[Elecraft] Re:] K1 Front Panel missing IC Sockets ???

[Don Brown]

Hi

I absolutely agree. Back in the late 70's TI made an absolutely horrible IC
socket. I was working for Tektronix and the 7000 series logic analyzer had
about 150 TTL chips in those sockets. They were notorious for intermittent
connections. Many times just removing and reinstalling the IC's would fix
the problem. Then you would cross your fingers and hope it would work.
Replacing the sockets was a difficult task because the circuit boards were 6
layers. If you broke a plated through hole then you were looking at a maybe
$1000 board.

ICs are almost as reliable as passive components once they are installed.
You would not consider installing all of the resistors and capacitors in
sockets, so why would you do the same for ICs unless they need to be changed
out for some other reason like firmware upgrades. Even the requirement for
firmware upgrades is going away with the newer flash MPU that can be
reprogrammed in circuit.

If you ever do need to replace an IC then clipping all of the pins next to
the body and heating and pulling each pin out is safe and easy to do. You
can clean the holes with a solder sucker or tooth pick and be ready to
install the replacement IC.

Anyway that's my opinion for what its worth

Don Brown
KD5NDB


----- Original Message -----
From: "Morrow, Michael A." <mamorrow@tva.gov>
To: <elecraft@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2003 4:11 PM
Subject: RE: [Elecraft] Re:] K1 Front Panel missing IC Sockets ???


From Eric Swartz WA6HHQ - Elecraft:

> We do not recommend adding any sockets. They introduce
> reliability issues in some cases and also can add to
> critical lead lengths in RF areas.
>
> Any problems caused by adding additional sockets to our
> designs also will not be covered by warranty repair.

Snip

 Socketing all ICs on a PCB is pretty much an obsolete, unnecessary, and
potentially troublesome concept for production (de-bugged) PCBs like those
of the K1.

It's not unlikely that at some point one will have to replace front panel
potentiometers (I had to replace my volume control after a year of
operating), or the VFO pot, or some panel pushbuttons, or the phone jack.
Anything with moving parts.  But ICs??  Baring infant mortality or
RF/lightening damage, it's very unlikely one will *ever* need to pull and
replace any IC except those MCUs with updated firmware.  Those are all
socketed on the K1 except for the very simple KNB1 MPU, for which the need
for a firmware update will not ever be likely.

Anyway, that's my outlook.