[Elecraft] A testament to impatience, a good night's sleep, and a couple of cold ones

[Louis C. LaCour, Jr.]

This morning brought a new day here in New Orleans.... languishing in mild
temperatures, clear skies, and lots of sun.  And, oh yeah, those
contemptible bezel screws and that inscrutable LED filter tape.

After reading some emails with some suggested solutions (thanks Stephanie
and Jim), I decided to have another go.  In keeping with my original post,
here's how it worked out:

Problem 1 - The LED filter tape

Thinking I'd need to get replacements anyway, I went ahead and peeled of the
thick brown paper on the backside of the tape (which was already affixed to
the filter).  Lo and behold, there was some quantity of adhesive remaining
on the filter, so I went ahead and positioned it over the LED opening in the
panel.  Presto!  It held.

 Problem 2 - Can't get bezel screws in

Stephanie led me to the solution: steel screws/aluminum panel.  Duh!  So,
very, very carefully, I used a small Phillips head jewelers screwdriver to
create a kind of countersink in the screw hole (from the backside), got the
screw standing up in the hole, and carefully applied pressure while driving
it in.  And of course, the steel screw cut its own threads in the softer
aluminum.  But, for the record, the holes are supposed to be tapped, and
these clearly were not.  In any event, the bezel is now mounted.

So, all's well that ends well, I suppose.  But this is clearly one area of
the assembly that could probably use a bit of tweaking.  To the credit of
our friends at Elecraft (thanks to Gary and Scott), they offered to send me
a replacement panel with tapped screw holes, and replacements for the filter
and tape.  By copy to them I'm letting them know that won't be needed.
Though I considered replacing the four stainless steel screws since the
heads got a little mangled tapping the holes, I've decided to keep them
as an eternal reminder of my little victory over adversity.

Be well, all.

73, Louis

KE5GIU