[Elecraft] T1 success

[Julian, G4ILO]

Not much so far on this reflector about the new T1 kit. I just completed 
mine and I just wanted to say what a great little kit this is! The 
instructions really are exemplary, even better than I remember the K2's 
being. The only minor problem I had was when winding toroidal 
transformer T2. I decided to glue the two toroids together and managed 
to get one stuck to the desk. Perhaps the instructions should warn you 
that when squeezing a tube of superglue, you may get more than you 
expected. :)

Apart from that, I found another reason for the two halves of the cover 
not fitting together properly to those listed on page 26: The solder lug 
for the ground wire was sticking up too high. It didn't look as though 
it was, it looked as if it was oriented exactly as in the drawing, but 
obviously the top cover overlaps the edge of the end panel more than you 
think.

It all went together like a Swiss watch. But when Elecraft says no lead 
should be more than 1mm below the bottom of the control board, they 
really mean that. Not having flush cutters, I made do by trimming the 
leads of the components before soldering. Even so, I had to trim a 
couple of leads a bit more before I could move a bit of paper freely 
between the board and the MCU.

The T1 matched my non-resonant attic horizontal loop on all bands, 3.5 
to 50MHz. First contact was using the FT-817ND, 21MHz, 5W SSB to 
Bulgaria, received a 58 report. The FT-817 adapter cable is an excellent 
addition, automatically switching the tuner when you change bands, just 
like the K2.

No chance to try the T1 in the field yet, but I think the T1 is going to 
be an absolutely essential accessory for the FT-817 and I hope it brings 
Elecraft tremendous success.
-- 
Julian, G4ILO
G4ILO's Shack: http://www.tech-pro.net/g4ilo