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Just finished building my K3

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K2QI

Just finished building my K3

Dear group,

Just finished building my K3! It took me about 10 hours from start to finish. I ran into a few problems, but thankfully nothing major.

My K3 is a 100w version with sub receiver and full complement of filters on both sub and main receivers. A transverter board and voice recorder module are also installed.

Lessons learned:

Don’t drink while putting this kit together… without realizing, I ended up getting pretty drunk during the course of assembly just sipping on beer. Mistakes can and will happen when you’re tired AND drunk.
Screw drivers and circuit board traces don’t mix… see item number 1. (My screwdriver slipped when I was trying to pry the sub receiver board out of its metal casing and scratched a few of the small traces. Fortunately, no major damage and the circuit remained in tact. Also, those damn holes on the sub receiver board don’t line up with the metal shield. This is why I had to take the thing out in the first place and sand the nubs down with a dremel.)
Read the assembly manual at least 3 times from cover to cover before you even start building. It really helped knowing ahead of time what’s expected.
Have a small pair of diagonal cutters. Cutting jumper W1 and W2 for the transverter board was a pain in the ass. I had to go to the store at 10PM last night to look for cuticle cutters (I should have listened to you Gary).
Don’t work tired!!! I kept pushing myself to finish last night, and while I didn’t complete it I ended up making mistakes. I forgot to install the voice recorder and ended up having to take the front panel off again.
Sleep for 8 hours before resuming assembly if you have to stop assembly at night. I went to bed at 4AM and woke up at 9AM to finish. While I was cleaning up, I pulled the power plug for my PS out of the power strip. I wasn’t paying attention and my thumb and pointer finger hit the two power plug terminals WHILE it was still half way into the socket. Suffice it to say, I didn’t need coffee this morning and my skin is still tingling. It’s no fun getting electrocuted…

Anyway, this thing works great now that I have everything calibrated and installed. Thanks to all the folks out there that took the time to answer my questions and help me out.

Gary Smith – special thanks to you for the assembly tips and the filters.

73,

James KC2UEE

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--... ...-- -.. . .--- .- -- . ...

drewko

Re: Just finished building my K3

Its quarter to three,
Theres no one in the place cept K3 and me
So set em up joe
I got a little story I think you oughtta know...

73,
Drew
AF2Z

On Sat, 21 Feb 2009 14:10:15 -0500, James KC2UEE wrote:

>Dear group,
>
>
>
>Just finished building my K3! It took me about 10 hours from start to
>finish. I ran into a few problems, but thankfully nothing major.
>
>
>
>My K3 is a 100w version with sub receiver and full complement of filters on
>both sub and main receivers. A transverter board and voice recorder module
>are also installed.
>
>
>
>Lessons learned:
>
>
>
>1. Don't drink while putting this kit together. without realizing, I
>ended up getting pretty drunk during the course of assembly just sipping on
>beer. Mistakes can and will happen when you're tired AND drunk.
>2. Screw drivers and circuit board traces don't mix. see item number 1.
>(My screwdriver slipped when I was trying to pry the sub receiver board out
>of its metal casing and scratched a few of the small traces. Fortunately,
>no major damage and the circuit remained in tact. Also, those damn holes on
>the sub receiver board don't line up with the metal shield. This is why I
>had to take the thing out in the first place and sand the nubs down with a
>dremel.)
>3. Read the assembly manual at least 3 times from cover to cover before
>you even start building. It really helped knowing ahead of time what's
>expected.
>4. Have a small pair of diagonal cutters. Cutting jumper W1 and W2 for
>the transverter board was a pain in the ass. I had to go to the store at
>10PM last night to look for cuticle cutters (I should have listened to you
>Gary).
>5. Don't work tired!!! I kept pushing myself to finish last night, and
>while I didn't complete it I ended up making mistakes. I forgot to install
>the voice recorder and ended up having to take the front panel off again.
>6. Sleep for 8 hours before resuming assembly if you have to stop
>assembly at night. I went to bed at 4AM and woke up at 9AM to finish.
>While I was cleaning up, I pulled the power plug for my PS out of the power
>strip. I wasn't paying attention and my thumb and pointer finger hit the
>two power plug terminals WHILE it was still half way into the socket.
>Suffice it to say, I didn't need coffee this morning and my skin is still
>tingling. It's no fun getting electrocuted.
>
>
>
>Anyway, this thing works great now that I have everything calibrated and
>installed. Thanks to all the folks out there that took the time to answer
>my questions and help me out.
>
>
>
>Gary Smith - special thanks to you for the assembly tips and the filters.
>
>
>
>73,
>
>James KC2UEE
>
>
>
>