[Elecraft] SSB TX signal mystery SOLVED !!!

[Cyberia]

I made that exact same mistake!!! When it came time to install R10, however,
I realized the through-hole should not be occupied, and I discovered my
mistake.

I have not gotten so far along as to test my SSB adapter yet, and I am glad
I found this before I got that far.

It's strange that we both made exactly the same mistake. Perhaps the
markings there could be improved or a note in the assembly manual...

De N3WZ - Jim

> -----Original Message-----
> From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-
> bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Marinos Markomanolakis, M.D.
> Sent: Tuesday, December 28, 2004 7:50 PM
> To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: [Elecraft] SSB TX signal mystery SOLVED !!!
> 
> First let me thank Don (w3fpr) and Garry (ab7my) for their excellent
> support
> and guidance for the resolution of this problem.
> As posted earlier, I had a disappearance of my Tx SSB signal after
> installing the adaptor to the K2 with normal RX and normal CW Tx. Had
> spent
> some hours looking at the different boards without finding the culprit and
> finally started chasing the SSB signal with the oscilloscope to see where
> it
> was blocked.
> That signal was going fine all the way past the crystal filter, exiting
> the
> C5 cap after the T1 transformer but then could not be found at the cathode
> of D14 !!!!
> That's very strange indeed I thought, since the C5 is supposed to be
> connected to the cathode of D14 ?!?!?
> And here came the realization that I had done the STUPID mistake of
> installing the D14 cathode 90deg away from its normal pad, to a similar
> pad
> reserved for the R10.....Of course, at a later construction step I had
> realized that one of the R10 pads was occupied, but I thought it was
> normal
> and had soldered it there anyway (another stupidity).
> 
> Anyway, I can go on and on about how this should never had happened, but
> it
> only took a 90deg rotation of this diode without even removing it from the
> board to fix this.
> Now I have full SSB output and are 1/2 way done with my K2 100W amplifier
> board before I have everything up and running.
> Already built the NB, AF filter and successfully passed the first
> alignment
> test of the 100W board....
> 
> The above story is a good example of what happens when you stay up too
> many
> hours building your K2. But as you know, when you start you can not easily
> contain yourself from continuing building. It is addictive !!!
> 
> 73 to all,
> Marinos, ki4gin
> 
> 
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