  We present the design and operation of an ytterbium ion trap experiment with
a setup offering versatile optical access and 90 electrical inter-connects that
can host advanced surface and multi-layer ion trap chips mounted on chip
carriers. We operate a macroscopic ion trap compatible with this chip carrier
design and characterise its performance, demonstrating secular frequencies >1
MHz, and trap and cool nearly all of the stable isotopes, including 171Yb+
ions, as well as ion crystals. For this particular tap we measure the motional
heating rate, <n-dot>, and observe a <n-dot> proportional to 1/omega^2
behaviour for different secular frequencies, omega. We also determine a
spectral noise density S_E(1 MHz) = 3.6(9)x10^-11 V^2 m^-2 Hz^-1 at an ion
electrode spacing of 310(10) mu m. We describe the experimental setup for
trapping and cooling Yb+ ions and provide frequency measurements of the 2S_1/2
- 2P_1/2 and 2D_3/2 - 3D[3/2]_1/2 transitions for the stable 170Yb+, 171Yb+,
172Yb+, 174Yb+ and 176Yb+ isotopes which are more precise than previously
published work.
