December 18, 2008

SemiProbe announces LA-150 Lab Assistant probe system
The LA-150 Lab Assistant comes in both DC and RF/microwave configurations; both configurations allow individual manipulator or probe-card contact to the DUT. Read More

A D V E R T I S E M E N T DLM2000 The Next Generation of Oscilloscopes Affordable, ergonomic, mixed signal oscilloscopes designed by engineers who understand your measurement needs. • Industry first...switchable 8-bit logic (mixed signal) input • Industry leading...memory up to 125 Mpoints • Bandwidths 200 to 500 MHz • Higher performance, lower cost • Waveform acquisition rates up to 450,000 per second Click here

Too late to bail out NASCAR?
Does NASCAR need a bailout, with its Big Three automaker sponsors facing tough economic times? Sportswriter and producer Robert Weintraub says that now "is the right time to put the sport out of its misery."
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NASA selects FIRST teams to sponsor
With its resources and expertise, NASA's sponsorship would be a benefit for any of the teams competing in the FIRST Robotics competition. For the three competitors from Alabama and the one from Illinois that will be sponsored by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL, the reward is surely a sought-after opportunity going into the 2009 competition. Read More

Helium ion beams illuminate tiny particles
A technology that may offer improvements over SEMs is the helium ion source that is the basis of Carl Zeiss SMT's Orion Plus helium ion microscope. Read More

A D V E R T I S E M E N T Digital Microscope Measures Surface Profiles, Roughness and More The KEYENCE VHX-600 Digital Microscope incorporates a 54 mega-pixel 3CCD mode camera and a high-performance graphic engine. It provides sharp, 3-D images, 3-D surface profiling and roughness, and color topographic displays. A depth-of-field 20x greater than conventional microscopes combined with 3-D image composition provide performance surpassing that of most high-end optical systems. Features include on-screen measurements, particle counting, glare suppression, TFT Display, HDD and CD-R/RW. Details and 3D Virtual Demos

Rigol launches DSO, MSO, and AWG instrument lines
Rigol Technologies offers the DS1102E, which delivers a bandwidth of 100 MHz, a real-time sampling rate of up to 1 Gsample/s, and as much as 1 million points of long memory depth on a single channel.
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FormFactor probe card targets 300-mm DRAM wafer test
FormFactor's Harmony eXP can test more than 1000 DRAM devices per touchdown and is capable (for some device designs) of supporting one-touchdown testing of a full 300-mm DRAM wafer. Read More

Agilent demonstrates USB 3.0 compliance test applications
Agilent's USB 3.0 transmitter and USB 3.0 receiver compliance test applications enable engineers to test their USB 3.0 designs and ensure compliance with the newly published standard. Read More

LXI Consortium releases latest revision of LXI standard
The LXI Consortium's Revision 1.3 of the LXI standard allows manufacturers of Class C-compliant instruments to customize their offerings by adding selected features from Class B or Class A categories. Read More

A D V E R T I S E M E N T Get the Latest Consumer Electronics News! TWICE.com (This Week in Consumer Electronics) is the official online news channel for CES 2009! Visit the site to check out the latest news and videos related to the show. Be the first to learn about what is happening in this rapidly changing market! Click here

Take a challenge, win a prize
Answer one of our December challenge questions correctly, and you could be eligible to win a prize.

Oscilloscope Challenge:
Question: Which serial bus decode feature are you unlikely to see in a mixed-signal oscilloscope?
Prize: TomTom ONE GPS
Sponsor: Yokogawa

Data-Acquisition Challenge:
Question: To what type of measurement can a Hall-effect sensor be applied?
Prizes: $100 Best Buy gift card (two prizes)
Sponsor: Test & Measurement World

Go to the Challenge Page

Do you make enough money?
Read the results of our 2008 Salary Survey to learn whether your salary and benefits are competitive with those of your peers in the test-engineering industry. Read More

T&MW's Top Articles for November 2008
Readers chose "What does GT/s mean, anyway?" and "How does a Smith chart work?" as their two top picks from our published articles. Martin Rowe's "Understand the differences in ESD tests" was the most popular Web-exclusive article, and Jessica MacNeil's "Air cars could be a realistic green solution" was the most popular blog entry.
See our other top articles

Industry calendar of events
Upcoming events include Measurement Science Conference, APEX, and The Vision Show, all scheduled for March. For more information about these and other test-related events, visit our online calendar.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T Solve Your Electronics Manufacturing Challenges Visit hundreds of exhibitors and meet thousands of peers in board, electronics assembly, manufacturing and test. Premier technical conference, 60+ full- and half-day courses, and standards meetings. Focus on advanced technology, environmental regulations, materials and SMT processes. March 31–April 2, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas. Click here

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

S P O N S O R E D Read Data Logging on the 884X with TrendPlot by Fluke in the TMWorld.com Resource Center The Fluke 884X offers a simple method of capturing and displaying measurement changes as small as parts per million in real time. This paper explains how TrendPlot reduces a time-series of measurements into a form that is easy to store and analyze. Other Resource Center Features: • Boundary-Scan for PCB Interconnect Testing by Corelis • Simulating The Effects of a Transfer Switch by Creating Phase Shift Transients by Pacific Power Source