Test & Measurement: Adapters Allow Testing Of Surface-Mount ICs Without Soldering Them

A line of adapters lets users evaluate surface-mount ICs using test instruments or known-good boards without having to solder them to the pc board. The adapters have a zero-insertion force socket for the particular device on the top and a surface-mountable footprint on the bottom. To test a device, users mount the bottom adaptor to their pc board and then plug in the top adapter and drop in the IC. Users can perform a functional test by running a known-good board with the IC under test or can monitor the signal on an instrument using the wire-wrap test points provided for the IC. The company has a line of adapters for QFP, BGA, and other high-density packages with pin pitches from 0.4 to 1.27 mm, and it is expanding the line. Prices start below $200 in single quanitites.