[Elecraft] K2 #2462 On the Air

[Jonathan Taylor, K1RFD]

I had a great time building K2 #2462, in about a week and a half of
evenings. (See http://www.synergenics.com/k1rfd/k2/ ).  I thought I would
pass along some suggestions for anyone else planning to tackle it:

1) For sorting parts, "sewing organizers" were useful. I picked up three of
these at the drugstore for about a dollar each. These are clear plastic
boxes (trays) with a dozen or so rectangular compartments. I labelled each
of the compartments with a number, and then noted the number on the parts
list while doing inventory -- sounds tedious, but it was actually very fast
and saved lots of time locating parts. Parts of different types, with no
chance of confusion, can share a compartment. Better than small envelopes
because you can see everything.

2) Of the various methods for stripping toroid leads, I had no success with
the "solder blob" approach, for some reason, but I found that the
butane-lighter-and-sandpaper technique was fast and completely effective. To
each his own, I guess. I also found that a somewhat neater, tighter wind
could be achieved by adding a couple of extra turns at the end, and then
taking off the same number of turns from the beginning.

3) I found a capacitance meter helpful, for verifying some of the more
ambiguous capacitor markings. I did not have this function in my DMM so I
built the circuit in the ARRL Handbook while waiting for the K2 to arrive.
This eliminated any guesswork. And definitely review the "standards" for
capacitor markings.

4) The two screws which hold the control board to the front-panel board were
difficult to install, because the threaded standoffs on the front-panel
board were not quite vertical. This was due to the shape of the lockwashers
underneath them. Before completing the front panel, I'd suggest checking to
be sure these standoffs are exactly perpendicular to the board.

5) Before building the kit, I bought a PanaVise with the large "parts-tray"
base and the wide, rubber-coated jaws. This was a worthwhile investment. The
jaws open wide enough to hold the RF board by its edges.

6) It's been said before, but the Spectrogram technique for setting up the
BFO is fast , easy, and evidently accurate.