[Elecraft] Random K2 building hints for those starting out

[Dick Foster]

Ah, nostalgia.  The muffin tins were recommended by Heatkit and pictured in
their assembly manuals many, many moons ago.  I use divider boxes sold in
the fishing department at Walmart.  But, they should not be used for the ESD
sensitive components which come inserted in the black foam.

I just spent $45 bucks on the extra wide Panavice jaws to hold the RF board
when I noticed the interference of the edge components with the board
holder.  The narrow span padded jaw Panavice set worked so well with the
control and front panel board I thought it was worth the investment.

Dick W5TA

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "rick jones" <n3ikq@yahoo.com>
To: <elecraft@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, May 26, 2003 11:36 AM
Subject: [Elecraft] Random K2 building hints for those starting out


> Hi,
>
> My K2 is in the RF board part 2 stage and I would like
> to give my 2 cents worth of suggestions to help the
> beginning builder.
>
> 1.) Muffin Tins make great parts holders.  I raided
> the kitchen late one night and ran off with some
> regular and mini-muffin tins.  The mini tins are
> especially useful for pre sorting the caps and
> hardware. They are metal so static charge is not an
> issue either.
>
> 2.) I use electrical tape to hold components to the
> board before soldering.  I can hold down many
> resistors, caps or sockets at once and not have to
> worry about them lifting when I flip the board to
> solder. I don't like bending the leads out, I find it
> unreliable.
>
> 3.) The circuit boards are hard to place in a
> Pana-vise board holder due to components being too
> close to the edge. It can be done on the control and
> front boards with care.  I can clamp the rf board in
> the holder by running a longish screw into the four
> metal blocks at the edges of the board.  I let them
> stick out a bit so they fit into the notches in the
> holder.
>
> 4.) At 40 my magnifying visor is not a luxury, it's a
> necessity! I have one with several magnifications
> available by flipping the lens into place.  I use it
> continuously to inspect part numbers and solder
> joints. My visor has moved into the essential
> equipment category!
>
> 5.) I would install the ssb option components to the
> front board earlier in the process than the manual
> suggests. I would do it before the pots are installed.
>  These are tightly spaced components and it would make
> life alot easier to solder these components before the
> pots are installed. IMHO
>
> 6.) I went to Home Depot and got a 4 foot shop light.
> I hung it about three feet over the bench and it is a
> great, shadowless source of light.
>
> 7.) This one is really basic but it may help somebody.
>  Put your finger over each lead before you clip it
> off.  A clipped lead will fly a great distance. They
> can get into your eye and/or get impossibly embedded
> into carpet. There are hundreds of them too! With
> minimal practice it can be a one handed operation if
> you have spring loaded cutters.
>
> That's all I can think of at the moment. Hope this
> helps someone. Have fun building the kit.  I never
> cease to be amazed at the brilliant design and
> forethought that went into the kit.
>
> Rick N3IKQ K2#3465
>
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