In a message dated 04/08/98 1:14:22 PM Pacific Daylight Time, joanna@redlion-
controls.com writes:

 >> I need some very basic info on things that everyone here seems to know
about.
 >> I'm feeling a little insecure (OK fine, I feel stupid asking but I don't
know
 >> and want too)

 >Brian - Don't feel insecure.  I'm still learning alot of this stuff
 >myself.  I know what you mean by feeling stupid but everyone here
 >has treated with with respect and that is what beginners like us
 >need.  :-)

Brian and Joanna,

      What's that ol' saying that you've probably heard a thousand times
before; "The only stupid question there is, is the one that's never
asked..."and that's really true. I've been working here in the "Silly-con"
valley ever since I got out of the Navy in 1987. I was stationed at NAS Moffet
Feild when I was discharged, so it made sense for me to stay here in the Bay
Area to look for work. I found a job as a entry-level maintenance technition
on SMT equipment, and then went from there. Prior to that, I had absolutely no
experience in electronics...much less knowing anything about surface mount
technology. So I know where you're coming from. Everybody has to start
somewhere, and with most people, 99.99% of the time, it's at the beginning. I
guess what I'm saying, is that we've all been there...so don't feel like the
lone stranger...

      I learn something new every time I come-up on the TechNet page...for
instance, if I knew a little more about Fabs, I might not have gotten into so
much trouble with Jens with the post I made yesterday...oh well, you live and
learn...but that's what this list is all about, sharing knowledge.

      Another INTERNET source for SMT info you might want to check out (if you
have WEB access) is at:                 http://www.smtnet.com

That's a more commercially oriented site, you'll see a lot of advertisements
there, but there are a lot of good discussions as well. Another thing I like
to do, is to visit different vendors web sites that are involved in our
business to see what they may have on their pages to learn. It seems lately
that more and more companies are putting more than just data and prices about
the products they sell on their web pages, they're starting to put good
technical information on the pages too. For instance most of the solder paste
vendors all have really good articles about  reflow profiling, no-clean,
causes and fixes for defects, etc. on them. So that's another source of
information you can tap.

     So to both of you, feel right at home here...and don't worry about asking
a dumb question. I'll screw up enough myself on this list to keep the heat off
of you guys....(GRIN)

                                                                            -S
teve Gregory-

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