Nuts and Volts - January 2009

■HARDWARE _■_SOFTWARE_■_GADGETS_■_TOOLSNEW PRODUCTS

THE DESKTOP COMPANION II

Integrated Ideas & Technologies, Inc., has developed a prototype solder paste printing tool called the Desktop Companion II.

The Desktop Companion II was created as a solution to printing inconsistently routed boards. Previous methods of prototype printing dictated individual boards be tapped down, then printed. With a Desktop® stencil mounted to the adjustable plate on the Desktop Companion II, the two tension screws can be loosened, allowing the movement of the stencil in both the x and y axis.

“When board manufacturers have a tolerance of ±0.010” on a route and there is fine pitch or other small parts on the board, that 0.010” could result in bridging. This product allows the stencil to move — rather than each board — to compensate for the difference in the board edges and speed up the printing process. If you have 100 boards to run and each board has to be taped down, you’re looking at a lot of time and several rolls of masking tape,” states Michael Ray, developer of the Desktop Companion II and president of IIT, Inc.

A NEW

STARTER KIT

SchmartBoard has announced the availability of the new “Solder By Numbers(SBN) Starter Kit” — a starter kit for people who are new to electronics. The SBN Starter Kit includes:

• An Elenco 40 watt electronic soldering station

• Assorted sized tips for the soldering iron

• Water soluble solder flux in pen form

• Safety goggles

• A lighted magnifying glass

• Two screwdrivers

• Wire cutters

• Wire strippers

• Needle-nose pliers

• SchmartSolder

• A Solder By Numbers project with SchmartBoard and Components (LED paperweight)

The Starter Kit costs $99 and its release coincides with the launch of www.solderbynumbers.com.

“It takes two things to build an electronic circuit: the ability to solder the components and the ability to take an electronic schematic and transfer the schematic to a real circuit board,” said Neal Greenberg, SchmartBoard VP of Marketing. “SchmartBoard has made these issues easy which opens up electronics to a