K3 assembly pictures posted

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K3 assembly pictures posted

Tom AK2B
"Interesting, but that jumble of toroids on the rf board is just plain
ugly.  I like 'em neatly lined up like on my K2."

I guess it's a matter of taste. I like something that looks like it was
crafted with the care of human hands instead of everything being lined up
perfectly by a heartless robot. It's amusing to me to think that the sales
person that took my order for a K3 could be the same person who may have
wound my toroids. It makes me feel like I'm getting a custom radio. I think
the K3 looks really beautiful.
Mine is a May 1st purchase so it can't be long now.

Craig, thanks for the pictures, they provide a nice perspective on things to
come.

Tom, AK2B



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Re: K3 assembly pictures posted

Mike Harris-9
Hi,

| "Interesting, but that jumble of toroids on the rf board is just plain
| ugly.  I like 'em neatly lined up like on my K2."
|
| I guess it's a matter of taste. I like something that looks like it was
| crafted with the care of human hands instead of everything being lined
up
| perfectly by a heartless robot.

If that were the case I would expect it to be better than the product of a
heartless robot.  The heartless robot would just plonk the pieces in place
and make none of those little adjustments which make the huge difference
between something crafted rather than merely assembled.  Anyway I guess
G4ILO is right in as much as I won't be spending much time looking at them
either, but sadly I will know they are there.

Regards,

Mike VP8NO

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Re: K3 assembly pictures posted

srife
In reply to this post by Tom AK2B
I was also thinking about the "reckless abandon" look of the mess of torroids on the boards. when I "hand crafted" my K2 I made sure things were nice and neat so I could say with pride that "I built that". If someone looks inside my K3 I'm definitely going to make sure they know that I did not make that mess in there.
   
  I suppose it makes no difference in the operation of the radio, but my god, don't those board assemblers have any pride in their work?
   
  Wayne, Eric...do you have any control over the quality control coming from the assemblers?
   
  Stan Rife
  W5EWA
 

Tom Hall <[hidden email]> wrote:
  "Interesting, but that jumble of toroids on the rf board is just plain
ugly. I like 'em neatly lined up like on my K2."

I guess it's a matter of taste. I like something that looks like it was
crafted with the care of human hands instead of everything being lined up
perfectly by a heartless robot. It's amusing to me to think that the sales
person that took my order for a K3 could be the same person who may have
wound my toroids. It makes me feel like I'm getting a custom radio. I think
the K3 looks really beautiful.
Mine is a May 1st purchase so it can't be long now.

Craig, thanks for the pictures, they provide a nice perspective on things to
come.

Tom, AK2B



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Re: K3 assembly pictures posted

wolfmanjack
Great pictures, I enjoyed going over each one in detail as I look forward to building my own K3. As far as how the toroids look, I don't think the electrons really care all that much :)

73 John K7FD

---- Stan Rife <[hidden email]> wrote:

> I was also thinking about the "reckless abandon" look of the mess of torroids on the boards. when I "hand crafted" my K2 I made sure things were nice and neat so I could say with pride that "I built that". If someone looks inside my K3 I'm definitely going to make sure they know that I did not make that mess in there.
>    
>   I suppose it makes no difference in the operation of the radio, but my god, don't those board assemblers have any pride in their work?
>    
>   Wayne, Eric...do you have any control over the quality control coming from the assemblers?
>    
>   Stan Rife
>   W5EWA
>  
>
> Tom Hall <[hidden email]> wrote:
>   "Interesting, but that jumble of toroids on the rf board is just plain
> ugly. I like 'em neatly lined up like on my K2."
>
> I guess it's a matter of taste. I like something that looks like it was
> crafted with the care of human hands instead of everything being lined up
> perfectly by a heartless robot. It's amusing to me to think that the sales
> person that took my order for a K3 could be the same person who may have
> wound my toroids. It makes me feel like I'm getting a custom radio. I think
> the K3 looks really beautiful.
> Mine is a May 1st purchase so it can't be long now.
>
> Craig, thanks for the pictures, they provide a nice perspective on things to
> come.
>
> Tom, AK2B
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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RE: K3 assembly pictures posted

Craig Rairdin
In reply to this post by srife
I noticed it when I took the board out of its bag. I don't think it's
assembly; I think it's shipping. They just get smashed by whatever is on
top. No damage; they're just disheveled. Like I said I noticed it but then I
moved on to the next step and didn't think any more about it. Next time I
open the radio I'll line them all up.

You could avoid the problem by convincing Elecraft to ship a "torroids only"
version of the kit. It would be the same kit but without the torroids. You'd
have the joy of winding them yourself and installing them on the board. Of
course you wouldn't get the benefit of factory testing of your finished K3.
:-)

Craig
NZ0R


-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Stan Rife
Sent: Sunday, November 04, 2007 3:11 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 assembly pictures posted


I was also thinking about the "reckless abandon" look of the mess of
torroids on the boards. when I "hand crafted" my K2 I made sure things were
nice and neat so I could say with pride that "I built that". If someone
looks inside my K3 I'm definitely going to make sure they know that I did
not make that mess in there.
   
  I suppose it makes no difference in the operation of the radio, but my
god, don't those board assemblers have any pride in their work?
   
  Wayne, Eric...do you have any control over the quality control coming from
the assemblers?
   
  Stan Rife
  W5EWA
 

Tom Hall <[hidden email]> wrote:
  "Interesting, but that jumble of toroids on the rf board is just plain
ugly. I like 'em neatly lined up like on my K2."

I guess it's a matter of taste. I like something that looks like it was
crafted with the care of human hands instead of everything being lined up
perfectly by a heartless robot. It's amusing to me to think that the sales
person that took my order for a K3 could be the same person who may have
wound my toroids. It makes me feel like I'm getting a custom radio. I think
the K3 looks really beautiful.
Mine is a May 1st purchase so it can't be long now.

Craig, thanks for the pictures, they provide a nice perspective on things to
come.

Tom, AK2B



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K3 "Messy" Toroids

AC7AC
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RE: K3 assembly pictures posted

AC7AC
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Re: K3 assembly pictures posted

Matt Zilmer
Not sure that would work, unless Elecraft had a different set of
stencils for the through-hole user-installed parts.  Othewise the
solder paste would clog the holes.  No - wait, these have to either be
wave soldered or hand soldered (toroids), after the reflow.  So they
have stencils that mask the through holes..  But they can't do wave
soldering in combination with reflow (that I've heard of yet).  And
hand soldering evidently is what is being done now for assembly of
through-hole parts.

No wonder it's not optimum.  As hams, we get the best out of technical
user perception, because we actually look to admire the workmanship of
radios we buy.  Others look at the industrial design for guidance.  We
look inside.

Hey - it's an idea after all.  One may always ask.

The real trouble(tm) with this approach is that the test eqmt at
Elecraft no doubt assumes the RF board is completed.  New TE costs $
to produce, and they haven't finished yet with what TE they need for
MP.

73,
matt, WA6EGJ

On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 15:34:53 -0800, you wrote:

>Craig NZ0R wrote:
>
>"You could avoid the problem by convincing Elecraft to ship a "torroids
>(sic) only" version of the kit. It would be the same kit but without the
>torroids. You'd have the joy of winding them yourself and installing them on
>the board. Of course you wouldn't get the benefit of factory testing of your
>finished K3.
>:-)"
>
>---------------------
>
>And that's a HUGE ISSUE! The correct alignment of those filters requires
>equipment not available to most Hams. That's why there are warnings in the
>manual NOT TO TOUCH ANY ADJUSTMENTS ON THE BOARDS! All user adjustments are
>done in firmware through the front panel controls.
>
>The issue of soldering SMDs was only part of the rationale behind a "no
>solder kit". The other part is that of providing circuits set up at the
>Elecraft lab to standards beyond the skills and resources of most Hams in
>their home workshops.
>
>Ron AC7AC
>
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Re: K3 assembly pictures posted

Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ
Administrator
In reply to this post by AC7AC
Its OK to -very gently- stand up and line up toroids that might have
been shifted in shipping. If they resist movement, do not force them.
(They don't like abuse.. ;-)

But absolutely DO NOT readjust the spacing or location of turns on the
cores. On many of the cores, especially those in the Low Pass Filters,
we make small changes in their inductance by squeezing turns to optimize
the return loss to the driving stage etc.

Also, please do not make adjustments to the trim caps on the band pass
filters. We tune each filter while looking at its response on a spectrum
analyzer with tracking generator.

73, Eric  WA6HHQ
----

Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:

> Craig NZ0R wrote:
>
> "You could avoid the problem by convincing Elecraft to ship a "torroids
> (sic) only" version of the kit. It would be the same kit but without the
> torroids. You'd have the joy of winding them yourself and installing them on
> the board. Of course you wouldn't get the benefit of factory testing of your
> finished K3.
> :-)"
>
> ---------------------
> And that's a HUGE ISSUE! The correct alignment of those filters requires
> equipment not available to most Hams. That's why there are warnings in the
> manual NOT TO TOUCH ANY ADJUSTMENTS ON THE BOARDS! All user adjustments are
> done in firmware through the front panel controls.
>
>  
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