| Hidee Ho Brian! | Just like the other Steve, we just bought a SPM too. Our is brand new, and it's a SPM-AV (has vision). The other option we have is a automatic underside stencil cleaner. | We're a contract assembler as well, just starting up. We plan to do small lots, and lots of change over too. This printer with vision, can do 12-mil pitch all day long. | What I really like about this printer is that it has just about every capability that one of the big buck printers have, you just have to do a few extra steps to do the same thing that is just a push of a button, or a click of the mouse on the fancy ones...I'm not sure, but maybe that's why they call it a semi-automatic printer...(GRIN) | Another thing I like about it is that you have so much flexibility to be able to adjust things to print just about any board that's thrown at it, unlike the high dollar printers. If something strange is thrown at those printers, then you have to go out and spend money to have fixtures made, etc., etc. | The thing only needs 110-volt power, so you can plug it in the wall, slap some air to it, and be printing solder paste like nobody's business. It also has a adapter so you can do different frames sizes. The normal size is the typical 29" X 29" MPM frame. It can do boards from 2" X 3" up to 20.5" X 18.5". The accuracy with vision is +/- .0008" (20 microns). | Another neat thing I like about the vision system is that the control box that comes with the system has ports that I can plug into, get me some video image capture software, a unit like a "Snappy", and I got me a video system that I can take some nice magnified pictures of components, solder joints, and what have you, and save them as files...I can think of a hundred uses for that. | Even brand new, with the options that I have, it's still well within your price range...(I should be getting a commision from MPM for this, GRIN) | -Steve Gregory- I have the same MPM SPM with Vision and a bottom side cleaner. The best for the price!!!!!!! If you're doing 12 mill you NEED both features. Once you buy one, you'll lament about it like we do! The only choice.... Scott McKee
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