[Elecraft] K2 #3338 successful Part 1 tests and comments

[Don Wilhelm]

Steve,
The ground jumpers end up being about 3/16 inch wide, but they need to stick
up from the board so you can attach a clip lead to them, so use 3/4 inch of
wire (or longer) and bend the top so that the 'legs' will fit nicely into
the holes - hold the top of the half loop about 3/16 to 1/4 inch above the
RF board and solder it in place.

The diffuser and LEDs can be inserted either way - if you check the pin
polarity carefully you will see that it is not possible to put it in
'backward'.

If you place your side panels painted side to painted side, the holes should
line up.  If they don't, you have two panels for one side of the K2.  I had
one kit that had this problem a while back - I simply put the wrong panel on
'inside out' until Elecraft sent the correct replacement.

Voltage drop - 0.56 volt is about normal - but then I don't have experience
with the new lower voltage drop diode - have you measured directly across
the diode leads with normal receive current flowing?  if it measures 0.16
volts in that test, look carefully at all the other connections in the
electrically short path to see where the rest of the voltage drop is
occurring.  Do these measurements with a single external meter.  The K2
display may be slightly off due to component tolerances in the metering
circuits.

73,
Don W3FPR

----- Original Message -----
>
> Pages 17 and 36--the short ground jumpers--the manual says "3/4 inch"
> for these--should be "3/16 inch".
>
> Page 25--Diffuser and LED's--no mention in the manual of proper
> insertion of the diffuser into the PCB so the LED polarities are proper.
> Diffuser has "K" and "A" markings; PCB has "+". Checking the schematic,
> "A" (anode) should go to the "+". (This would be fun removing when you
> got to Test and found the diffuser wouldn't turn on.)
>
> Page 37--Side Panels--manual is very confusing as to what "mirror image"
> is supposed to be. Panel drawings should include all the holes in the
> panels, in order to figure out how to orient the panels to mount the 2-D
> fasteners. My panels were not mirror images; one panel matched the
> other, with consequent improper paint masking.
>
> New low forward voltage drop diode D10 has a 0.16 volt drop for mine
> (receive, ~100mA drain). Display voltage is still 0.56volt lower than
> voltage at the rear input. (12.56 volts at input to give 12.0 volts on
> the display)
>