Hi Steve, Again... "It Depends" ... (that has been used a lot today) Is it connected to any signals or isolated from all current carrying traces and planes? If it's connected it may just be a "Hatch Pattern" put on by the designer... in place of a solid "copper Pour" or "Fill" to act as a coplanar ground plane for example... As a rule, ANY deviation from the data supplied by the designer should be checked with the designer before modifying the Gerbers... Did they meet spacing requirements? Is this an RF board that might have it's signal affected even though it's not physically connected to anything... Floating traces or copper thieving can play havoc with RF board signals... The Designer needs to review it before they make any boards. We allow vendor added "copper thieving" only outside the finished board area where it won't affect the RF performance of the board. Never inside the finished board area... Best regards, Bill Brooks - KG6VVP PCB Design Engineer, C.I.D.+, C.I.I. Tel: (760)597-1500 Ext 3772 Fax: (760)597-1510 Datron World Communications, Inc. _______________________________________ San Diego Chapter of the IPC Designers Council Communications Officer, Web Manager http://dcchapters.ipc.org/SanDiego/ http://pcbwizards.com -----Original Message----- From: Stephen Gregory [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Friday, July 29, 2005 12:47 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [TN] Checkerboard pattern on the outer layers... Hi All! Well, another week is just about to wind-down...YAY! I have a dumb question. When a checkerboard pattern is put on an outer layer of a PCB where there's nothing else, is that called a "copper pour"? It's used to help etching isn't it? One other question about that checkerboard pattern (whatever it's called), a fab house shouldn't just do that without asking, right? Kind regards, -Steve Gregory- Senior Process Engineer LaBarge Incorporated Tulsa, Oklahoma (918) 459-2285 (918) 459-2350 FAX __________________________________________________________________ This message may contain information that is privileged and confidential to LaBarge, Inc. It is for use only by the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you may not copy, use or deliver this message to anyone. In such event, you should destroy the message and kindly notify the sender by reply e-mail. --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 -----------------------------------------------------