[Elecraft] Crystal grounding for blow-by (was: Team Elecraft etc.)

[Wallace, Andy]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: k6se@juno.com [mailto:k6se@juno.com]
>
> Tom, N0SS wrote:
> 
> Something you should look into is the (really simple) mod to 
> improve K2
> CW filter skirt selectivity.
> ==========
> I already have KI6WX's pdf on grounding the crystals at their base.

Now, is this applicable to the K1, do you think? I know people
have said that it isn't, but I'd like to hear from anyone who has
done it and had an improvement. 

My K1 #1073 (not latest rev RF board, one before that) does exhibit
blowby, or what could be called that. With very strong signals,
I can hear the station on the opposite CW "sideband." It is not
strong -- sometimes not much more than a key click -- but I'd like to
eliminate it. 

It's simple enough to ground the bottom of the K1 xtals and maybe I will
try it myself.

> Also, none of the "approved" mods should have to be done
> on the K2 -- these improvements should be designed into the 
> radio, and it should not be up to the user to have to cut foil traces to 
> install them, etc.   

I agree, especially since several of these mods have been out for 
months if not years. However, only Eric and Wayne have the say in
that decision. A re-spin of a circuit board, even just to incorporate
known mods, can sometimes change characteristics and require more debug
time in the lab to make it work right again. Who knows how many old circuit
boards they have stockpiled that would then be trash? There are lots of
factors, but I will say that a respin would definitely make me more likely
to order a K2 sooner than later, because it would be more of a polished
and proven product. 

> Also, if grounding the xtals at the bottom of their cans improves the
> bleed-through problem, why doesn't Elecraft revise the manual to do it
> that way while the kit is being built?

I did not realize it wasn't in the manual. That's an excellent point,
and it should at least be revised in the PDF on the website -- in case
they have just as many old manuals as circuit boards stockpiled. ;-)

> Everybody raves about Elecraft's support.  If they were that 
> good, they would do something about correcting the many design 
> deficiencies in the K2.  Just my opinion.

I have no idea how many employees Elecraft has, but I would bet it
is not as many as Kenwood, Yaesu, or Icom have in their corporate offices.
There's a limited time budget for the designers to handle such things.
Perhaps it's a lower priority because the Elecrafters seem to be a 
group of hams which doesn't MIND doing a lot of the legwork themselves.

Let's vote....who would have preferred a K2 respin to coming up with the
KPA100?

...sounds like crickets....hmm...

You do raise good points, Earl. Bottom line is a good businessman has to
balance time/money/inventory/sales/support and I am sure that we
fans/customers
only see part of the story. There are probably other factors which keep 
a respin out of the radar screen.

By the way, I hope the Orion proves to be outstanding. 

-Andy