[Elecraft] Conception of a K2

[Kurt Pawlikowski]

Keith,

    You are, of course, right, but 1) I do have an ESD mat (and use 
it!), and, 2) no, I didn't tape down the "sensitive" components. I will 
say this though: Doing this helped a lot because there are several 
components that could have easily been confused (some inductors and a 
resistor or two), which were not. As far as I know, resistors, 
capacitors and most (if not all) diodes will not be damaged by ESD. 
Note: Diodes will either conduct when forward biased or "zener" and 
conduct when backwards biased - thought I'm not sure about "special" 
diodes [barrier, shotkey (sp?), and the like]. And, normal ESD damage is 
caused by high potentials arching within the component. I believe diodes 
have plenty of capacity to absorb the power, either forward or reversed 
biased. Capacitors will simply "charge" (which is why attaching a 
capacitor to a Van de Graph generator is a Bozo no-no). At any rate, I 
have never heard of any of these types of components being damaged by 
ESD: Has anyone?

    Regards,

    kurtt

    Kurt Pawlikowski, AKA WB9FMC
    The Pinrod Corporation
    kurtt at pinrod.com
    (773) 284-9500
    http://pinrod.com

Darwin, Keith wrote:
> Tape - cardboard - plastic - paper - Ahhhh!!!!
>
> My ESD training (what little I've had) is causing all sorts of alarm
> bells to go off!  I fear that many of us have taken techniques that
> worked fine in the pre-ESD days and are applying them in cases where
> they are dangerous.
>
> Yea, I know that caps (most at least) and resistors are not ESD
> sensitive, but that partially assembled K2 board, already populated with
> some ICs is.
>
> When I did my K2, I had it on a grounded ESD mat and I wore a wrist
> strap the whole time.  I stored all my parts in metal mixing bowls or
> just laid them on the mat.  I'm sure this was overkill but it was easier
> to use good ESD practice than to try to discipline myself to apply it
> only when it was needed.
>
> - Keith N1AS -
> - K2 5411.ssb.100 -
>
> -----Original Message-----
>     While building my KX-1: When I conducted my inventory, I taped the
> resistors, inductors and capacitors right to the pages of the book. 
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