NORTH BILLERICA, MA -- BTU International said net sales for the quarter ended Oct. 1 slipped 2% year-on-year to $18.3 million. The maker of soldering equipment reported net income jumped 48%, to $2.3 million.

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NEW YORK -- Dover Corp. reported third-quarter earnings from continuing operations rose 27% to $156.3 million from a year ago, while revenues spikied 21% to $1.65 billion.

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, the company reported a gain of $274 million in proceeds from the sale of discontinued businesses. Those units include electronics OEM notables Universal Instruments, Vitronics-Soltec and Hover-Davis, among others. In the second quarter, Dover took a $106.5 million writedown against the carrying values of the discontinued businesses.

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SANTA CLARA, CA -- Agilent Technologies today announced the licensing of its Medalist Bead Probe technology, a methodology for placing solder beads ("bead probes") directly onto printed circuit board signal traces.

The advancement addresses the need for more test accessibility on PCBs at in-circuit test, especially for dense or high-speed PCB designs, Agilent said.

As PCBs get increasingly smaller, the ability to provide test points for in-circuit test becomes more difficult. In addition, designs with high-speed buses also limit where test targets can be placed on board layouts. Workarounds for these test challenges can be time-consuming and costly.

Manufacturers that own Agilent ICT systems can obtain right-to-use licenses at no charge directly from Agilent. A copy of "Bead Probe Handbook: Successfully Implementing Agilent Medalist Bead Probes in Practice" is included with each license. The how-to guide details procedures for implementing bead probes and is written for designers, process engineers and test engineers.

Agilent will license the bead probe technology to other test equipment vendors. Manufacturers that use other ICT equipment may obtain right-to-use licenses from Agilent.

PLANO, TX -- More than 50 companies will exhibit at the initial Southwest Electronics Production Exposition Nov. 14 and 15, show organizers said today.

The show  takes place at the Plano (TX) Centre, and features suppliers and representatives of production and test equipment, plus a modest technical conference including a dozen free presentations.

Register online at www.swepex.org.