Tekmos DIP Handler

Tekmos make replacements for mature microprocessors. With the acquisition of Atmel, and we are seeing an increased demand for processors in the 40 pin DIP package. Whereas in the past, we have been dealing with small 100 piece orders, we are now faced with orders of up to 40,000. We had been manually testing the parts, but with the new, larger orders, we needed an automatic handler for testing.

40-pin DIP packages are a very old package design, dating from back in the 70's. They are not very popular, and are not supported by modern handlers. So our only choice was to go to the second hand market, and hope for the best.

In this case, we found a high volume, tri-temperature, 600-mil DIP handler. There are a number of 600 mil DIP packages, including the 40-pin package. We bid on the auction, and won. The handler was in Germany, and so we had to have it shipped back to America.

As you can see in the pictures, it is strange looking machine, but in excellent shape. It did take us a little while to bring it up. The on-board diagnostics were all in German, which none of us speak. Fortunately, the Google translate app in our phones came to the rescue, and allowed us to communicate with the handler. Our only problem was that it tended to throw empty part tubes around. After a few adjustments, the tubes wound up in the correct holding bin, and we have had no other problems.