[Elecraft] Front Panel Woes

[Don Wilhelm]

Louis,

On the 'sticky tape' thing - just position the green stuff properly and
secure with electrical tape.  During Field Test of the K2 we had no double
backed adhesive strip available, and I taped mine in place with black
electrical tape - that was 5 years ago and it is still in fine shape - cut
the tape so it laps onto the aluminum by a generous area, and keep it clear
of the window area.  Alternately, you could apply a bit if some other
adhesive and stick it to the panel - just use it sparingly so it doesn't run
into the viewing window area.

As for the 2-56 holes, yes they are tapped, but there is likely a bit of the
powdercoating material in the holes which will be cleared the first time the
screws are threaded in.  Try one without the plastic in place. or if you do
have a 2-56 tap on hand, try using that (very gently) to cut away the powder
coating.  Should you find that you do have no threads in those holes, I
suggest you contact Scott at Elecraft by phone or email  parts at elecraft.com
to discuss whether or not you have a defective front panel - a rare
occurrance, but not impossible, in all the K2s that I have assembled, I have
encountered 2 bad enclosure parts, so such things can happen, but as I said,
in my experience it is very rare.

73,
Don W3FPR

> -----Original Message-----
>
> I had just finished up all the components for the front panel
> assembly, and
> was preparing for the "Front Panel Final Assembly."  After continued
> frustration, I decided this wasn't a good night to work on my K2.
>
> Problem 1:
>
> The double-backed tape for the green plastic bargraph filter is simply
> impossible to install.  When I opened the serial number envelope to locate
> the bargraph filter and tape, I only saw one small, rectangular, brown
> "something" that I guessed was the tape.  I then realized it was folded in
> two.  Simple enough, right?  I unfolded it and saw the two tape strips.
> After some struggle, I managed to release one side of the brown paper, and
> went to position it on the bargraph filter.  But then I noticed it was not
> long enough; i.e., the manual illustration shows the tape going
> parallel to
> the long side of the filter, edge to edge.  But it was too short to reach
> from side to side.  OK, I thought, so what?  It doesn't take much to hold
> this little piece of plastic in place.  So I mounted it on the filter, and
> then mounted the other strip on the filter.  Now for the fun part.
>
> No matter how hard I tried, I could not remove the OTHER piece of brown
> paper; i.e. the back side, to expose the other side of the adhesive (that
> would attach to the inside of the panel).  Even using a powerful magnifier
> and razor blade, it just couldn't be done.  Am I missing something here?
> Sigh.  OK, I'll just skip to the clear plastic LCD bezel, and
> deal with this
> later, I thought....
>
> Problem 2:
>
> The manual calls for the use of four 2-56 screws (stainless
> steel) to mount
> the bezel.  No problem.  I located the screws, lined up the bezel, got my
> tiny screwdriver, and proceeded.  But the screw wouldn't start in
> the hole.
> "Could it not be threaded," I thought?!  Sure enough, none of the
> four holes
> is threaded - am I to cut threads in a steel panel with these tiny
> screws??!!  I could try it, I suppose, but there's a very good chance
> they'll simply strip out the threads.
>
> Maybe the moon's in a bad phase; maybe there are astronomical forces
> conspiring against me, but for the first time in 29 pages of instruction
> I've come across two steps that are seemingly impossible.  My heretofore
> high confidence in Elecraft guidance is on the wane...
>
> So, what gives, guys?  Am I missing something obvious,or should I
> just take
> the night off and pop open a cold one?
>
> 73,  Louis
>