Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1488725
60 PCB007 MAGAZINE I DECEMBER 2022 Although iconic, when I say "coming back to life," I'm not talking about a Pink Floyd song, but rather about printed circuits. Bare boards have been in production for decades—from single- and double-sided breadboards to the impressive multilayer designs of today—and we all agree that the PCB is here to stay. With today's technology, designs are archived and realistically available forever. However, much of the legacy product of decades past is long forgotten. ese rugged PCBs have been in service for years; their spare parts are full of dust on a forgotten shelf, ultimately obsoleted and scrapped. In consumer electronics, this is less of an issue because technology is advancing almost daily and new designs and enhancements are continuously evolving. But what about those rugged, hidden, non-consumer products that are keeping important infrastructure plugging along? Some of these high-reliability products are not thought about—until they fail. en frantic calls for a replacement lead someone to discover that the dusty part on that long- forgotten shelf was obsoleted last Friday and is sunbathing in the landfill now. Farfetched? Unfortunately, truer than you think. Now, as for what to do in such a situation: If you're lucky, the PCB manufacturer may have a bare PCB in archive with an intact service agreement for long-term support. Or, they may have the phototools archived and can read- ily reproduce the PCB. But more likely, you'll find yourself answering "no" when checking whether you have these options available to you—and then you're stuck. You're forced to look for an updated model or part for your his- toric equipment that likely doesn't exist or does Coming Back to Life: Design Recovery Testing Todd by Todd Kolmodin, GARDIEN SERVICES USA