I changed the title.
For the majority of hams Johnny is correct in his statement (below).
I am trained to do sm repair and retired a little over a year
ago. But I was relieved that I would not have a several-month
assembly project like the K2, when I chose the K3-kit. Three days
with 11-hours was enough and it went together superbly; I was amazed
at the accuracy of the hardware alignment. I never got that level of
precision on commercial radios, and often fought the injection molded
plastic cases. K3 has "real" metal.
I enjoy the design and building part of ham radio - reason one does
not hear me on the air more often. I do assemble sm kits and it
takes good eyesight, steady hands, and patience. Also good tools and
soldering equipment (and skills to use them).
The bottom line is that factory pcb assembly is typically robotic and
able to produce higher accuracy/consistency/reliability than us
"humans". So if it can be had for a reasonable cost vs.performance I
will often opt to buy it "put-together", saving time and temper. But
if it can not be just bought, it is also fun to make (within
reason). Most of us hams are more "system engineers" than circuit
designers, anyway. Buy a couple boxes and figure out how to hook them up.
I think it is wise choice of Elecraft in the assembly philosophy for
a radio as complex as the K3.
But if you really want a challenge why not HB a 78-GHz
transverter! LOL ;-) (Tip: invest in a set of precise calipers and
a milling machine): Half-wave dipole is 1.9mm long)
Ed - KL7 uW
(I am only going to try up to 24-GHz)
---------------------------------------------
Snipped from Johnny VR2XMC:
However, due to the wide?use surface mount technology, it will be too
difficult
for an untrained amateur like myself to handle surface mount work for modern
radio.? The modular design of K3 is something that I can manage.
73, Ed - KL7UW, WD2XSH/45
======================================
BP40IQ 500 KHz - 10-GHz www.kl7uw.com
EME: 144-1.4kw, 432-100w, 1296-testing*, 3400-winter?
DUBUS Magazine USA Rep
[hidden email]
======================================
______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home:
http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraftHelp:
http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htmPost: mailto:
[hidden email]
This list hosted by:
http://www.qsl.netPlease help support this email list:
http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Locked
