA-A-620 Operator Proficiency
February 5-7 and April 24-26
IPC 7711/Mixed Technologies Rework
Course January 29-February 2
ESD Awareness February 8 and
April 27
Surface Mount Rework Certification
March 26-27
Advanced SMT Rework March 28-30
BGA Rework February 19-20 and May
30-31
BGA Profiling February 21 and
June 1
Lead Free Rework February 22-23,
April 11-12 and June 28-29
In addition the following IPC classes
will be held at BEST:
IPC J-STD-001 Registered Instructor
January 8-12, March 12-16, May 7-11 and
June 11-15
IPC J-STD-001 Re-Certification
January 16-17, March 6-7, May 22-23 and
June 19-20
IPC 7711/7721 Registered Instructor
January 22-26, March 26-30 and April
30-May 4
IPC 7711/7721 Instructor
Re-Certification February 27-28,
April 4-5 and May 31-June 1
IPC-A-610C Class “A” Instructor
Jan 30 - Feb 2, February 13-16, March
20-23, April 17-20, May 15-18 and June
5-8
IPC A-610C Class “A” Re-Certification
January 18-19, March 8-9, May 24-25 and
June 21-22
Call Katy Radcliff at
(847) 797-9250 for more details
about a specific class or to register.
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New PCB Land Repair Kit Released |
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The BEST Land Repair Kit is
designed to repair lifted or damaged
lands on circuit boards. This kit was
specifically designed to make the repair
process as simple and effective as
possible. It includes 3 different tin
plated circuit frame patterns, which
offer nearly 3 times as many useable
replacement land patterns as other
circuit frames. Unlike dry film circuit
frames, BEST circuit frames have no
shelf life and can be used on both
lead-free and tin-lead finish circuit
boards. The Land Repair Kit also
includes useful tools to help the repair
process go smoother
This kit includes the following
items:
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MicroSoft VISTA Still Buggy, Several
Flaws Exposed |
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As expected by now the upcoming
Microsoft O/S is facing an early crisis
of confidence in the quality of its
soon-to-be released Windows(TM) Vista(TM)
operating system as computer security
researchers and hackers have begun to
find potentially serious flaws in the
system that was released to corporate
customers late last month.
On Dec. 15, a Russian programmer posted
a description of a flaw that makes it
possible to increase a user’s privileges
on all of the company’s recent operating
systems, including Vista. And over the
weekend a Silicon Valley computer
security firm said it had notified
Microsoft that it had also found that
flaw, as well as five other
vulnerabilities, including one serious
error in the software code underlying
the company’s new Internet Explorer 7
browser.
From what is the "word" here are five
things you'll hate about Windows Vista
1. Your current hardware won't fully run
Vista - Get ready for the media blitz.
Get ready for the frustration. Although
many computers in use today will be able
to update and run the new operating
system, they'll only be able to run it
in what Microsoft slyly calls 'Windows
Vista Basic'. In this mode, you'll have
the ability to search files but you
won't have 3D Aero graphics, live
animation along the Taskbar or smooth
streaming graphics on your desktop.
Unless you buy a new PC sometime in
2007, or add a high-end video card and
some extra memory to your current PC,
you probably won't get the full visual
Vista experience.
2. Vista's Aero graphics eat laptop
battery power - If you're used to your
laptop lasting on a long journey, you
might want to reconsider upgrading to
Windows Vista - that is, if you want the
new Aero graphics features turned on.
Unfortunately, changing from Aero to
Basic is harder than it should be.
3. User Account Protection - The
User Account Protection feature has
already had plenty of negative press.
See the above comments on this point.
For most of us, the frequent appearance
of User Vistas' Account Protection on
common tasks will be security overkill.
4. Missing drivers and incompatible
applications - Not having all the
necessary drivers or not having software
compliant with a new operating system is
to be expected in the beta of a new OS
but this situation still exists even
after several months of developer
testing.
5. Troubled sleep - Microsoft claims
that it has addressed the complicated
issue of whether to put your laptop to
sleep or have it hibernate when it's not
in use. Instant Off, a new option on the
Start menu, allows Windows Vista to take
a quick snapshot of your system, then
shut down completely, thus eliminating
the occurrence of a hot laptop inside
your backpack.
This upgrade will take years to
implement and gain acceptance......
Windows and Vista are registered
trademarks of Microsoft Corporation
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More BEST information |
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