Lead-free series goes to Brazil
Kester’s (Des Plaines, IL) “Project 2005: Achieving Lead-free RoHS Assembly” seminar, third in the series, will be held March 3 in Manaus - AM, Brazil, and will be co-hosted with Vitronics Soltec (Stratham, NH). This seminar is designed to assist companies in transitioning reliably without false starts, bringing together the information that will give what is needed to achieve lead-free and RoHS compliancy quickly. Free to the public, six hours of presentation, ideas, and discussion will span lead-free and RoHS-directive overview; impact to a company’s operations and dual systems, leaded and lead-free; boards and components and RoHS requirements; lead-free soldering and alloy selection; surface-finish changes and solderability; equipment changes and process modifications; optimizing the wave solder operation and the SMT process; hand-soldering and rework production issues; preventing soldering defects with lead-free; contamination controls; training and documentation with lead-free; field service issues with lead-free; and finished assembly identification and traceability.
www.kester.com
Digitaltest picks Propelec
Digitaltest (Stutensee-Blankenloch, Germany), manufacturer of advanced ATE hardware and software solutions, recently announced improved service in Southern Europe with the appointment of a local distribution partner. Test-equipment company Propelec SA (Valencia, Spain) will provide sales and service representation for Digitaltest’s range of In-Circuit, Flying Prober, and Functional test equipment. Propelec’s test team operates from its base in Madrid, Spain and will assume responsibility for Spain and Portugal.
www.digitaltest.net
Wireless, wireless everywhere
Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV; Reston, VA), provider of mobile satellite communications, announced that it has signed a contract with ITT Industries Advanced Engineering & Sciences Division (White Plains, NY) to assist in the definition and design of ground-based beam-forming (GBBF) terrestrial infrastructure. The GBBF satellite system will incorporate adaptive interference cancellation (AIC) technology to dramatically improve the service quality and efficiency of MSV’s next-generation service. The hybrid satellite network will minimize the cost and complexity of the next-generation satellites, while providing the ability to upgrade and evolve the system’s planned 3-G cellular air-interface over the satellite’s projected 15-year life.
www.msvlp.com
ITT offers lead-free solutions
In line with imminent worldwide legislation, ITT Industries, Cannon (Newton, MA) now offers switch products in lead-free versions. Cannon’s portfolio of switch products includes many devices that are lead-free, and free of cadmium, mercury, or other toxic substances, such as hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls, or polybrominated diphenyl ethers. Switches, such as the trackball navigation switch, and KMR, KMS, TPC, TPA and KSU tact switches are completely free of all the chemicals mentioned above, and are designed to be completely compatible with lead-free solder processes.
www.ittcannon.com
Speedline appoints Asian rep
Speedline Technologies (Franklin, MA) has announced a business partnership with Schmidt & Co., Ltd. (Hong Kong) to expand Speedline’s growing business network in Asia. Schmidt & Co., a member of Schmidt Electronics Asia, Ltd., is a provider of manufacturing process technology solutions and customized technical services in the Asia Pacific. The company develops and integrates end-to-end and standalone manufacturing process solutions, and delivers them through a suite of customized services. Under the agreement, Schmidt & Co. will provide sales and service support for Speedline’s Electrovert line of wave soldering, reflow soldering, and cleaning equipment, and its MPM stencil and screen-printing systems for Taiwanese customers in Taiwan and Mainland China.
www.speedlinetech.com
Corning, 3Com promote FTTD
Corning Cable Systems (Hickory, NY) and 3Com (Santa Clara, CA) are partnering to promote fiber-to-the-desk (FTTD). Corning Cable Systems’ LANscape optical connectivity solution and 3Com’s IntelliJack switch, NJ240FX, give end-users an economical FTTD solution. Corning LANscape solutions include high-bandwidth optical cable, connectors, and hardware for a variety of environments. 3Com’s IntelliJack switch, a wall-mounted switch with an optical fiber uplink, uses existing copper connections in desktop devices. The combination enables end-users to turn a single Ethernet connection into four network ports.
www.corning.com
