KX1 build...so addictive!

[John Shadle]

It's after 1:00am on Sunday and I decided that it was time to stop
stuffing parts and get some rest. I started around 10:15pm and have
almost finished the first part of the assembly. I stopped after
installing the three momentary push-buttons S3, S4, and S5. Next comes
S2 (top of p. 24 on the Rev. B manual).

I'm just so excited to see this thing spring to life and wanted to keep
on going as long as I could. Now I know what you guys are talking about
when you speak of knowing when to stop in the wee hours of the night.
But, it's just so addictive!!!

S/N 1601 is beginning to look good. I'll send a link to photos tomorrow
(or rather, later on today).

Zzzz.
-john W4PAH


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[Bob C.]

Yes John, you are echoing the reaction of so many on here that have gone through the experience you describe.  I was no different in building my KX1 but made the almost fatal error of overlooking the words warming me not to cut the pins of the low profile MPU socket after soldering.  If I had stopped and gone to sleep instead of pushing on it would have made all the difference.  My result lead to the destruction of both the MPU and the socket.

Enjoy

72

Bob   de WA4MQW

KX1 SN 1221

John Shadle <[hidden email]> wrote: It's after 1:00am on Sunday and I decided that it was time to stop
stuffing parts and get some rest. I started around 10:15pm and have
almost finished the first part of the assembly. I stopped after
installing the three momentary push-buttons S3, S4, and S5. Next comes
S2 (top of p. 24 on the Rev. B manual).

I'm just so excited to see this thing spring to life and wanted to keep
on going as long as I could. Now I know what you guys are talking about
when you speak of knowing when to stop in the wee hours of the night.
But, it's just so addictive!!!

S/N 1601 is beginning to look good. I'll send a link to photos tomorrow
(or rather, later on today).

Zzzz.
-john W4PAH


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[Don Rasmussen]

Thanks for the fabulous photos of the K1, I'm sure it
brings back fond memories for anyone that's put any of
the kits together. I was actually feeling kind of
bittersweet after completing my second K2, I had
already seen the first one come to life so there was
no big surprise there, and sadly the construction
was... finished!

I also think that (most) many of us have installed a
part the wrong way, clipped leads we should not have,
or otherwise lived our worst dreams of ruining the
whole deal. Then you call the guys and find that every
part in the world is available, that anything in the
kit will unsolder cleanly with patience, and that the
PCB's traces don't lift with a little heat.

After my fixes, I came away with a load of relief and
a "can do" attitude that money cannot buy.

That brought it's own set of challenges but that's a
story for another day. ;-)  


Re: [Elecraft] KX1 build...so addictive!
from [Bob C.] [Permanent Link][Original]

To:  [hidden email]
Subject:  Re: [Elecraft] KX1 build...so addictive!
From:  "Bob C." <wa4mqw@ya>
Date:  Sun, 20 May 2007 07:16:35 -0700 (PDT)

 Yes John, you are echoing the reaction of so many on
here that have gone through the experience you
describe.  I was no different in building my KX1 but
made the almost fatal error of overlooking the words
warming me not to cut the pins of the low profile MPU
socket after soldering.  If I had stopped and gone
to sleep instead of pushing on it would have made all
the difference.  My result lead to the destruction of
both the MPU and the socket.

Enjoy
72
Bob   de WA4MQW

 

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[Brett gazdzinski-2]

Well...I think if you read the instructions its no problem
at all, the only thing I did wrong on the K2 was to add one extra turn
to all the toroids, and after unwinding one turn off all of them,
the rig did NOT work any better, as a mater of fact, power
out on some bands went down a little.

I did NOT do a parts inventory.
I barely read the manual, zoom zoom zoom, done
in 3 days with no other problems than the toroid turns.

The internal antenna tuner was zero problems,
as was the KPA100 amp, I get OVER 100 watts on all bands.

The one thing that I had to experiment with was the power output
of the qrp K2...any swr at all turns the power down.
The kpa100 is also very sensitive to any swr at all.

The rigs sure are great fun to build, then use.
Even heathkit at its prime was not as good in every
respect as Elecraft is.

 Brett
N2DTS

> -----Original Message-----
> From: [hidden email]
> [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Don Rasmussen
> Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2007 11:55 AM
> To: Elecraft List
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KX1 build...so addictive!
>
> Thanks for the fabulous photos of the K1, I'm sure it
> brings back fond memories for anyone that's put any of
> the kits together. I was actually feeling kind of
> bittersweet after completing my second K2, I had
> already seen the first one come to life so there was
> no big surprise there, and sadly the construction
> was... finished!
>
> I also think that (most) many of us have installed a
> part the wrong way, clipped leads we should not have,
> or otherwise lived our worst dreams of ruining the
> whole deal. Then you call the guys and find that every
> part in the world is available, that anything in the
> kit will unsolder cleanly with patience, and that the
> PCB's traces don't lift with a little heat.
>
> After my fixes, I came away with a load of relief and
> a "can do" attitude that money cannot buy.
>
> That brought it's own set of challenges but that's a
> story for another day. ;-)  
>
>

 

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