[Elecraft] OT: SMT kits?

[Frank C Van Cleef]

With all due respect to those of us who have to squint ever harder to see
what used to stand out
clearly:  I, for one, would be delighted to have a kit based primarily on
SMT devices to try my hand at.  I have a fine-tip iron and an Optovisor at
hand, and I love to build kits, so if SMT is the coming thing, let's have at
it!  It may not be everybody's cupp'a'tea but new things are interesting and
exciting to try, and isn't that what it's all about?

Perhaps a kit of, say, the K1's complexity to start with.  The TAPR project
described below is a pretty big gulp to start with, so perhaps something a
little less complicated would be in order for a first project.
What say, Elecraft guru's, I bet the challenges of designing an SMT kit
project would be exciting on your side as well!?

73 de W1WCG
Frank Van Cleef

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard T Perry" <perryrt at hotmail.com>
To: <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2004 5:29 AM
Subject: [Elecraft] OT: SMT kits?


Ok, folks - this is off topic, but since y'all have been a font of knowledge
about kit building, I thought I would try this question...

How hard is SMT soldering, really? I've been lusting after the TAPR Software
Defined Radio kit,(http://www.tapr.org/tapr/html/Fdsp10.html) but it's
majority SMT. I'm in my 30's, with fairly steady hands and decent vision...
with the proper tools, should I be able to do this? Any experienced SMT
builders out there got any pointers?
Please respond to me directly - I'll summarize for the list later if there's
interest.

Now, for the other shoe - I just ordered a KX1 to go with my now almost 5
year old K2 (#668). This should be fun!

73 DE KF4BAL/V73
Richard Perry
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