[Elecraft] K2 lifespan

[Don Wilhelm]

  Shane,

Yes, the K2 assembly instructions will not lead you to an understanding 
of the circuits - it is more mechanical to get the task accomplished.  
However, for those adventuresome souls who want to understand their K2, 
the Alignment and Test sections are an opportune time to study the 
schematics and obtain an understanding of what is going on.  This is not 
spelled out in the manual, but a bit of study of the schematics will 
reveal the workings of the K2 to those who are willing to "go the extra 
mile" and see what the circuits are doing.

In the most basic form, the schematics indicate which components are 
connected to what other components, but for those with a basic 
understanding of amplifiers and other circuits, the combination of the 
Block diagrams and the schematics will give an understanding of the 
circuits operation.

It does take some study and/or some prior education.  The ARRL Handbook 
is a great resource for the elemental circuits.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 3/24/2011 7:33 PM, Shane wrote:
> Are you really learning anything from the assembly process. My career
> in not at all in hardware, I'm totally 100% a software person, and
> though I understand the concepts at a high level … after I saw how
> many pieces came w/ this radio … I started looking to see if the
> factory would build it.
>
> Putting pieces together as if I were coloring by number just because
> the blue component goes in slot 1 isn't how a radio works (at least
> that's what I think I'm hearing), in fact, it's the anti-learning
> formula. So that's my main point in this question now … how much will
> I understand from assembling the radio? I don't care to know that blue
> goes in A1, or these wires always assemble in this way, or here's what
> an LED is … I mean, actual understanding of the fundamentals. How much
> are any of you taking away from this that don't have an electronics
> background?
>
> I saw James's post on how he messed up and sold his first one. I'd
> much rather have a quality rig and not something I took target
> practice at while trying to learn to assemble (at least not for this
> kind of money). I can buy $40 junk and do the same thing.
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