R: [Elecraft] ELECRAFT K3

[Paolo Gramigna]

> Now "Darling, where's that old K3 I put away in the attic in 1982?"

1) have the kit delivered somewhere else, e.g. your friendly garage;
2) throw away the original box and shipping documents;
3) liberally dust all the parts, and especially the front panel, with face
powder; smear the transparent parts with paper glue, simulating scratches
(not a permanent damage but very convincing);
4) try to remove the face dust using a piece of waste, thus leaving a lot of
fine lines along all the corners (best way to have something new looking
years old; good for customs too)
5) take the manual and thumb it a lot with well dirty and greasy hands; 
6) mark around many of the manual's pages with a lot of tick marks, arrows,
and so on; 
7) trample on it, and half-tear the schematic diagram pages;
8) throw all parts together in a big, ugly, well beaten grocery carton box;
9) on a Saturday morning, have a friendly OM calling you, announcing the
death of some OM down there at just 15 miles away, and suggesting a visit to
the garage auction his wife is already, hastily organizing while the poor
boy is still warm in the coffin;
10) come home with the old box, wires dangling all around and a BIG smile on
your face, all the while congratulating yourself for your sheer luck in
recognizing some useful half-done kit buried in that garbage;
11) mount the kit but leave out some parts of the case; blame the deceased
and his stupid wife for having lost those parts (this will be the real
finest of the tricks);
12) after a LOOOONG while, finish the kit but leave the face powder in
place, so the last panels (previously washed and lightly oiled) will look
slightly different.


I did it a couple of times, and wife never found the trick. Maybe you shall
inform all visiting OM not to give you away...


Cheers,
IK4YNG Paolo