[Elecraft] K3 STATUS -- a note from the lab

[Don Rasmussen]

If you own a K2 (or K1, KX1, etc.) you almost expect
that kind of attention to detail to every single new
K3. 

Hand crafting these boards is obviously tedious and
time intensive but necessary. 

Rumors have it that underpaid workers do this from sun
up to sun down, 7 days a week, for as little as one
U.S. dollar per day. 

This would be highly illegal if it was not the company
owners doing the work. ;-)


[Elecraft] K3 STATUS -- a note from the lab
wayne burdick n6kr at elecraft.com 
Fri Nov 2 13:56:32 EST 2007 

  

Since the K3's PCB modules are pre-assembled, we have
to 100% test 
them, whether they're destined for a kit or for a
fully-assembled unit. 
I thought I'd give you some flavor of what goes into
this.

For the K3 RF Board, we use a computer-controlled
signal generator and 
spectrum analyzer, along with the K3's built-in
true-RMS audio 
voltmeter, to do MDS tests on each band (receive
mode). While the 
process is partially automated, each unit's band-pass
filters, first 
I.F. trap, and mixer balance must be carefully aligned
by hand. We also 
sweep each band for return loss from the antenna
through the T-R 
switch. During this test, some low-pass filter toroid
windings must be 
hand-adjusted. In transmit mode, each band is checked
for drive range, 
max power output, key-down current drain, spectral
purity, etc.

Performance tests of this kind are also done on all
other modules 
(there are over a dozen in even a basic K3). The
results are highly 
repeatable, ensuring that both kit and
factory-assembled K3s work 
equally well.

However, this turns out to be very time-consuming, so
reducing test 
time through automation is one of our major ongoing
efforts. I'm now 
pitching in to help our manufacturing-engineering team
(Brian, W6FVI 
and Rene, WR6MTR) by adding test firmware to the K3
itself. K3 owners 
will benefit from this effort in another way, since
some tests are 
added to the K3's POST routine (power-up self-test),
and all of the 
added remote control commands can be used to advantage
in third-party 
software applications.

That's the news from the lab. Back to work....

73,
Wayne
N6KR

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http://www.elecraft.com