K2 first light

[Darwin, Keith]

Well, I got to the point of doing the alignment and getting the rig to
receive on 40 meters.  The last step was to calibrate the S-meter.
That's when I discovered the meter wasn't working.  AGC worked, meter
did not.  I tried redoing calibration and making sure the meter was
enabled.  No luck.  I checked components around U2 on the control board
and all was as it should be.  Finally I just redid the solder joints
around U2, the J connectors on the control board, RF board and also
around the s-meter chip and driver chip.  That did it, the meter is
working fine now.
 
I've been very careful with my solder joints, doing all my soldering
under the magnifier lamp and examining each joint afterwards.  Still,
there were apparently some bad ones.  Fortunately that is all that has
been an issue so far.  The rest of the tests & alignment have all been
comfortably in spec the first time.  Nice!
 
First impressions of the K2 receiver - Wow, this is nice.  It is
definitely a quiet receiver, not adding any noise to the band that
shouldn't be there.  I compared it to my IC-735 backup rig and the K2 is
much nicer to listen to.  I'm going to like this rig.
 
- Keith KD1E -
- K2 5411 -
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[Don Wilhelm-3]

Folks (especially new builders),

Perhaps I should dust off my old adage here in the reflector:

First check the soldering, then re-check the soldering, and when you have
completed that, check the soldering!

Seriously, soldering failures is the most common cause of problems.  Use an
adequately hot soldering iron - 700 degrees to 800 degrees so you can 'melt
solder' quickly and then get the heat away from the solder joint.  I have
worked on many kits where the solder has melted but only on either the pad
or the component lead, but not both - this is a good indication of
inadequate heat to the joint - be certain that both members receive adequate
heat to flow the solder.  Do not be afraid of the higher soldering
temperatures, it takes both temperature and time combined to create a heat
related failure, so use a high enough temperature to keep the time element
to a minimum (2 to 3 seconds is ideal, 5 seconds is likely too long) and no
damage will be done.

73,
Don W3FPR

> -----Original Message-----
> ...
>
> I've been very careful with my solder joints, doing all my soldering
> under the magnifier lamp and examining each joint afterwards.  Still,
> there were apparently some bad ones.  Fortunately that is all that has
> been an issue so far.  The rest of the tests & alignment have all been
> comfortably in spec the first time.  Nice!
>
> ...

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