[Elecraft] K3 ESD

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

As the KRX3 manual says (pg 5), avoid voltage differences between yourself
and the components. If you don't have an anti-static mat or wrist strap:

DO NOT use carpet on your work bench (a common practice before solid state).
Wood, Formica, etc., is fine. Metal is also okay for this, but not a good
practice for any bench on which you'll power up a rig. 

DO NOT use Styrofoam or other plastics to hold parts other than the pink
bags some parts are shipped in.

DO touch an unpainted metal ground often while working. (When without a pad
I touch a ground every time before picking up an electronic part or pcb - it
only takes a fraction of a second to do so.)

DO touch an unpainted metal part of the K3 itself after picking up a part
and before touching the part to the K3. (That equalizes any possible voltage
difference between you - and the part you're holding - and the K3 so the
charge won't flow through the part.) If you ground the metal case of the K3,
you can touch it before picking up each part to accomplish both objectives
at the same time. 

The Mains supply safety ground is a perfectly good ground to use to
discharge yourself. 

There's more background on page 5 of the KRX3 manual, but the above steps
will keep you and the parts safe without a dedicated ESD workstation. 

Ron AC7AC



-----Original Message-----

Dear all,

I am about to install my subreceiver  and would like to finish before the
weekend but I have no ESD work place. How can I best protect the parts? Or
do I have to wait until I can get the needed ESD equipment?

OZ1CCM, Kjeld