[Elecraft] RE: K3 KRX3 Install

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

I've had the K3 apart a LOT! (I help Wayne with the assembly manuals - the
rig you see in all the photos in the various assembly manuals is ol' S/N 10
at AC7AC). 

Like the song says of falling in love, it's "easier the second time
around..." Now the connectors have been aligned and they have been
exercised. That makes them fit together cleaner and easier now. 

I'll never "fall in love" with that part of the assembly but it is much
easier the second time. (If you really want to become blasé about the
process, pull and replace the front panel assembly 50 times or so. By then
it's no more a concern that removing the top cover ;-)

You do not remove the front panel board from the sheet metal. You only
dismount the main DSP board from the front panel assembly, mount the
Auxiliary DSP board "piggy-back" on it, and replace it. So the position (and
connector alignment) of the front panel board is not disturbed, nor do you
have to fool with all the hardware on the front panel itself. 

Those buying a K3 and KRX3 option kit now will find instructions in the
soon-to-appear Rev E of the K3 assembly manual to install the Auxiliary DSP
board when first assembling the front panel so they will not have to do it
again. The Aux DSP board will just sit there dormant during the initial test
and calibration. Then the KRX3 RF enclosure and other easy-to-access parts
will be added to complete the KRX3 install and then the KRX3 is enabled and
comes to life!

BTW, I know the feeling of "bending a pin". Even the second time it's tight.
But I've never bent a pin yet! I have seen FP boards that were forced
together the first time with little concern for their alignment. The
connectors on the top side of the RF board were chipped around the pin holes
where they were slightly misaligned and shoved together so hard the pins dug
grooves through the plastic, finding their way to the hole "the hard way". 

That's definitely not recommended, but the assembly had gone together and
worked FB. The moral of the story is that those connectors appear much more
robust than you might think. 

Ron AC7AC


-----Original Message-----
Drat! I just downloaded the manual and indeed...
Mounting the front panel on the main board was the only part I did NOT like 
when putting the K3 together. I was glad to jump that hurdle but now we need

to do it again.
I think it is a tricky situation and I feared I might had bent a pin. The 
headers connect really tight so you need to apply some force. It's hard to 
see if both the headers are aligned head to head. When misaligned and 
unleashing manpower...

I'm hoping to find several places on the chassis to draw a thin line with a 
fine marker so I can see the alignement between both parts when 
reassembling. Or is there an easy way to align the headers in both planes 
and visually check before pushing?

73 de Franki ON5ZO