[Elecraft] K2 #4309 on the air (finally)

[brianb]

Use a small set of needle nose pliers to hold the lead in place next to 
the glass body, then bend. Don't hold the glass body and bend. The 
pliers will become the stress point, not the glass body.

bb n6iz

Don Wilhelm wrote:

>My observation with D36 is that attempting to bend the leads close to the
>glass body (like most of the other diodes) can cause the glass to fracture.
>The holes for D36 require the leads to be bent approximately 1/8 inch from
>the body, and if the leads are bent right up to the glass, there will be a
>lot of excess stress placed on the diode when attempting to insert it into
>the holes.
>
>Bottom line - bend the leads a bit away from the glass body - use the hole
>spacing as a guide to determine just haw far that 'bit' really is (I haven't
>really measured it) - as an alternative, don't bend the leads at all, just
>solder them to the solder pads on the bottom of the board without inserting
>the leads into the holes.
>
>73,
>Don W3FPR
>
>Life is what happens when you are making other plans
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>I finished the basic kit after 40 hours. Had no problem until it came to
>transmitter alignment. No output at all. After toroid checks and some signal
>tracing I discovered a broken D36 (fragile). A $8.75 and 6 days shipping
>experience :-)
>
>Although there's documented that it's fragile builders maybe should be
>advised how to handle D36. Absolutely no force to the glass body would be a
>nice hint in the manual.
>
>
>
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