Introduction

Functional PCB testers test printed circuit boards as large as 600 mm by 600 mm (or 2 foot square). These boards are in some cases, up to 20 layers thick, requiring 1000s of test points for functional verification.  Each one of these test points may require as many as 6 switches each to provide the various voltages and currents for proper measurement. Because of size restrictions, isolation, relatively fast acting and good RF characteristics, reed relays are often chosen as the testing switch. A fully loaded tester can therefore, house over 20,000 reed relays. If there is one relay failure, this is equivalent to a failure level of 50 part per million (PPM). So the quality and reliability must reign supreme. MEDER’s reed relays have stepped up to meet these requirements; and their relays have become an accepted standard in the Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) industry.

Full application write up: Reed Relays are a Key Component in Functional PCB Testing