[Elecraft] The last of the through-hole kits

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Lo, many years ago (1950's) I said that I didn't particularly like working
with transistors either. They were so tiny and fragile. Vacuum tubes were so
friendly and they made a beautiful glow in the dark. Besides, many
technologists pontificated that transistors would never be able to work at
radio frequencies, much less develop useful power there. 

But the technologists were wrong and the times, they were a-changing. Or as
another wag observed, "If you are not near the girl you love, you'll love
the girl you're near". 

I've become accustomed to her face... (the face of an SMD).

I'm in my seventh decade on this planet and I work with SMDs regularly.
Strong magnifiers. Good light. Tools I have chosen over the years to hold
and manipulate them (nothing fancy - things like toothpicks and pencils with
rubber erasers and a bit of panty hose material to put over my vacuum
cleaner suction hose to find lost bits that hit the floor). Good support for
my arms and hands. 

All that because I'm not a child any longer? No. A 20-something uses them
too. At least the smart ones do, Hi! 

And I still love the glow of a vacuum tube in the dark. A 76 triode, for
example. The heart of my very first homebuilt regenerative receiver. 

73,

Ron AC7AC



-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Doug Person
Sent: Friday, June 03, 2011 6:13 PM
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] The last of the through-hole kits

I think you're absolutely correct.  Still, it wasn't long ago that 
someone was expressing concern that the K2 was obsolete and could be 
dropped from the line.

I don't particularly like working with SMDs.  Bu, facing the inevitable, 
I just ordered a stereo microscope designed for working with them wee 
little parts.  That, a hot air rework station and a vacuum picker and I 
think I'm set.  I built one small SMD kit. And like I said - I don't 
really enjoy it.  The parts are pain to work with.

Doug -- K0DXV

On 6/3/2011 7:04 PM, John Ragle wrote:
> I think this is a basic misunderstanding of the rhetoric. "The last of
> the through-hole kits" does not imply that the K2 will (or will not) be
> abandoned. It simply implies that NEW TO THE MASS MARKET kits will
> probably not be of the through-hole variety. Google on "kits" or
> something similar and you will find very many small outfits that sell
> kits of the through-hole type or kits with limited numbers of SMD
> components. For the larger markets, there are just too many cost-saving
> aspects to the use of SM devices for it to be practical to ignore them.
>
> John Ragle -- W1ZI
>
> =====
>
> On 6/3/2011 8:53 PM, Eric Champine wrote:
>> ...people started to talk about how the end of the K2 could be
>> close...
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