[hpsdr] Warning on Atlas! NO HIGH TEMP WORK!

[Lyle Johnson]

Folks,

There has been a big misunderstanding.

The Atlas PCBs are standard FR4 fiberglass PCB boards, made with 
standard FR4 materials and are suitable for normal PCB manufacturing 
processes.

Don't worry about it.

The boards are gold plated rather than solder plated so they meet 
European RoHS standards.  That makes it possible to legally import them 
to Europe if they arrive after July 1st, 2006.

RoHS compliant manufacturing methods use lead-free solder, which often 
requires a higher temperature manufacturing process.  PC boards are 
usually made of one of several special fiberglass laminates designed to 
withstand prolonged exposure to the higher temperatures required to use 
such solder in a normal manufacturing process.

The Atlas boards are *not* made of such special, *high temperature* 
fiberglass material, so they are not suitable for use in many RoHS 
compliant manufacturing processes.

They are just normal PC boards that happen to be gold plated rather than 
solder-plated.

Nothing more and certainly nothing less.

> One question, why? A board with SMT components but can't take SMT 
> soldering temperatures, that is bizarre.

Of course it is bizarre.

Which clearly indicates that there is a misunderstanding.

Why automatically assume the worst?

It is in no one's best interest to fabricate and distribute useless 
boards.  Especially not Eric's, who has underwritten the entire cost of 
producing the boards from his personal savings, for the benefit of the 
HPSDR community.

He simply warned that these were not *high temperature* boards; he did 
*not* say they would not withstand *normal* manufacturing processes.

> Or a decision made by a select few.

I'm saddened that anyone posting to this list would even entertain this 
type of thinking, much less express it publicly.  What possible benefit 
accrues to the "select few" -- whoever that means -- to produce and 
distribute inferior PC boards?

> By the way the fiberglass can take it, it's the glue that likes to melt 
> and let go of the layers.

Yes, it is called delamination.

> I do hope that future boards full of SMT components are going to use 
> epoxy rated for SMT work.

Any process that works with the FR4 fiberglass we have all used for the 
past few decades in PC boards, will work with these boards.  The 
fiberglass is exactly the same.

The sky is not falling down.

73,

Lyle KK7P


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