Search results

Switzerland has an essentially rural image, emphasised by the CH plates on the back of every car; what wag hasn't said that this is because it is the land of CHeese and CHocolate? This image is, in fact, false as the country employs nearly 90% of its work force in manufacturing and service sectors. That having been said, the Vallée de Joux is a beautiful valley, 1000 metres above sea level in the Jura Mountains about 40 km north of Lausanne. The floor of this valley is occupied mainly by two lakes upstream of which are primeval peat bogs. The larger lake, the Lac de Joux, is popular for all sorts of aquatic and ice sports. It flows into the Lac de Brenets, a small lake which has no apparent outlet. In fact, the River Orbe flows out from it underground, to gush out of a mountainside again some kilometres downstream. Above the lakes, cattle pastures slope upwards towards forested escarpments, much admired by nature lovers and, in winter, skiers.

After an introduction briefly describing the historical background of flux selection for soldering in the electronics industry, a logical development is presented showing that water soluble fluxes offer many advantages not available with the more traditional resin types. Brief details of water soluble fluxes are presented with the emphasis on their practical use, including cleaning methods and equipment. Emphasis is placed on the use of proprietary neutralisers. The second half of the paper is devoted to the cleanliness testing after flux removal, and a description of a new measuring instrument is given. Cleanliness standards, backed by practical experience, are stated, with figures replaced by an arbitrary scale to emphasise the variability of the results according to the nature of the contamination. It is recommended that routine contamination control be carried out in all plants where quality of the finished product is a preoccupation. The combination of the use of water soluble fluxes with contamination control gives by far the most efficient, reliable and cost‐effective soldering possible with today's technology, and this will be used increasingly over the next decade.

This event is not just one event but a whole series of them running more or less concurrently. The main parts consist of meetings of the various IPC Technical Committees and their Working Groups, a number of Tutorials and Workshops, some Forums, a Technical Conference with 21 sessions and, of course, the Printed Circuits Expo. The last‐named is the second of its type, the first having been held in Boston last year. The only real problem with this series of events is that there is so much going on at any one time that it is impossible to split oneself into parts to attend them all or even a fraction of them. For example, on the Monday morning, there were 28 Committee and Task Group meetings, some of them lasting four hours, five Workshops and as many Tutorials. By Tuesday, the Conference and Expo had started, so there were fewer, only ten Committee meetings, one forum and three Paper Sessions in the Conference, and so on.

This profile is somewhat more exotic than the usual ones found in this, hopefully, august journal and your reporter would like to dwell on the background more than is usual. If you take your world atlas, you may find Ipoh as an isolated dot in the middle of the Malaysian peninsula, a little to the north‐west of Kuala Lumpur. Viewed thus, why would Multicore Solders choose such an isolated outpost to establish a subsidiary factory? Arriving at the international airport at Kuala Lumpur starts to give one a clue: there are enormous bare scars in the plain. Flying from Kuala Lumpur to Ipoh, these scars multiply. They are the remains of the open‐cast tin mines in the alluvial deposits. Viewed from the air, they are a terrible blot on the landscape. The amazing thing is that they juxtapose oil palm, fruit and rubber plantations and even untouched jungle, but they remain bare and desert for decades. It is evident that no effort has been made to conserve the vegetable soil and replace it after the mining operations are finished, but this may be because the humus layer is so thin that it would be impossible to do so. To the ignorant European that this writer is, I imagined that the jungle was an all‐invading vegetation ready to swallow‐up every square metre of land: not so, it is a very precarious ecosystem where the humus formed by the rotting vegetation is swallowed up by the new growth faster than it can form. The jungle soil is very thin, bare rock being common and such a humus layer may take decades or even centuries to form. Most of the disused tin‐mines are therefore as devoid of life as the starkest desert. It would seem that, after fifty years or so, the first signs of vegetation start to reappear, a very meagre growth which, in time, may develop into scrub or secondary jungle without high trees.

Interconnection Systems Ltd, one of the largest printed circuit board manufacturers in the UK, is strengthening its sales and marketing team with the recent appointments of Neil French and Brian McBride. Both formerly employed by Cityprint, they have extensive experience in the printed circuit industry.

Dr Wallace Rubin, international consultant on soldering technology, was recently honoured with the 1994 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award for his work in helping to bring about the elimination of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) solvents in the world's electronics industry. He is the only individual UK recipient of the 1994 award and one of just fifty individual and corporate recipients worldwide.

Argos Electronics Ltd are pleased to announce the appointment of David E. Skertchly to the position of Quality Assurance Manager. This strengthens Argos technical and quality capability as Mr Skertchly has joined them from Marconi Space Systems where his work encompassed production and management aspects of hardware for the Exosat, Marecs, Meteosat and ERS 1 Satellite projects.

David Tuffield, former UK marketing manager for Augat/Isotronics, has been appointed European marketing manager to head the company's plans to increase penetration into this expanding hybrid micropackaging industry. He will be responsible for the complete marketing and sales effort for micropackaging products providing the interface between US manufacturing facilities and Augat subsidiary product managers.

Asking someone how I should set the background for Productronica 87 in Munich as I felt I had said it all last time, the retort was: ‘No‐one will remember: say it all again!’ I suppose, one of the pleasures of Munich is that, apart from the occasional typically Bavarian restaurant that has regrettably become Greek or Italian, the extending of certain U‐bahn lines, the opening of the new Opera House, little else changes from year to year. Visitors and exhibitors alike repeat their biennial pilgrimage to favourite Bierkeller and Stuben. The crisp pork knuckles continue to turn on the spit in the Haxnbauerhaus; Löwenbräu tastes the same as last time; the ‘oompah’ band in the Hofbrauhaus strikes up the same strident tunes; Sauerkraut, Bockwurst, Bratwurst, Bierwurst remain ubiquitously available. The service is good; hotels are clean; trains run on time. Munich, please don't change … !

Always having heard that PCA Conferences are a blend of interesting technical and marketing presentations in a congenial atmosphere in the pleasant environment of the Runnymede Hotel, Egham, Surrey, and having attended my first such event on 21–22 September last, I can now confirm that this is indeed the case. The Thames‐side location has obvious attractions, but it was more the feeling of camaraderie that prevailed among the 110 delegates which added to enjoyment of the two‐day conference.