[Elecraft] #3628

[Kevin B. G. Luxford]

Hi guys,

I am looking at my invoice for K2 #3628.  It is dated July 14 2003 and I
have to admit that I have got precisely nowhere with assembling it.  No,
that is not quite correct, yesterday I made a start and assembled the
160 mx board.  So I feel that the ice at last has been broken.

My mental and emotional states regarding the K2 have been interesting.
Firstly I was impatient to get a K2, and looked at various ways of
funding the purchase, worried about the reaction of the XYL, etc. etc.
Then the Aussie dollar improved, so after mentioning casually to my
beloved, that I intended to purchase a K2, I just went ahead and pledged
my plastic.  I carefully rehearsed all my arguments in case She Who
Would Very Much Like To Be Obeyed objected violently to this unwarranted
extravagance.  I also determined that no matter what she threw at me (in
the way of arguments) that I would remain calm, eminently reasonable,
and apparently willing to see her side of the argument, even if I did
not agree with it.

The parcel showed up at the salt mine, and I snuck it into the house,
and even when the credit card account came in, the reaction was not
quite as extreme as I had feared.  But something else was holding me
back.  I read the tutorials on soldering, and tried to get Kester
eutectic solder down here (no luck) but did manage to get the Multicore
equivalent.  Then I thought about soldering irons.  I lashed out and
bought a fine tip temperature controlled iron with LCD temp display.
But I still felt uneasy.  What about undoing the inevitable mistakes?
Then Bruce Sander of AEA Sales offered the group a number of Den-on
SC7000 renovated second hand desoldering guns.  I put in for one, and
eventually it arrived - even with postage, it still turned out half the
price of a new one purchased locally.

I then thought about all those sensitive ICs.  Well, I just had to be
sure, so purchased an anti-static mat, wrist strap, and grounding cords.
I also connected my new soldering iron to the anti-static mat.

I realised I had run out of excuses.  So yesterday afternoon, I started
on the 160 mx module and by the evening had finished it (up to the point
where additions / changes had to be made to the K2 main board).  So I
put the board and the remaining parts back into the anti static bag in
which they were shipped and put it aside until needed later.  The old
hands may laugh a bit, but this was the first time I had done such fine
soldering, but after doing the first couple of joints, found it not to
be a problem.

What interests me is how deep seated (and probably unreasonable) fears
can so influence behaviour.  There was no obstacle to my getting on with
my K2 apart from those which I had manufactured for myself.

Now I am not saying that having started, I will finish #3628 in anything
like record time, for my intention is to take it slowly with plenty of
rest breaks to keep me fresh.  But I now know there is no excuse for any
further sitting on my hands.

Ah, we live and we learn.

73
Kevin
VK3DAP / ZL2DAP