GA

[L Kendall]

Good Afternoon, OM & YL.

I'm just getting started on a K2/100 and joined the forum today--as it
seemed like the first prudent step.

I'll be taking my time and not rushing the project. A couple of other
projects need to be cleared before I can dedicate my attention to this.

I've heard a minimum of 40 hours is required for assembly and test. That
seems reasonable.
Long term I will build the KAT100 as well.

It would be nice to get this gem up and running mobile with the KAT100
for the Texas QSO Party at the end of September.

In the meantime I'll be watching the activity on this forum and looking
for tips and gotchas.

Thanks for the help so far from Elecraft tech support.

73,

Larry K5END



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[Don Wilhelm-4]

Larry,

Welcome.  There is a lot of K3 traffic here, but K2 talk is just as
welcome, so bring on any questions if you have them.

As for hints, the best I can say is take your time and work at whatever
pace is comfortable for you.  When one is tired, those components can
jump into the 'wrong holes' by some magical means.
You did not mention your soldering capability, but I can say that I
repair a lot of Elecraft gear and the one tendency some builders have is
to heat the component lead, but not adequately heat the solder pad.  It
is important that both the solder pad and the component lead receive
enough heat and time to allow the solder to flow out to an almost
invisible edge on both surfaces and have a concave appearance.  Use a
soldering station temperature in the vicinity of 700 deg F. and use care
not to get excess solder on the connection.  When the things are right,
you will see the solder flow out and be 'sucked down' along the
component lead and into the thru-plated hole - time for that to occur
should be at least 2 seconds, but not more than 3 or with heavy leads, 5
seconds.  Just enough solder to fill the thru-plated hole is adequate,
but I like to see a small fillet as well.  Use a small diameter solder
to better control the amount applied - I like 0.015 inch, but 0.020 will
do fine too.  If you do not have a good idea about what a good solder
connection should look like, look at the Soldering Tutorial on the
Elecraft Builder's Resource page.

Speaking of solder, consider the flux - it must be rosin type, and while
the old standard Kester 60/40 will do the job, it has a highly activated
flux, which is fine for cleaning off older work so the solder will
stick, but it leaves a lot of solder residue.  You will have a much
cleaner job if you use something with a mildly reactive rosin flux, like
Kester 385.  Removing excess flux is normally a 'NO-NO', I have seen
instances where it ruined a board because the residue plus the cleaner
got under components and eventually caused extra conduction paths (that
was a very expensive repair).  Normally flux residue is non-conductive
and does no harm to leave it in place.

Soldering and poorly tinned toroid leads are the two most common builder
problems.  If you don't want to tackle the toroid lead tinning job and
do it well, consider getting a set of toroids from The Toroid Guy.

73,
Don W3FPR

L Kendall wrote:

> Good Afternoon, OM & YL.
>
> I'm just getting started on a K2/100 and joined the forum today--as it
> seemed like the first prudent step.
>
> I'll be taking my time and not rushing the project. A couple of other
> projects need to be cleared before I can dedicate my attention to this.
>
> I've heard a minimum of 40 hours is required for assembly and test. That
> seems reasonable.
> Long term I will build the KAT100 as well.
>
> It would be nice to get this gem up and running mobile with the KAT100
> for the Texas QSO Party at the end of September.
>
> In the meantime I'll be watching the activity on this forum and looking
> for tips and gotchas.
>
> Thanks for the help so far from Elecraft tech support.
>
> 73,
>
> Larry K5END
>  
>

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