Greetingss..
     Concerning parts opposite BGAs, we have used that method without
any problems. It does, however lead to some heartburn for the Xray
programmer (namely, me!).
     As far as the need for an Xray, it surely depends on the
complexity of the panels. At our place, we have a number of panels
with high joint counts (>20,000). We've found that our DPMs improved
significantly after setting up the HP Xrays (A Series II 5DX, and an
older 3DX), versus the old method of Visual inspection. We're seeing
approximately 1.5 DPM after Xray, vs. 20 or 30 for visual.
Considering the complexity of our panels, and the presence of BGAs,
the Xrays machines have paid off for us.
     Running a simple panel, I don't think the Xray whould buy much
for you, although I know a couple of places that use them for 100%
inspection, even on smaller panels.
     Thanks, I enjoy the topics on this Forum..
     Paul Quintin
     Xray Programming
     Data General Corp.

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