Here are another two books reviewed in the sun on holiday.  They get the Bob
Willis seal of approval for the book shelf, but read them first. They may fit in
the newsletter.

Flexible Printed Circuitry
By Thomas Stearns
McGraw Hill

I believe there are now six books available on flexible circuit technology
covering design, manufacturing and assembly. Flexible manufacture has always
been a black art which in the last few years has become better understood. There
are still a lot of people concerned about reliability of this type of circuit
but that was problems in the early days. One of the most interesting things
about the authors of flexible circuit text books is how passionately they are
about their technology and the potential uses in the most demanding
environments.

This latest manual is very revealing to the reader on all the problems facing
the manufacture. In some cases the text is a little repetitive but guarantees to
the get the salient points over to the reader. The only weak chapter in the
manual is on the assembly side which may have benefited from a co-author. But
that is an assemblers view.

Mr Stearns covers all aspects of flexible technology including material choices,
design requirements, manufacture of single, double and multilayer circuits. The
use of rigid circuits is also covered. Each section is not just an explanation
of the technology but in many cases a how to do it reference. A very valuable
reference book for the book shelf.

I know that Joe Fjelstad will be publishing a new version of his flexible manual
some time this year through ECP. We will have to see how Joe exceeds the quality
of the text in this document, particularly the assembly sections.

Printed Circuit Handbook
By Clyde Coombs Jr 
McGraw Hill

I remember writing a book review on the third edition of this book years ago
when sitting in car in central London waiting for a shop to open. Well on this
occasion the review of the fourth edition has been written on a plane flight to
Portugal. 

Coombs's handbook must be considered the bible of printed board manufacture as
it provides a complete reference source to both newcomer and professional alike.
You may think like I did that this will be just another rewrite as the print run
has ended but that is not the case. There is lots of new material on offer to
tempt the reader including some new contributors. There are some excellent
chapters of new PCB constructions, Printed Board Design and Design for
Manufacture. A section devoted to no clean assembly is ideally placed in a PCB
handbook particularly as the printed circuit can be a key factor in the
processes success.

The only disappointing thing is the relatively small coverage of alternative
solder finishes particularly as they are now a key feature of debate to assembly
and fabrication. The solder masks are covered, but far more detail should have
been given the assembly related issues of no clean flux and solder ball
compatibility. The need for a test which works on degree of cure would have been
valuable.

This is an excellent new addition, pass on you second and third editions to your
junior staff and buy the new manual. McGraw Hill did not ask me to say that.


The review titles are all available from SMTA in the USA on Tel: 612 920 7682
Fax: 612 926 1819 or the SMART Group in the UK Tel: 01494 465217  Fax: 01494
473975.




Bob Willis
Electronic Presentation Services
2 Fourth Avenue, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 4HA. England.
Tel: (44) 01245 351502
Fax: (44) 01245 496123
Home Page: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/bwillis
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