[Elecraft] IC pins

[Jeremiah J McCarthy]

> HOWEVER, what drives me absolutely bats is straightening
> the "legs" on the IC's! I've managed to almost mangle several
> in the process. Why can't they be manufactured with straight
> legs to begin with??

I use a 6 inch stainless steel ruler, some of us call it a scale...I drop
the pins on one side of the IC into the mounting holes and gently hold it
in place by placing one finger on the IC...Then I use the end of the
ruler to GENTLY press the uninserted pins inward, all at the same time,
until they line up with their respective holes and fall into place due to
the gentle pressure I have applied to the top of the IC with the other
hand...This way I never mangle a pin and the tension remains in the pins
so that the IC does not fall out when I turn the board over to solder it
into place...

Jerry McCarthy, wa2dkg
K2 # 2549