George,

I absolutely loved Multiwire from a design point of view!  We used it
exclusively for a system that bounced around in a twin-prop airplane
about eight years ago.  No reliability problems associated with the
board fabrication, per se.  The Armed Forces approved the use of Multiwire.

However, I would advise you to look at the availability and cost of the boards
today and do a little research into the evolution of Multiwire vendors
BEFORE you commit to using Multiwire in today's market.  The number of 
sources has diminished (2) and you would do well to evaluate samples for
quality (I've seen lots of fluctuation over the years) of lamination
in terms of flatness and moisture content, number of opens due to drill 
missing the end of the wire which requires surface jumpers, etc.

Gary P.
---
                                  Gary D. Peterson
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----- Begin Included Message -----

Hello Technet,

I am interested in learning about Multi-Wire applications.  I
would like to understand when multi-wire is a good design choice
over PWB, and when it is a bad choice.

Also of interest is the operating environment.  For example,
would multi-wire be used in jet engine controls? If not, why? 
NASA applications?  Does Belcore talk about multi-wire for the
communication industry?

Are there unique assembly issues, repairability, etc.

One specific question.  Since the wire-via connection is only the
cross section of the wire, are the innerconnect reliability issues
more of a problem in multi-wire than PWB?  (Lord knows PWB's have
had their share of innerconnect problems)

-- 
George Franck

----- End Included Message -----


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