[Elecraft] Beware W7BWT (ex KK7OM)

[Dave Hottell]

Gang,

I made the mistake of buying - on eBay - an SW40+ from a chap named Bruce
W. Thee.  He claimed the rig was in great shape.  'Course, as you can
guess, that is not how it turned out.  

1. Promised the manual but no manual in the box.

2. Earphone jack broken.

3. RF Gain pot and Freq control pot reversed

Did not think these were a big deal so accepted the rig.  The last one did
cause me concern - if the guy can't tell a 100k pot from a 5k one . . .

But the rig did work, and I have used it when needed since getting it.  But
each time I have used it I got the feeling that something was not quite
right.  I (finally) got around to throughly checking the rig today and
found the following:

4. C11, C16 and C23 are all the wrong values.  

5. R17 installed incorrectly and must be removed and reinstalled in order
to add a Freq-Mite. (Which is why I was looking over the rig.)

I think one of the caps sets the sidetone freq, another is the output cap
for the first mixer, and the third is a filter cap for the audio limiting
circuit.  I suspect these may have something to do with the rig not seeming
quite right.

So, if you get a chance to do any business with W7BWT (ex KK7OM) - Bruce W.
Thee - you should by all means pass.  The guy plainly is not up to the task
of sticking components in holes.

At the time of my purchase he claimed he was building his second K1 and had
a K2 ready to go.  But then his other claims were bogus, so these probably
were also.  But if you bought one of those . . .

73 de Dave
ab9ca/4