[Elecraft] K1 Assembly - Pay Attention

[Mike Willey]

I will share a little stupidity..

I completed the receiver portion of the K1  (SN 998) and was delighted with
the first power on tests until I got to the VFO check out.. The VFO signal
was not there (E42).. I checked the soldering and path to the counter and
everything looked good.  I resigned myself to RF Probe tracing, but had to
wait a few days for the parts to build the probe. Just before they arrived,
I decided to do a DC voltage check (from the voltage table).. Starting at
the VFO source.  I went to probe the voltages on Q8 and the transistor  WAS
NOT THERE..

I quickly went back to the manual and looked for the installation step for
this transistor and found I HAD MISSED THIS ONE STEP.. The step happened to
include the installation of seven transistors.  Since the transmitter was
not complete at this point, the fact that a few parts were missing from the
circuit board did not trigger an alarm.  Once these parts were installed,
the rig has worked great and I am well on the way to completing the receiver
alignment.  .

I only mention this because I was (am) taking painstaking steps to be
thorough on this assembly.. But it can happen to the best of us.

PAY ATTENTION and DOUBLE CHECK (this is a note to me)


Mike Willey - WA1GWE
Minneapolis, MN