'Tis unfortunate that in the real world, those products which are meant to preserve, prolong or protect a persons life on this planet and are/were "outside of scope" or "exempt" from RoHS EU directive are being directly affected by component suppliers choosing NOT to supply many devices in a leaded variant at all or reluctantly with very long lead times - even BGAs. One FPGA BGA supplier explicitly withdraws warranty on any re-balled device from the supplied Pb-Free to Eutectic balls. So the very reliability upon which exemptions were granted to High-Rel producers are not being served and supported well by many component manufacturers. I'll add to that the rush to "high-Tg" laminates and having to identify drop-in replacements for older designs when PCB suppliers no longer have low Tg materials or old Pb finishes. The exempt industries are being driven by the commercial market - maybe the exceptions are, or very soon will be, worthless. We too are re-engineering even though by the nature of our businesses we should not need to. Possibly component and laminate/pcb manufacturers view High-Rel as a small market share, indeed we are at only 1% of world market, but in times of trouble - what will you be relying on? This is a plea to support the high-rel industries too - at least until the reliability debate has an acceptable conclusion or (dreaming) the industry convinces the politicians to exempt all solders in electronic production - especially, as has been pointed out, WEEE will also be in force. Well done John for website. Not a reflection of my companies etc. - but sometimes you just feel strongly enough when you see the effects as an end user... and have an opinion too. Regards, Phil. -----Original Message----- From: John Burke [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: 17 May 2006 03:50 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Latest updates on RoHS round 5 exemptions and US postal stamps *** WARNING *** This mail has originated outside your organization, either from an external partner or the Global Internet. Keep this in mind if you answer this message. ER actually one of those companies sent me an anonymous email - I cannot say which one, BUT here is a verbatim of the mail: "I just wanted to let you know that not everyone has jumped on the 100% tin bandwagon. I work for a division of XXXX and we do not even allow anything that is 100% tin into the building." John -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of stephen gregory Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 6:25 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Latest updates on RoHS round 5 exemptions and US postal stamps I'd like to see some of the large defense companies (i.e; Northrop Grumman, Lockheed, BAE, etc.) belly-up to the bar and speak out about this issue. I know most of the stuff they produce is exempt, and it's exempt because of the reliability issues that they should be vocal about. I know for a fact that this whole lead-free frenzy has affected what they produce quite a bit even though what they build is exempt...trying to find components without a tin or lead free finish these days is like trying to find a needle in a haystack sometimes. -Steve Gregory- Leo Higgins <[log in to unmask]> wrote: .......that's it. We need a celebrity to endorse this issue...........maybe George Cooney, Bono, or Angeline Jolie would take it up. This is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but any increase visibility to the general public would be a serious help. I tried to explain all the issues and concerns to my 82 year old father and he got the picture. But this one-at-a-time messaging will not have an impact. If influential organizations developed an understanding and started pushing (like AARP, IEEE, Consumer Reports, etc.) maybe we could achieve a real multiplier effect and have people expressing concerns to unknowing government representatives. Best regards, Leo Leo M. Higgins III, Ph.D. Vice President, Technical Operations ASAT, Inc. 3755 Capital of Texas Highway, Suite 100 Austin, Texas 78704 office phone 512-383-4593 mobile 512-423-2002 [log in to unmask] www.asat.com -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Leo Higgins Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 8:03 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Latest updates on RoHS round 5 exemptions and US postal stamps Hello all, I think what John has done is really quite remarkable. In considerably less than a month he has captured the attention of the electronics manufacturing world, and beyond. I do not even know how to set up a web site. Thank you, John. In the end, the only truly objective rationale for all of this brouhaha is that we all want to make sure that we continue to manufacture very reliable electronic products and simultaneously watch out for our environment. That, I think, is the beauty of John's work, and all of the TechNet contributors. Despite all of the hard work and money spent by electronics manufacturers of every ilk, if we "had to" go back to BOMs and processes for electronics manufacturing with SnPb solder, I suspect few of us would choose to stay with the PbFree 'solutions', or half-baked solutions. It really has made it difficult for all and the very real threat of decreased reliability and a more negative impact on the environment really hurts, both professionally and ethically. I do not want to be associated in any way with the failure of the first electronic device that causes the loss of a human life simply because of this inappropriate surge to be lead free. It may have once been politically correct, but in this decade this is no longer acceptable. Thank you, John, and all of TechNet. It is really quite exciting to see the ground-swell associated with this Push Back movement. Neil Young has a new album. I have only heard one song, a cry for a leader, and it reminds me of his "Ohio" song, the lament for Kent State. It is quite moving, but then again I am a child of the 60's. Maybe we should contact him......... Best regards, Leo Leo M. Higgins III, Ph.D. Vice President, Technical Operations ASAT, Inc. 3755 Capital of Texas Highway, Suite 100 Austin, Texas 78704 office phone 512-383-4593 mobile 512-423-2002 [log in to unmask] www.asat.com -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of John Burke Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 5:57 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Latest updates on RoHS round 5 exemptions and US postal stamps Did you see what I put up on the RoHSUSA web site front page banner? if you let it run through all of the updates it reads: "......be heard, stand up and be counted, support what you believe in, and never let the thought "what can I do alone" even enter your head........." John................ -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Joe Fjelstad Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 3:40 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Latest updates on RoHS round 5 exemptions and US postal stamps Hi John, I second Ahne's comments. Their are still too many folks out there who have resigned themselves to say: "The train has left the station". However, if the train is headed for a cliff, we can still apply the brakes. Keep up the good work. 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