----------
>
> applied to the boards?
> >From a board manufacturing standpoint, is the gold plated to the contacts
> before or after HAL?
>
>Most operations I've seen will NI/AU plate after HAL.  This is done with
either a selective deep gold process
or using a finger line.  The panels will be coated with a dry film resist
(photo tape), printed, and developed.
followed by a tin or solder strip and then plated.  The advantage of this
process is no solder on gold, no taping,
etc....

However I've also seen small companies tape off or use a removable mask
coating over the gold then hal.
this process is more time consuming and really only works with finger
boards.

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