The Z-2000 series of flame, furnace and tandem atomic absorption spectrophotometers can determine low concentrations of toxic elements such as cadmium, mercury, lead and hexavalent chromium. This is of increasing importance with the implementation of the WEEE Directive and the planned implementation of RoHS next year.

Of particular importance is the determination of these toxic metals in plastic components such as electrical cables. A new method of sample preparation for polyethylene samples has been introduced which uses high-pressure microwave digestion with nitric acid. This replaces traditional extraction methods using sulphuric acid which is not suitable for the measurement of lead. Details of the new extraction method can be found in a new technical data sheet published by Hitachi (AA Sheet No. 72). (For a copy, e-mail info@hitachi-hitec-uk.com).

The Z-2000 Series benefits from the polarized Zeeman background correction method on both flame and furnace instruments, which not only gives extremely effective background elimination but also extremely stable baselines for both methods. The dual beam optics features twin detectors, enhancing detection levels. Detection limits for the flame instrument (in micrograms/g) are Cd: 2, Pb: 50 and Cr: 50. For the furnace instrument they are: Cd: 0.01, Pb: 0.25 and Cr: 0.2, also in micrograms/g.

The series is also suited to the testing of river water for toxic elements. These elements could end up in river water as a result of inappropriate disposal methods of electronic and electrical equipment. 

Hitachi High-Technologies Corp,. hitachi-hitec-uk.com

Speedline Technologies has announced several lead-free upgrades for its line of Electrovert Wave Soldering Systems.

40% wider than the traditional tin/lead nozzle, the UltraFill Nozzle increases both contact length and dwell time. The nozzles are placed closer together to reduce the temperature drop between the nozzles – so less superheat is needed to reflow solder joints in the second wave. As a result, hole fill is improved and bridging is reduced. There’s no requirement to slow the conveyor and dross generation is reduced.  The nozzles are available in Melonite Corrosion Resistant Stainless Steel or Titanium Material. 

An optional Nitrogen shroud is available for use with the Nozzle. Allows for either air or nitrogen operation, as determined by the desired recipe, without the need to change nozzles. The shroud both encompasses the nozzles in the pot and reduces dross formation in nitrogen environments. Lifts for easy maintenance and dedrossing without nozzle removal. 

Quick Change Solder Pot provides the capability to easily switch between two alloys, such as between tin/lead and lead-free solders.  The unit includes a second solder pot with motors, pumps, flow ducts, nozzle and two trolleys.

Both upgrades are available as an option on new or existing, installed Electrovert EconoPak Gold, Electra and Vectra systems.

Other available upgrades include:

• High Velocity Convention (HVC) Topside Preheater, for even topside preheating and tighter Delta T’s across the board;

• Reciprocating Spray Fluxing Technology, featuring UltraSpray technology for precise flux deposition, improved through-hole penetration and low maintenance requirements;

• Vectaheat Bottomside Preheater, providing efficient, even high thermal mass heating.

Speedline Technologies, speedlinetech.com

Version 10 of Ansoft's HFSS high-frequency/high-speed electromagnetic design product introduces capabilities for design-flow efficiency that allow users to easily share CAD models and results across existing CAD/CAE products. Offers dynamic-link technology  to co-simulate with other Ansoft products and extends applications to include RF/analog IC co-design, EMI/EMC and microwave heating.

The ability to reuse third-party CAD models and EDA layouts saves engineering time and allows designers to spend more time optimizing performance. Includes new model healing, meshing technology and model-resolution techniques that simplify the model translation and meshing process.

Expands  dynamic-link technology from Ansoft Designer to also include dynamic links to Nexxim(, SIwave, Maxwell and ePhysics for a range of end-user applications, including RF/analog IC, EMI/EMC, chip-package-board co-design and microwave heating. New features include optical incident wave sources, analysis prioritization, queuing and distributed network processing, user-constructed convergence criteria and support for Linux and Windows XP Professional.

Ansoft, ansoft.com or hfss.com

SP200-AV is an easy-to-operate semiautomatic stencil printer. The only manual task is placing the PCB into the machine. All other operations – including the positioning of the PCB – are fully automatic. Reportedly produces precise reproducible printing results. Designed for serial production, but can also be used for small batches due to the simple changeover.

Fast two-point-vision system provides a precise alignment of every PCB. To guarantee exact positioning for printing, two cameras look straight through the stencil onto the PCB. The cleanliness of the stencil and the alignment are checked simultaneously; misalignment is corrected automatically.

Control software is based on Windows, has built-in mouse and keyboard. All printing parameters are programmable with unlimited storage capacity for printing programs.

Side drawer provides simple loading and unloading. Frames of 584 x 584 mm can be mounted; maximum printing area is 400 x 360 mm.

ESSEMTEC, essemtec.com

353M Double-Coated Acrylic Adhesive Tape System combines quick-stick properties similar to rubber-based systems with the temperature performance of an acrylic system. Engineered for numerous substrate-bonding applications involving low energy surfaces, and challenging foams such as cross-linked polyethylene, low perms, ethers and esters.

Incorporates a differential caliper coating of 1.7 mils on the exposed side and 1.3 mils on the liner side, with typical peel values of 72 oz./in. width on the exposed side and 64 oz.. in. width on the liner side. Features a formaldehyde-free composition, RoHS complient. Several liner options, including 55 lb. densified Kraft, 74 lb. polycoated paper, 12 pt. board and a 2-mil PET liner are available.

Adchem Corp., adchem.com

Ansoft Corp.announced a Distributed Analysis option for use with HFSS v10, Q3D Extractor v7 and Maxwell 3D v11. Allows customers of Ansoft's electromagnetic-field simulation software products to distribute parametric studies across available hardware to expedite EM model extraction, characterization and optimization.

Distributed Analysis option is an effective way to increase simulation power. This option applies parallel computation toward the investigation of parametric design variations, saving overall analysis time while maximizing existing computer hardware. This optional capability supports the splitting of multiple predefined parametric design variations and/or frequency points, the allocation and solving of each instance on a separate machine and the reassembling of the solution sets.

Ansoft, www.ansoft.com

Accurately locating and treating static-related problems at the source can increase product quality, output and yields. FMX-003 Fieldmeter is a measuring tool to isolate and solve static problems in applications with a potential for static charge generation.

Measures static voltages within ±22kV (22,000V) at a distance of 1" and displays results numerically and in bar graph format. POWER on/off, ZERO adjustment, Ion Balance (IB) and HOLD are all push button operations. HOLD button allows the display to retain the static charge reading, useful when the display is difficult to see during measurement.

Simco, simco-static.com

NITON XLi 300 is a “phaser grip” ergonometric option in portable lead analyzers.

Said to provide fast, accurate lead analysis for inspections, risk assessment and screening with portability, ease of use and advanced reporting and data integration tools. Enhances inspector productivity - providing dependable results in seconds – even at or near action levels.

Features an integrated touch-screen display, intuitive user interface along with multiple data entry options and optional BlueTooth wireless communication. Extend-a-Pole option allows anyone to reach ceilings and high trim.

Offers features like tamper-proof data encryption, analysis of both the “K” and “L” shells and an ability to handle dense substrates or deeply buried paint.

Has weather-resistant design, splash-proof housing and a backlit screen that can be read in bright sunlight, even while wearing sunglasses.

Thermo Electron, thermo.com/NITON

SFX/USL1149-x Scanflex Boundary Scan controller supports USB2.0 and 10/100 MBit Ethernet interfaces and is offered in performance classes A, B and C.

The models differ in the upper TCK frequency limit (maximum of 20, 50 or 80 MHz, respectively) as well as the implementation level of the enhanced Space II chip set for high performance scan operations. Integrated Fastscale technology allows an upgrade of the controller’s performance class on the fly. Include Adycs II to compensate run time delays and Hyscan for splitting of serial TAP vectors and parallel I/O vectors.

In combination with SFX transceiver and I/O modules, USB2.0 and LAN controlled Boundary Scan systems with up to eight concurrent TAP and 31 additional functional modules can be configured. All TAP provide programmable input and output voltage, input and output impedance, TCK frequency and delay compensation, as well as read-back of output signals and a relay-controlled power signal.

Supported by System Cascon from version 4.2.1 on.

GÖPEL electronic, goepel.com

Agilent Technologies Inc. announced that IDT (Integrated Device Technology Inc.), a communications IC company, has purchased eight Agilent BIST Assist production test cards to upgrade its 93000 Series SOC Tester. The upgrade allows testing of high-speed links in loopback/BIST mode for speeds up to 6.4 Gb/s.

Historically, as interface bandwidths in consumer devices such as televisions, set-top boxes and PCs increase, the cost of test rises exponentially. Manufacturers are also encountering consumer-pricing pressures. Agilent created the Built-in Self-Test Assist (BIST) card to break the trend of escalating costs for high-speed links in production and to act as an extension to the SOC tester. 

The card features adjustable and precise jitter injection, DC access and at-speed level control. Said to have a flexible and wide application span for graphics, chipset, switches and SerDes devices in BIST or loopback mode (SATA, AMB, PCI Express and Fibre Channel, for example) that require high-fault coverage and high-speed data rates.   

Agilent Technologies Inc., agilent.com/see/soctest

EWT-700C multi-functional inline workstation allows production to run two different products from the same conveyor station, thus splitting the line.

Designed to for inline and split (end of process/beginning of process) production.

Contains dual 500-mm long drives and can be positioned after a pick-and-place machine but before the reflow oven or other machine (as an example). Touch screen panel controls all programming.

Three modes of selectable operation are:

a)      AUDIT Mode

b)      PASS Mode

c)      MANUAL Mode.

Custom lengths (both drives and overall dimensions) available on request.

Promation, Pro-mation-Inc.com 

Speedline Technologies has released lead-free enhancements for its Electrovert Econopak Gold Wave Soldering Systems.

Designed for medium volume electronics manufacturers, the systems ship lead-free process ready.

The compact wave soldering solution now has UltraFill Nozzles and a Quick Change Solder Pot.  

Nozzles are 40% percent wider than the traditional tin/lead nozzle. Their design and placement mean less superheat is required to reflow solder joints in the second wave. Benefits include improved hole fill, bridge defect reduction and reduced dross formation. Available in Melonite Corrosion Resistant Stainless Steel or Titanium material. 

An optional Nitrogen shroud encompasses the nozzles in the pot. It allows for air or nitrogen operation and lift design ensures ease of maintenance and dedrossing without change or removal.

Solder pot allows for the easy switch between alloys such as tin/lead and lead-free solder.  The unit includes a second solder pot with motors, pumps, flow ducts, nozzle and two trolleys.

The lead-free ready platform can be fitted with many features including nitrogen inerting, convection pre-heating, Rotary chip wave, gas knife de-bridging technolog, and alternate fluxing options. The solder module provides wave dynamics for densely populated circuits, SMT components and difficult-to-solder geometries. Processes boards up to 400 mm with 1.2 m of preheat.

Speedline Technologies, speedlinetech.com