Farnell InOne, the Leeds based distributor of electronic components, entered a 26-strong running team - the 'Circuit Breakers' - in the Leeds Abbey Dash, raising GBP3,000 for Help the Aged.

The Leeds Abbey Dash annual fun run, which raises money for Help the Aged, saw over 3,500 people finish the 10km course on Sunday 26th November, with all proceeds going to fund an Help the Aged 'HandyVan' - an odd-job man service available to elderly members of the community in Leeds and West Yorkshire. Farnell InOne, the Leeds based distributor of electronic components, entered a 26-strong running team - the 'Circuit Breakers' - who raised a whopping GBP3,000 for Help the Aged. GBP1,000 of this was raised directly for Help the Aged, with a further GBP2,000 donated to the Armley Helping Hands Centre, a Help the Aged Charity that supports elderly people in Leeds and one that Farnell InOne has close links with.

Steven Webb, Company Secretary Farnell InOne, comments, 'Farnell InOne is proud to be associated with the Help the Aged Leeds Abbey Dash, and as well as raising money for a worthy cause the 'Circuit Breakers' all relished the challenge.

Kozio has announced support for Applied Micro Circuit's new PowerPC 440SPe Katmai, 440EPx Sequoia, 440GRx Rainier and 440GX Taishan Evaluation Kits.

Kozio, a leading provider of automated validation software ideally suited for board bring-up, manufacturing test and power-on self test, has announced support for Applied Micro Circuit's new PowerPC 440SPe Katmai, 440EPx Sequoia, 440GRx Rainier and 440GX Taishan Evaluation Kits. Kozio's kDiagnostics software will ship on these four new AMCC evaluation platforms, and support from Kozio is available immediately for custom designs using any of these processors. 'Our customers are able to accelerate their system development time by using Kozio's software and we are delighted to provide evaluation versions as part of our evaluation kits ,' notes Charlie Ashton, director of software at AMCC.

'Kozio software saves us, and our customers, time and effort.' 'Working with AMCC has proven truly valuable for both parties, as we provide support for evaluation platforms, and deliver proven validation software for the earliest adopters of this latest line of PowerPC technology,' stated Joseph Skazinski, president of Kozio.

'This year we are shipping on ten PowerPC processor reference platforms and support a dozen more for easy evaluation of our software.' Kozio's turnkey validation package is pre-installed on the Katmai, Sequoia, Rainier and Taishan evaluation platforms.

This evaluation version of kDiagnostics allows product developers to explore various benefits of Kozio's software, including proven test suites for IC components, buses and peripherals.

Kozio's automated validation software includes proven test suites for the 440EPx, 440GX, 440SPe, and 440GRx cores, expansion buses, memories and all peripherals, with full access to all special-purpose PowerPC registers.

Kozio's standard package includes test suites for DDR SDRAM, Flash, EEPROM and DMA, with full programming capabilities during testing and production serialization.

Kozio's software also includes full testing of UART, Ethernet (10/100), Gigabit Ethernet, PCI, PCI-X, PCI Express and connected devices, 12C and connected devices, USB 1.1 and 2.0 ports, temperature sensors, GPIO and connected devices, the Xilinx ACE compact flash controller, as well as other IC devices.

Validation suites for all four boards are provided for evaluation, and complete validation packages can be prepared for custom designs based on any of these four processors in just two weeks, arriving before the first custom boards return from assembly.

In addition, Kozio can provide fully automated test suites for manufacturing or production test and power-on-self-test, delivering the same test functions used for board bring-up.

This continues the expansion of Kozio's long-running partnership with AMCC.

This release of kDiagnostics validation software not only supports the newest processors in the AMCC Power PC family, but also includes updates to the automated USB packages, Chelsio TOE and LSI Logic SAS devices.

'AMCC has done a remarkable job of expanding their processor evaluation platforms and entire ecosystem,' notes Skazinski.

Agilent Technologies has introduced what it believes to be the industry's first oscilloscope-based DDR2 compliance test application.

Agilent Technologies has introduced what it believes to be the industry's first oscilloscope-based DDR2 compliance test application, ideal for engineers working in the computer, data storage, electronic data processing and consumer electronics industries. The Agilent N5413A DDR2 test application, which runs on Infiniium 54850 and 80000 Series oscilloscopes, provides DDR2 electrical compliance measurements based on the Joint Electronic Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) JESD79-2C DDR2 SDRAM Specifications and INTEL DDR2 667/800 JEDEC Specification Addendum Rev.1.1. The N5413A also features Advanced Debug mode, which provides crucial measurements such as eye-diagrams, mask tests, ringing measurements and other tests not covered in the JEDEC specifications that help engineers discover the root causes of problems in their designs.

DDR2 memory technology is an evolutionary upgrade to its predecessor, DDR.

DDR2 devices will feature higher bandwidths and smaller chip footprints and will consume less power and generate less heat.

'Adoption of DDR2 among system OEMs and system integrators is increasing, and we expect interest to continue accelerating into 2007,' said Jay Alexander, vice president and general manager of Agilent's design validation Division.

'We are pleased to be able to offer engineers the tools they need now for testing, debugging and characterizing DDR2 designs quickly and easily'.

With the N5413A DDR2 compliance test application, engineers can use an ordinary oscilloscope to perform automated testing and margin analysis.

The application automatically configures the oscilloscope for each test and provides informative reports.

It includes margin analysis that indicates how closely the device passes or fails each test.

When engineers conduct DDR2 tests, they may encounter difficulties connecting to the target device, configuring the oscilloscope, performing the tests and analysing the measured results.

The DDR2 compliance test application guides users through these steps and does most of this work for the user.

If a designer discovers a problem, the Advanced Debug feature in the test application and debug tools in the oscilloscope are available to aid in root-cause analysis.

The Advanced Debug functionality includes a unique technique that separates read/write burst signals on the same bus, which gives engineers a powerful tool for debugging their designs.

With the increasing data rate and decreasing window validity time of DDR2 memory systems, signal integrity performance of the measurement tools becomes critical to achieving accurate and repeatable measurements.

The advantages of Agilent's Infiniium 80000 Series award-winning oscilloscopes and InfiniiMax probing include the industry's lowest noise floor, lowest jitter measurement floor, lowest trigger jitter and flattest frequency response.

Superior signal integrity in measurement tools maximises DDR2 design margins.

The JEDEC Solid State Technology Association is the semiconductor engineering standardisation body of the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA), a trade association that represents all areas of the electronic industry.

Current Agilent N5413A DDR2 clock characterisation application owners can upgrade to the new DDR2 compliance test application at no cost.

TTi (Thurlby Thandar Instruments) has replaced its best-selling EL302T triple-output laboratory power supply with a new model that incorporates a fully variable third output.

TTi (Thurlby Thandar Instruments) has replaced its best-selling EL302T triple-output laboratory power supply with a new model that incorporates a fully variable third output. The new EL302Tv is a linear regulated power supply with dual outputs of 0 to 30V at 0 to 2A. The third output is now continuously variable between 1.5 V and 5.0V at currents of up to 2A, replacing the fixed 3.3V/5V at 1A auxiliary output of its predecessor.

A 'push to measure' button allows the right-hand displays to show the settings for the auxiliary output, enabling the voltage to be set accurately without the need for an external meter.

The model change reflects the increasing use of low-voltage circuitry in most areas of electronics and the move away from standard operating voltages.

The price of the EL302Tv remains at USD305 (plus VAT), unchanged from that of the model it replaces.

TTi has replaced its best-selling EL302T triple-output laboratory power supply with a new model that incorporates a fully variable third output.

TTi (Thurlby Thandar Instruments) has replaced its best-selling EL302T triple-output laboratory power supply with a new model that incorporates a fully variable third output. The new EL302Tv is a linear regulated power supply with dual outputs of 0 to 30V at 0 to 2A. The third output is now continuously variable between 1.5 and 5.0V at currents of up to 2A, replacing the fixed 3.3/5V at 1A auxiliary output of its predecessor.

A 'push to measure' button allows the right-hand displays to show the settings for the auxiliary output, enabling the voltage to be set accurately without the need for an external meter.

The model change reflects the increasing use of low-voltage circuitry in most areas of electronics and the move away from standard operating voltages.

The price of the EL302Tv remains at GBP 305 (plus VAT), unchanged from that of the model it replaces.

Aeroflex has announced that it has added the ability to undertake live receiver testing and transmitter testing including HSDPA on its highly successful 6413A UMTS basestation test system.

Aeroflex has announced that it has added the ability to undertake live receiver testing and transmitter testing including HSDPA on its highly successful 6413A UMTS basestation test system. The capability is ideal for the ongoing maintenance of UMTS basestations to ensure they perform to specification as it enables testing to be undertaken without any disruption to live traffic caused by taking the basestation out of service. The performance of the basestation receiver is extremely important as it essentially defines quality of service in a cell.

With the low operating power of mobile terminals, the performance of the receiver has to be exceptionally good at all times.

A poorly performing basestation receiver will result in an increasing number of calls being dropped due to lower sensitivity and signal quality.

Phones will be required to transmit at higher power impacting battery life and potentially causing signal interference.

It will also make it difficult for revenue generating higher data rate services to be used.

A poorly performing base station will also significantly impact network planning as the number of calls a cell can handle will be restricted.

Conversely, a 1dB improvement in basestation receiver sensitivity, for example, can mean that 11% fewer basestations are required in network (source: WCDMA for UMTS by Harri Holma and Antti Toskala (Wiley 2004)).

The Aeroflex 6413A UMTS basestation test system is designed specifically for the installation and commissioning, maintenance, fault-finding, performance verification and optimisation of radio basestations.

A single-box portable solution, it is able to take complete control of the basestation via the Iub interface and perform all of the critical transmitter, receiver and functional tests without external control equipment or the need for detailed knowledge of the basestation's operation and control.

The addition of a live receiver and transmitter testing capability to the Aeroflex 6413A UMTS basestation test system compliments its existing Iub controlled test mode which facilitates the implementation of repeatable test scenarios in controlled environment based on the methods defined in the ETSI standard 3GPP TS25.141.

The Aeroflex 6413A's user interface is intuitive to use.

Based around an embedded PC and using touch-screen controls, all functions can be operated from the front panel.

Measurement results can be viewed while tests are running or stored for later analysis.

Tests can be run manually or automatically using pre-programmed test sequences.

'The addition of live receiver and transmitter testing to the Aeroflex 6413A will considerably improve its appeal to network operators,' said Ross Broadhurst, Product Marketing Manager at Aeroflex Test Solutions.

Accurate, disposable stencils introduce probably the easiest, most reliable method for stencil printing solder paste on individual ball grid array component sites for rework.
Intertronics are pleased to introduce probably the easiest, most reliable method for stencil printing solder paste on individual Ball Grid Array (BGA) component sites for rework - accurate, disposable Flextac stencils in a complete BGA Stencil Rework Kit. Flextac stencils have an adhesive side that attaches temporarily to the PCB, preventing misalignment and solder paste smearing. Because Flextac stencils are inexpensive and disposable, they help users keep lead-bearing and lead-free soldering materials separate, preventing cross-contamination, which can happen when in-facility processing, or reworking older assemblies using tin/lead solders and newer boards that are lead-free, to help RoHS compliance.
Flextac stencils themselves are also RoHS compliant.
Flextac stencils are part of a complete CircuitMedic BGA stencil kit that includes 20 different sizes of BGA rework stencils, a spatula handle and three sizes of spatula blades.
Flexible Flextac solder paste stencils are laser cut for correct aperture size.
They are cut from high quality, anti-static polymer film with a residue-free adhesive backing.
Because they are self-sticking, no tape or fixturing is needed.
The adhesive seals around each BGA pad to prevent solder paste from bleeding under the stencil when solder paste is applied.
This makes them easy to use, while leaving no residue on the board surface.
If the Flextac stencil is not correctly positioned, it can simply be repositioned.
The side tabs also serve as solder dams preventing solder paste overspill.
Since the residue-free adhesive seals around each BGA pad, one may make as many passes with the squeege as needed to ensure proper aperture filling.
The Flextac stencil is then peeled off, leaving a perfect deposit of solder on each pad.
Although Flextac stencils are disposable, they can be used several times.
The tools and materials in CircuitMedic kits have been used for decades by the most demanding commercial, medical and military electronics manufacturers.
They have been specifically designed to meet the requirements outlined in repair and rework guidelines published by the IPC.
The kits include in-depth instructions that follow recommended electronics industry methods.

OK International, manufacturer of production assembly equipment, has announced that it has successfully achieved ISO 9001:2000 accredited status following a period of employee training and increased customer focus. The recognition is specific to the company's Head Quarters in Garden Grove, California and is applicable to all products that are managed and assembled from design through to delivery to the customer. The process of accreditation took nine months to complete from inception to completion.
All employees took part in ISO awareness training and the company implemented internal auditor training as well as creating procedures and other documentation necessary to fulfil its business process structure and more importantly its management commitment and involvement.
Paul Weaver, VP of European Sales for OK International, summed up what this accreditation means for the company: 'Achieving this accreditation sends a clear message to all of our customers that we continue to take our commitment to them extremely seriously.
Not only in the quality of our products but in the quality of our service to our customers on an ongoing basis.
Therefore, it is essential to continue to improve the quality of our systems/business processes'.
This recognition provides evidence to the market, both existing and future, that the company's quality management system has met or exceeds the provisions and requirements established for compliance.
Weaver continued: 'ISO 9001:2000 is all about showing the outside world that you have quality systems that are future proof and able to manage the business effectively.
The real bonus for me is the shift of focus; in the past the main focus of complying with ISO standards was all about internal systems, this latest revision has a much more outward focus concentrating on our customers.
This is an important milestone for OK International and I am looking forward to working with all of our customers ensuring that our solutions and services continue to give them both a technological and competitive advantage in the market'.

Selective soldering system provides an effective entry point for soldering through-hole and odd form components into surface-mount and mixed technology printed circuit boards.
The recently introduced Rhythm selective soldering system from Tyco Electronics provides electronics manufacturers with an effective entry point for soldering through-hole and odd form components into surface-mount and mixed technology printed circuit boards. The system presents solder from the underside of the printed circuit board without any special tooling or accessories. In spite of a low starting cost, Rhythm selective soldering systems boast many features commonly found only in higher cost systems.
Processing capabilities such as a small keep-away is made possible by a tilting axis.
Additionally, the machine offers an optional nozzle configuration for processing PWBs over a four-inch flat wave solder nozzle.
The Rhythm selective soldering machine conforms to SMEMA in-line manufacturing standards and is well suited for applications where the printed circuit board is manufactured in small or large lot quantities with high product mix.
For applications with higher thermal demands, the Rhythm selective soldering machine can be equipped with an optional infrared preheater.
The flexible features of the Rhythm selective soldering machine help ease soldering for most any component, regardless of its orientation or obstructions in the soldering area.
Performance and value combine to make the Rhythm viable for many soldering applications.
Tyco Electronics offers the Rhythm selective soldering system as part of its exclusive sales agreement with RPS.
In addition to sales, Tyco Electronics offers worldwide service and onsite-support for the Rhythm selective soldering system.

RoHS compliant surface mount headers offer a surface mount connector product with 0.100in centerlines that can withstand up to 280 deg C soldering temperatures.
RoHS compliant surface mount headers introduced RoHS compliant surface mount headers offer a surface mount connector product with 0.100in centerlines that can withstand up to 280 deg C soldering temperatures. Tyco Electronics Corporation has introduced a new line of RoHS compliant surface mount headers. The new MTA-100 surface mount headers offer designers a surface mount connector product with 0.100-inch centerlines that can withstand up to 280 deg C soldering temperatures.
Additionally, MTA-100 surface mount headers are conveniently packaged in tape and reel (225 per reel) further enhancing the product's processing.
MTA-100 surface mount headers are suitable for power connections on a wide range of industrial and commercial electronics including: garage door controls, HVAC controls, household appliances and power supplies.
The new headers are designed to mate with Tyco Electronics' MTA-100 insulation displacement connectors and CST-100 II crimp, snap connectors.
Available in two through eighteen contact positions, MTA-100 surface mount headers are rated for 250V AC and 5A.
Contact finishes include: tin, 15 microin gold, and 30 microin gold.
The housing is UL 94-V0 high temperature black nylon.
Additionally, housings have back wall polarization housings and offer friction locking.

The high intensity RGB LED ringlight capable of single red illumination 592 nm, a single green illumination of 520 to 535 nm and a blue illumination of 464 to 475 nm is available from Klughammer.
The high intensity RGB LED ringlight capable of single red illumination 592 nm, a single green illumination of 520 to 535 nm and a blue illumination of 464 to 475 nm as well as a separate UV ringlight is available from Klughammer Germany. It provides intense, shadow-free and homogeneous illumination. The coloured LEDs may be switched on and off independently.
The system enables singular intensity control of all three wavelengths plus you can merge all three wavelengths together to get mixed variations to perform and excite biological and material science specimens in fluorescence, probably the only system of its kind for those specialist requirements.

A 140 page catalogue details a comprehensive range of DIN rail mounting enclosures, interconnection, batteries, LEDs, miniature switches, interface modules and control products.
Camden Electronics has published a new catalogue for 2007 detailing the company's wide range of components for electronics, telecommunications, lighting and security applications. The 140 page catalogue includes detailed data on Camden's comprehensive range of products encompassing din rail mounting enclosures, PCB terminal blocks, interconnection, fuses and fuseholders, batteries, LEDs, miniature switches, relay bases, interface modules, IC and PLCC sockets and control products. Products appearing in the catalogue for the first time include a new size 12 version of the patented CNMB series DIN rail mounting enclosures, high current versions of the CNMB series capable of handling up to 57A, new and improved 36-way PCB terminal blocks, rising clamp terminal blocks offering improved strength and the latest CFTBN fused terminal block with spare fuse option.
* About Camden Electronics - Camden Electronics, based at St.
Albans, Hertfordshire, UK, is a leading manufacturer and supplier of PCB terminal blocks, fuses and fuseholders, sealed lead acid batteries, LEDs, miniature switches, interface modules, enclosures, IC and PLCC sockets and relay bases for the electronics, telecommunications, lighting, and electrical industries.
The company has BS EN ISO 9001:2000 accreditation and exports a significant proportion of its production to Europe and the Far East.

3M has announced the launch of 3M Analytical Services, which forms part of the company's portfolio of service capabilities in electronic and chemical solutions.

3M has announced the launch of 3M Analytical Services, which forms part of the company's portfolio of service capabilities in electronic and chemical solutions. Providing access to the company's extensive RandD resources for the first time, the services are available to companies - not just existing 3M customers - particularly in the areas of health and safety, design, assembly and manufacture. The services can be used to identify problems with a product or process; ensure that legislation or certification requirements are being met; or to analyse and improve existing product materials.

The new services eliminate the need for the customer to have any kind of scientific knowledge or understanding of the complexity of analytical testing.

An easy-to-use tool that 3M application engineers can run through with a customer asks a series of questions that lead towards a practical test or series of tests that could help solve customers' problems.

Mark Nursall, technical specialist, 3M UK explains, 'A company may come to us and ask for help in, for example, identifying the source of a particular odour, or ask us to find out why a product is not performing as expected, or indeed to benchmark two products.

We just need customers to tell us what their problem is - we do not expect them to have the technical knowledge necessary to specify what tests they want us to carry out - they can leave that to us.

This means our services are accessible to a far wider audience.' Based at the company's laboratories in Bracknell, UK, 3M Analytical Services consists of a team of experienced chemists and other experts, backed up by a range of highly sophisticated analytical devices, equipment and systems, representing a substantial investment by 3M in the UK.

Equipment includes an extractive FT-IR for real-time analysis of gases, an X-ray photoelectron spectrometer for surface analysis, and a canister-based system for analysing air samples and odours.

3M is one of only a very small number of UKAS* approved laboratories that are accredited to test and evaluate whole air samples for air quality for health and safety purposes.

3M Analytical Services draw on the extensive analytical resources that 3M has developed over the years in the UK.

The services now form part of the growing range of 3M products in the electronics and chemicals market.

Contax, the production automation system specialist is exhibiting on stand B603 at MDT/Medtec at the NEC.
Contax, the production automation system specialist is exhibiting on stand B603 at MDT/Medtec at the NEC on 14-15 February 2007. At the Show, Contax will be demonstrating its collaborations with leading medical equipment suppliers and profiling a series of automation solutions. These will include automated systems for micro assembly, dispensing, conveyoring, curing and packaging.

Contax works with a series of world-class suppliers to offer its customers the best available solutions.

At MDT/Medtech, Contax will be specifically highlighting the following: Ismeca Exhibiting on the adjacent stand to Contax, number C601, Ismeca offers bespoke automatic assembly systems.

Part of the Komax Group, Ismeca's modular systems cover a wide variety of processes and specific medical device assembly applications including specialty and safety syringes, inhalers, valves and regulators and test and diagnostic kits.

Optel Vision Optel provides solutions for packaging line security inspection.

These include a bar code verification system; packaging integrity tool; and inspection systems specifically for barcodes, blister packs and packaging labels.

mta Automation mta offers a wide range of solutions for micro-dispensing, micro-soldering and assembly.

Its medical dispensing applictions rely on combining adapted micro-dispensers and automated robots.

For example, its recently launched Dual Dispensing Valve is ideally suited to applications that require two materials to be mixed accurately with high repeatability.

This could be used for epoxy resin based adhesives, where both the resin and hardening agent need to be blended efficiently.

By combining technologies from different sources, Contax can develop a complete solution.

Guidant Corporation, a world leader in the design and development of cardiovascular medical devices partnered with Contax to automate key steps in the manufacture of pulse generator products.* The equipment used in the automation solution included an RC500 robot from mta with advanced volumetric dispensing capability.

Contax also specified a Shuttleworth transport and indexing system.

The selection of a curing tunnel was also crucial as it had to provide both temperature and humidity control.

Caltherm was selected as the manufacuturer of choice, partly due to their proven track record, but also their willingness to adapt their design to meet Guidant's specific needs.

The Guidant process engineer commented, 'We obviously had a very detailed understanding of the process required, but Contax brought the wide ranging knowledge of the automation systems available.

They were able to take our requirements and then mix and match equipment - customising kit where necessary - to ensure that it met our demanding criteria'.

Continued Mike Rapson, Managing Director at Contax, 'By combining an in-depth understanding of the medical device arena, with expert technical knowledge and world leading systems, we are able to offer companies like Guidant the best possible solution'