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Model 401 News:

401 End of Life:

The 401 has been in operation for over 15 years with millions of backplanes having been tested. However, due to the difficulty in obtaining replacement parts, we've been forced to cease support for the model 401. (The 401 was designed in 1994 and many component manufacturers no longer produce the parts that are used in the 401.)

The replacement to the 401 is our new generation, model 402 Backplane Test System. The 402 can test larger backplanes, be expanded to 40k test points, and is compatible with fixtures and test programs developed for the 401.

The 401 and the 402 use the same 6 wire switch matrix pin cards. This gives us the ability to offer an upgrade path from the 401 to the 402. (The 401's switch matrix cards will be re-warranted as part of the upgrade package.)

For upgrade information click here: 401 to 402 Upgrade

Backplane Test Systems

Testronics Model 401
High Pin Count Level IV
Backplane / Backpanel Electrical Test System

The Evolution of the Backplane

Over the past several years the backplane / backpanel industry has evolved from manufacturing simple bare boards with connectors on them to high density boards as complex as SMT loaded daughter cards. Design engineers are simply taking advantage of the unused real-estate on the backpanel assembly.

Where once a simple isolation and continuity tester (or bare board Level I tester) would do the job, there is now the challenge of active fine pitch components, capacitors, ASIC's, IC's, EPROM's, resistors, inductors, transistors, and any other component that can be found on a loaded board. Traditional backplane (Level II & Level III) testers can sometimes test capacitors and resistor values, however, there is no voltage and current compliance limiting. Any time a voltage of a certain value is applied to a point on the board there is no limit on how high the current will go. High currents and voltages can potentially damage active components as well as turning on parts of the circuit, thereby eliminating the ability to make value and tolerance measurements of individual components.

The Testronics Model 401 backplane test system controls both the voltage and current very tightly so that under no circumstance does the voltage or current exceed programmed levels.

Why Use This Model?

Large Backplanes / Backpanels
High Throughput
Level IV Backplane Testing
Highest Pin Count Backplane Tester
Quick Product Change
Very Reliable Operation
Global Installed Base
Free Software Upgrades
Industry Standard PC & Windows OS

Test Capabilities:

Isolation testing exceeding Bellcore standards
Continuity testing down to .01 ohms
Fully programmable thresholds
Resistors, Capacitors & Inductors
Diodes, LEDs, Zeners & Transistors
Vectorless: Diode Junction Scan
Vectorless: HP (Agilent) TestJet
Missing & Bent Pins
Connector Orientation & Keying
High Resistance Shorts

Key Features:

High Pin Backplane Pin Count Capability - in excess of 100,000 test points Level IV Testing
6 Wire Guard, 4 Wire Kelvin, Parallel Component Testing, Vectorless IC Verification
Pure Pin Switch Matrix - No multiplexing
High Throughput Clamshell, Double Access Fixturing
Quick Product Change Over - No cables or paddle cards
High Speed - 10,000 points tested in less than 60 seconds
Pentium PC & Windows
IEEE & Power Up Options Available
Scan pin probe with audible voicing of test pin number
Full Parametric Measurements
User Nomenclature for Error Printouts
Datalogging of Test Results

Testronics Model 401 Backplane / Backpanel Test System- Bridging the gap between
Continuity Testers and In-Circuit Testers

Testronics became involved with backplane / backpanel testing in 1987 with Alcatel being our first true backplane customer. The system is our model 103 Continuity Wiring Analyzer, had 12,288 test points, was programmable up to 600 Volts.This system was the next logical step for our product development with the predecessor being a bare board testing first developed in 1985. Testronics moved from Level I testing to Level II & III backplane testing. Level II being bare board backplanes with connectors installed and Level III adding passive components to the backplanes, usually resistors and capacitors.

Model 401 Res

IN 1993 Testronics moved into Level IV backplane testing with the introduction of the Model 405 Manufacturing Defects Analyzer, and has since been extremely sucessful with loaded board manufacturers as an inexpensive alternative to In-Circuit testing. The 405LV and 405D/C were configured for high pin count backplane and shelf testing utilizing the same software and hardware as the standard 405A except packaged different for backplane applcations. In 1995 the 406 "Armadillo Architecture" was introduced and implemented on the first 401 system.

Learn More

For additional information about our backplane / backpanel test systeml, please explore the resources recommended on this page. For personal assistance regarding this or any Testronic product, call 1-972-542-3111, email info@testronics.com, or click the link provided below.