In a recent case study, one of our defense customers in the UK needed to extract data from EPROMs and PALs on a specific Circuit Card so they could reprogram other Cards that had become corrupt. They needed to extract and use the existing code from six PAL’s and two EPROMs (16R6, 16L8, and 27C256). The original code files could not be located at that time. The code was extracted using a process that reads the contents and copies the data into an external file. The files were then used to reprogram the new components. After the devices were reprogrammed the customer found the “Original code files and checksums”. When we compared the original code vs extracted code, they matched! A total of seven boards were tested/repaired and went back into service in their radar systems.

A major semiconductor manufacturer in Penang, used a PPII with six P2M (matrix cards) to test cabling from a Semiconductor IC tester. They had rows and rows of IC testers testing laptop chipsets 24/7. The tester pins and driver electronics were connected by impedance-matched cable harnesses. These would, over time, fail. It was costing them close to $1M a year to keep getting these cables repaired by the OEM. A fixture was built between their PinPoint and the faulty cables. The PPII would easily isolate the failing cable harness. They’d worked out how to extract the faulty cable from the connector. Repair or replace it from previously used ones, then check that the impedance was still in range using the PinPoint’s LCR Bridge.