How old are you going to be in 20 years? Plus, remember the internet is
killing ham radio and there will only be two dozen hams left then
anyway, and half of them will be like me with no place to put up an
antenna.
Thanks for the fear-mongering though. It's not like I don't get enough
of that.
On Thu, 20 Aug 2009, paul alexander wrote:
> I work as a design engineer in the medical electronics industry and am
> well aware of both the domestic and international requirements as well
> as the implications of removing the lead from solder.
>
> My chief concern is with tin whiskering. Eventually small strands of
> tin "hair" grow amongst component pins, causing short circuits, which
> lead to circuit malfunctions. Eventually, your radio becomes an
> expensive paperweight.
>
> No, conformally coating the boards does not stop the problem.
>
> I know that all the Japanese radios are intended for the world market
> and must be manufactured for the lowest common denominator, RoHS
> compliance. Since I rarely purchase new HF radios (my last was in
> 1982), I wanted this one to last me for a while. This became even
> more important when I considered the fact that I was spending about
> $3000 for a radio. Elecraft's assurance that the radio was built on a
> leaded soldering process was a major factor in deciding to purchase
> the K3.
>
> Unfortunately, with the push to become RoHS compliant, the component
> manufacturers have virtually stopped making leaded components. This
> means that we can still see internal failures of the components, and
> is well beyond even Elecraft's control. This also means that some
> customers (military and aerospace) who think they are immune to the
> effects of RoHS will have some major difficulties ahead.
>
> As a side note, solder is not the only thing effected by RoHS. RoHS
> covers the entire product, including the metallic chassis parts and
> the plastics that are so common in electronics devices. Many plastics
> use lead as a stabilizer and can no longer be used. RoHS also
> prohibits the use of other heavy metals, such as cadmium, which is
> used as a plating on metal parts. Bromine, a fire retardant in many
> plastics used in semiconductor casings and circuit boards, has also
> been eleminated. It is my belief that the days of picking up a usable
> 20 year old radio at a hamfest will soon be over.
>
> Paul Alexander
> wb9ipa
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--
Hisashi T Fujinaka - ht...@twofifty.com
BSEE(6/86) + BSChem(3/95) + BAEnglish(8/95) + MSCS(8/03) + $2.50 = latte
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