In more recent times, printed circuit boards (PCBs) are often repaired rather than replaced due to the lower expense. Medical imaging devices, for example, along with office equipment and manufacturing robotics can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace. Repairing the equipment is often the preferred solution. Not just anyone can set up a PCB repair shop and a great deal of technical knowledge is required. An important consideration is setting a high standard for safety measures that must be put in place to protect technicians from the workplace hazards associated with PCB testing and repair.
The Huntron Workstation software has had a long life in various forms since its introduction in the mid 1990’s. Along the way it has matured and grown into more than simply a way to control a Huntron Tracker with a PC. Let’s take a look at how Huntron Workstation started, where it is now and also look a bit into its future.
Capture, Store and Compare
Huntron Workstation for Windows, circa 1995. Microsoft Windows was still new to some users so we felt the need to point out all of the parts of a “Window”.
We have come a long way… The multi-pane, flexible layout of Huntron Workstation version 4.3
In the beginning, the primary goal of Huntron Workstation was to control a Huntron Tracker so you could capture the analog signatures (V/I waveforms) of electronic circuits and store them on a computer. Having the signatures stored on a PC allowed you to use them later for comparison. This allowed you to compare the signatures of good circuit boards to those of bad circuit boards hoping that the differences would lead you to the problem. Your classic good vs. bad troubleshooting method. As a side benefit to this capture/store capability was having the information organized in a database that provided a repeatable test process. A test for a circuit board would be created and used the same way by all of the technicians and engineers who accessed it. This essentially provided a way to “share the knowledge” rather than having to remember it in your head or write it down in some logbook. Capturing and storing test data is the first level in test automation that makes our job a lot easier than having to document information by hand. The first versions of Huntron Workstation were created for Microsoft Windows 3.1 and as operating systems, PC specs and the electronics industry changed, Huntron Workstation did as well.
