New K2 now!

[N7EDK]

Thanks to all of you for the encouragement and advice on building my new K2,I feel better about it already!This will take a while thou,I can't get stated right away.Too much coming up in the next two weeks,a little at a time.Thanks once more,I know I made the right choice to go with the kit now!73 de Ed,N7EDK--K2 s/n 6576.



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[dave.wilburn]

Your message reminds me of an important point.  Set aside a certain
amount of time to work on the rig.  For most people, more than 2 or 3
hours, and it is easy to get frustrated or make a mistake.  This is an
important piece.  If you are getting tired or frustrated, pack your
stuff up and walk away.

In the craft section of the department store, I picked up containers,
with lids, that had a bunch of little compartments.  I sorted my caps
(lots of caps) into one of this, and resistors and other hardware into
another.  All of the ESD sensitive items (chips, diodes and such)
stayed in their ESD bags.  This allowed me to 'close up shop' so to speak.

You can start this sorting and setup now.  Even reading through the
manual.  All these little items pay big dividends latter on.  73 es
look forward to catching you a little further down the log.

David Wilburn
K4DGW
www.k4dgw.com
www.k4rc.net




edward kacura wrote:

> Thanks to all of you for the encouragement and advice on building my new K2,I feel better about it already!This will take a while thou,I can't get stated right away.Too much coming up in the next two weeks,a little at a time.Thanks once more,I know I made the right choice to go with the kit now!73 de Ed,N7EDK--K2 s/n 6576.
>
>
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[DaveL G3TJP]

Ed, I just noticed something different on a current KPA100 I'm building for someone and it may be the same with your K2.

The KPA100 PCB is an ROHS one with soldering lands gold plated.  I don't know if that has anything to do with what I've noticed, but it's something I never saw on the earlier roller tinned PCBs I've worked on - and there have been a few!

When inserting a component after bending its leads, if the leads are scraped as they are pushed into the plated through holes, sometimes a tiny whisker of tinning is scraped off the leads.  This could lead to shorts if left on the board, so now after insertion and soldering, I check carefully around the lead entry points on the component's side of the board and if I see a whisker, I brush it off with a small paintbrush.

As for tools for the job, I find a small pair of Spencer-Wells forceps (artery clamps, often used by fishermen to winkle the hook out of the innards of their catch), a pair of good tweezers and also a thin rod of - almost anything - with a blob of Blu-Tak (sticky stuff) on the end is so useful for swift retrieval of items that "think" they've escaped the soldering iron.  

Good luck with the construction, just follow the instructions and you'll have something to be proud of at the end.

73  DaveL  G3TJP
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