[Elecraft] Spare parts for K2

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

FB about getting a new Q7, Jean-François!

As for spares... Over the years, I have always kept a spare "final" or
"finals" around ever since my 'final' was a 6L6 or 807 vacuum tube. If
something was going to "blow" due to carelessness or the strain of regular
use, it'd be the "final". 

In 1977 - more than a quarter century ago - I built a Heath HW-8
transceiver. The other day I was digging around in my semiconductor stock
and came across an envelope marked "Spare HW-8 Final". 

The message is that it's been over a quarter century since I've "blown" a
final. 

Once you have the rig up and running, just about the only thing that's going
to fail is something that you break by having an accident - like the probe
slipping (You made me wince with that story. I suspect that most of us has
done that at least once!). 

Still, if you're going to have something quit in 'normal' operation, it's
most likely one of the 'final' transistors. If you stock one, stock a set.
And it's quite unlikely that they will die. The only real danger is if you
don't mount the heat sink correctly or run the rig at too high a power for
too long. Keep in mind the 10 watt rating for the K2 and the 100 watt rating
for the K2/100 are for CW or SSB, not digital modes. CW/SSB has a lower
'duty cycle' since the key is "up" or you aren't constantly talking so the
average power is well below 10 or 100 watts. 

Another op I know lost a bypass cap recently. It shorted, which took out an
IC relay driver. It really screwed up the relay band-switching and it took
him some head-scratching and good detective work to realize what had
happened. All he could see was that the power out was lousy on some bands.
Still that's VERY rare. He asked me for ideas and a shorted bypass never
occurred to me.

My ol K2/100 (S/N 1289) has been working without a hitch for over 3 years,
in spite of being torn down dozens of times to make mods or do testing of
new mods. 

So if you want to avoid being off the air unexpectedly at any time, maybe
the best "spare" is a "spare" K2... Or perhaps a KX1 <G>. 

73, 

Ron AC7AC



-----Original Message-----
Does somebody have any suggestion of a list of parts considered "a 
must" in my spare parts package for my K2 I would like to store at home 
???

For sure Q7 (2SC1969) is in my kit !!!

===============================================
Jean-François Ménard / VA2VYZ
va2vyz at rac.ca