[Elecraft] K1 toroid winding

[Dave Andrus]

Bud:

I've seen the advice, and it's all excellent, but for someone new to  
the art, it might still sound just a bit intimidating ("remember to do  
this, don't forget to do that"), so I'll offer my 2 cents just to try  
and make it a bit worse!

Remember that it's only mysterious until you've actually wound your  
first toroid.  After that, it's all mostly downhill (with the wind at  
your back, usually)!

Remember that you're going to get a (typically) excellent manual from  
Elecraft that goes out of its way to show you pictures and give lots  
of good advice when you need it--at the moment you're winding the  
first toroid.  I've done lots and lots of toroids, and I still was  
impressed with the graphics, winding instructions and lead dressing  
advice that's in the manual.  So, don't be afraid to try--they're  
really not hard at all, just new to someone that's never done one  
before.  In fact, one could say that they're no harder than winding  
any inductor, and in some ways quite a bit easier.

If you try your first one, and you're still not sure if it's right,  
take a quickie digital picture of your finished toroid, and email it  
to either Elecraft's great tech support folks or here on the reflector  
(just don't send big attachements if you can avoid it).  Then ask,  
"Hey, how does this one look?"  Guaranteed you'll have lots of  
seasoned eyes looking over your shoulder.

Don't be afraid to try.  Oh, and did I forget to mention that I  
ordered my recent K2 toroid set from Mychael, the coil guy!?  He's  
quick (had them in 3 days from across the country), not too expensive,  
and his toroids look great.  Hey, I already know how to wind 'em.   
Don't need more practice ;-)

It cut a couple of hours off of my build time.

73,

Dave K7DAA

http://www.k7daa.com

On Feb 17, 2008, at 4:37 PM, John R. Lonigro wrote:

> Bud:
> Here's a little tip (I'll leave the poetry to Wayne):  The first  
> winding tends to be the loosest, so wind N + 1 turns and then remove  
> the first one, ending up with the correct number.  But make sure you  
> double check the number of turns.  Being off by "only" 1 turn may  
> not sound bad, but in many cases it represents a big increase in  
> inductance, possibly over 10%.  As others have said, just count the  
> number of times the wire passes through the center of the toroid.
>
> I've easily wound well over 100 toroids in the past few years and  
> have never had a problem with winding them.  Be especially careful  
> stripping the wire before soldering it into the circuit.  You can  
> search the archives for various techniques.  One thing I do in that  
> regard is insert the part BEFORE stripping the wire, to check for  
> proper fit.  Then I trim it, leaving maybe 1/8" extra on each lead.   
> Finally I remove it and concentrate on stripping the wire where I  
> know it's going to be contacting the solder pad.  If you don't trim  
> it first, you'll end up spending lots of time stripping parts of the  
> wire that will either be snipped off after soldering or will be  
> nowhere near the solder pad.
>
> 73's and good luck,
>
> John AA0VE
> bud73 at comcast.net wrote:
>> I just ordered a K1 four band transceiver.
>> I am worried about the torroids .... should I be?
>>
>>    Bud
>>
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