Hi All;
Those are small. Certainly a challenge to the etching capability of even the best PCB shop. Must be made for integration into hybrids or chip level packages where etching can be at finer pitches than on a PCB. They must be low voltage parts.
I try to stick with 0805s (ATC 600Fs) but have played with (and dropped) 0402s (under a microscope).
SMT is a game for the young...
They dropped a kilobuck+ Leica stereo microscope on my desk 10+ years ago when phones had 0805's and 0603's. Seeing the little critters is not the issue. The parts keep getting smaller, and the peak to peak vibration at the end of the soldering iron and tweezers keeps getting bigger due to my unsteady hands.
Young, good eyes, and steady hands......3 strikes, I'm out.
0204's are mainline now even in really big products. They are already putting 0102's and 00501's on HDI PC boards in cell phones.
My last radio prototype had over 600 components on a 8 square inch 10 layer HDI board. I laid out the board, but got it assembled on the pick and place line. Ever try to hand solder a BGA? I can do the big ones with a Hakko hot air system, but the little single gate parts with 6 or 8 balls.....yeah right!
It's time.....I actually like my job, and they still like me, but I have spent 61 years in South Florida, and I really don't like it here any more. Some days it can take 20 minutes to a half hour to drive the 3 miles to work, but the clencher came when I got my homeowners insurance renewal. $6000 per year to insure a house that is only worth $120K. Another $1000 for flood insurance. I am not going to pay it, and plan to be out of Florida before hurricane season starts.
Motorola offered a buyout plan to entice older workers into voluntarily leaving the company with large piles of cash. My boss came and gave me the "talk" about how important I am. I was waffling, then I got the insurance bill.....I signed up. My boss has put in a "critical skills" paper that can block or delay my exit....so I still don't know anything.
Sorry to hear it but maybe you'll finally find the time to build a head box for that 833 guitar amp!
We try to keep our SMT components big and chunky for ease of assembly, but they are steadily getting smaller. 0603 is now our standard size with some 0402 parts used in really high frequency circuitry.
We managed to avoid BGAs for quite a while too, but we recently had to use a DSP chip that only came in a 272-ball package. The biggest problem we had was nothing to do with the PCB: the first batch of prototypes got assembled with counterfeit chips.
We try to keep our SMT components big and chunky for ease of assembly, but they are steadily getting smaller. 0603 is now our standard size with some 0402 parts used in really high frequency circuitry.
We managed to avoid BGAs for quite a while too, but we recently had to use a DSP chip that only came in a 272-ball package. The biggest problem we had was nothing to do with the PCB: the first batch of prototypes got assembled with counterfeit chips.
Aaargh.
Makes me wonder what the annual insurance fee on fancy real estate in the keys is, as e.g. the coming monday to be auctioned Melody key isle.
(fraid I wouldn't categorically object to another fire sale, as after the '95 and '99 ones on St. Martin/Maarten)
Cheaper to just rent and go once a year. I think my insurance is about 1/10th of that.
We don't do bleeding edge technology in Industrial Controls.
We did adopt BGAs years ago, and are down to 0.5mm pitch but are still using 0402 as standard size.
It is all driven by cost. The sooner you adopt the new technology, the more the product costs.
I can see where Cell Phones are pushing the technology. Fine for them. We will ride the coat tails.
We don't do bleeding edge technology in Industrial Controls.
We did adopt BGAs years ago, and are down to 0.5mm pitch but are still using 0402 as standard size.
It is all driven by cost. The sooner you adopt the new technology, the more the product costs.
I can see where Cell Phones are pushing the technology. Fine for them. We will ride the coat tails.
It depends on when the structure was built. Most of the big insurance companies will not write policies in South Florida, and NO major company will write a policy for a 37 year old house. The building codes were rewritten after hurricane Andrew literally flattened several entire communities in south Dade county. The most often shown pictures were of the Country Walk connunity where ZERO homes were left standing. My house was built by the same developer. Insurance for a house built after Andrew is about half the cost of a house built just 1 year earlier.
If you can afford the price of the island, the cost of insurance isn't an issue.
Opening bid, 3.5 MILLION!
Melody Key Florida - Florida, United States - Private Islands for Sale
Property taxes are another issue, mine are low at $2000 per year. Some of my friends pay $10,000 per year. The taxes on the Peavey mansion on the ocean near Boca are about $150,000 per year.
The house we have in West Virginia is worth about the same $120K. The insurance is $500 per year, and the taxes are $250.
Vancouver was recently named NA's most congested city so I can't pity you there but your insurance? Holy (fill in curse word) George!
Is that the price you pay for living in hurricane alley?
Please allow me to rephrase my previous comment : AARGH !
(as one skin flasher to another, makes me wonder how you'll be able to work on your tan in mild Virginia)
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