[Elecraft] building a K-2 compared to HW-9

[Fred (FL)]

Hi -
The beauty of building the Elecraft K2, as compared to
the many Heakkit kits they sold - there is no wires,
or point-to-point wiring and bundled cables - like one
often found in various places in Heathkits.  I think I
built 6 or more Heathkits.  They all worked - very
little if any "alignment" was possible.  The Elecraft
K2 is just beautifully layed out - everything in its
place.  You finish one board, and it naturally plugs
into the next, and the next.  Just a matter of
carefully soldering all the parts into the 4 or 5 pcb
boards.  

The only thing one must be careful with, on a K2, is
to carefully solder with the correct Kester solder,
and a good temperature soldering-station, and to
carefully read the manual instructions - as you go
along.  After 2 hours of building and soldering, it
is best to put it aside, for the next day.

What did I do wrong in my K2:  I soldered a main
dual-row jack, on the wrong side of the main RF board.
I dropped the LCD on a hard tile floor and
caused me to have to buy another.  And I mistakenly
folder-over 1 pin on a 14-pin dual-inline IC, where
1 pin was folder under the IC - not thru the hole.

In each case - Elecraft's parts department, and the
Elecraft email list of experts - lead me thru those
3 mistakes.  Oh yes - a inexpensive SOLDER SUCKER
tool - is an absolute tool to buy.  (like $10)

What I did do very well - was solder parts, a skill
I got quite good at - with all my previous Heathkit
experience.  And I built 3 boats in the past - because
of good mechanical skills I was born with.

Fred, N3CSY


 
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