[Elecraft] K2 5411 is official!

[Darwin, Keith]

Last night I put a check mark next to the step that said "Attach the
self-adhesive serial number label to the rear panel...".  With that, my
rig is complete.  Finished.  Done.  Until the next time I open it up to
mod or adjust it ;-)
 
I built a bare-bones K2 using the Rework Eliminators and pre-wound
inductors.  For the benefit of the others on-list who are wondering
about building a K2, here are some of the lessons I learned with this,
my first "real" kit.
 
1.  Follow the directions very carefully.  Slow down, read them, read
them again.  Do just what they say, not what you *think* they are
saying.  This one step will avoid much hassle.
 
2.  Sort the parts, do the inventory.  I did not (no space) and was OK
but I did do it for the caps on the RF board.  It helped a lot.  I found
a couple missing but was able to backfill and keep going.
 
3.  Check your solder joints.  The only problems I had were due to bad
solder joints.  S-meter worked fine at first, then didn't work.  I
reflowed several joints and it's working fine now.
 
4.  Visually inspect the board.  I thought this was a STUPID WASTE OF
TIME, especially with how careful I had been.  But I did it anyway.
Guess what - I found 2 unsoldered pins and several that now looked
poorly soldered.  I spent probably 30 minutes checking the board and
resoldering.
 
My rig sailed through the final alignment steps.  Everything worked
right the first time and is performing within specs.  RX performance is
cleaner than my IC-735.  Current draw is substantially less.  The basic
K2 is indeed a very sweet performing rig.
 
 
 
Pre-wound Inductors:
 
Mine were well wound, perfectly sorted and simply beautiful.  I am very
glad I went this route.  Well worth the price.  I'll be going this route
with any options I add to my rig.
 
 
 
Rework Eliminators.
 
I had no problems at all once I updated the installation procedures to
include the extra steps.  The amount of extra work during the K2 build
was trivial.  Not having to tear it apart to install options is a great
benefit.  Not having to do any rework when I do options is of great
value to me.  If I were to do it all again, I'd go this way in a
heartbeat.
 
- Keith KD1E -
- K2 5411 -
- K1 1286 -