[Elecraft] Need construction hints/ advice

[Andy Bullington]

Hi Peter

    I just finished building a K2/100 and I learned a lot as it was my =
first project, really. To answer some of your questions (which were
learned the hard way):

1) use the recommended solder and don't mess around with other =
stuff...its too big most of the time, and hard to work with. I got a =
pound of Kester "44" resin core solder .031 and its great. Its in the =
middle of the recommended diameters I think.

2) I would invest in a better soldering iron. Its worth every penny. I =
bought a Weller WE50 soldering station which has adjustable temperature. =
 It also has a holder and cleaner attached and it was around $100. The =
amount of greif it saves me is worth many times that amount.

3)  get FLUSH CUT snippers!! the regular snippers wont work. Xcelite =
makes some nice inexpensive ones and you can get those and the Kester =
solder I mentioned at Parts Express. http://www.partsexpress.com/  I =
also got a pair cheap at Radio Shack that are just fine. It must say =
FLUSH CUT on the package.

4) don't mess around trying to get the flux off the board. You may do =
more harm than good and the flux doesn't hurt anything.

5) if you don't have some kind of lighted bench magnifier or jeweler's =
binoculars, you need to get something like that. I have the lighted shop =
magnifier I got from Ocean Electronics on sale. I think it was 50 bucks.

Hope this helps and good luck! The K2 is a blast to build and a =
fantastic radio.

                                                      Andy W1AWB


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