RoHS => tin whiskers?

Thanks a bunch.

Michael

Hello Graham,

It's the old system but it works well. Unfortunately that means most phones will not work overseas, except for expensive multi-band muti-standard ones. GSM is coming though, but not for pay-as-you-go carriers AFAICT.

Hello John,

My hunch is that they will either do that or just remain non-RoHS, since much of the hi-rel gear is going to be exempt anyway. You can't have a Rolls-Royce jet engine quit over the Atlantic just because some commission in Brussels banned lead solder. It's not a great feeling when that happens, been there...

What if the only people aboard that plane were the ones responsible for this stupidity? ;-)

One can only hope ;-)

...Jim Thompson

Hello Michael,

Probably they'd be the first to revert their own creation of law. Sometimes there is nothing more educational than a genuine "oh s..t" experience :-)

That airplane wouldn't have been built. Responsible engineers would refuse to ECO stuff that isn't safe, no matter what some law says.

On Tue, 06 Jun 2006 07:06:12 -0700, John Larkin Gave us:

He is still around, and he is still quite popular with a lot of folks.

M o n e y

Tell our Great Leader that..

I have seen old HP and Tek gold plated boards with the infamous purple plague and lifted solder joints above corrosion - especially at the negative ends of aluminum electrolytics.

Lead free BGA's are a problem, the balls are made of the higher melting point solder and may not "collapse" properly at the lower temperatures in a leaded process. The balls furthest from the periphery of the part are worst affected by this.

Regards Ian

Talked it over with the wife, and we'll probably get one (the "Shorty" phone) after all.

Gotta ask - did you ever try switching to the 35c/day, just before making a call, and then when done switch it right back to 25c/min? Or do you usually plan ahead, then call the next day, for your business trips...?

Thanks again,

Michael

Hello Michael,

That's the one I got. Works well, but is kind of smallish for my hands.

I planned ahead. IIRC the days starts and ends at midnight but you'd have to check on that. I switched it in the morning and then back in the evening the next day. So you could leave it on the 35c deal during the day just in case another call happens, I don't see a reason to switch it back before the evening.

Hello Robert,

What I found when repairing our impedance analyzer is that the rather thick circuit boards had poor copper adhesion and poor via plating.

There's a big step between wanting emergency services to be able to find you when you need emergency help, and feeling happy that anyone (governmental or otherwise) can see where you are at any time.

I'm glad European countries have laws to protect people's privacy, so that this information is not available except to police with court warrants.

The "American way" hasn't had much influence on the American leadership in recent times.

It's a common misconception to think that people who have done no wrong have nothing to hide. As an example, consider the idea of curtains in your bedroom window to keep a bit of afternoon hanky-panky secret. If you normally keep your curtains open, and one day close them for a couple of hours, your nosey neighbours will get suspicious. If you normally keep them closed, you are free to enjoy your privacy as you wish. That's why it is important for your freedom and privacy that all your private information (including who you phone and where you go) is hidden except when absolutely necessary.

That question would be a dilemma, yes. However, the more appropriate question given the American administration's track record is what's more valuable, all American residents' privacy, or the government's appearance of protecting lives? Or do you really believe that wasting vast amounts of resources spying on everyone is the slightest help in protecting against terrorism?

You need to learn how to read... the GPS chip is activated when you dial 9-1-1, otherwise all that is known is which cell tower you are connected to.

...Jim Thompson