[Elecraft] [K2] No signal at TP1 during Alignment and Test Part 2

Don Wilhelm donwilh at embarqmail.com
Fri Jun 9 10:41:46 EDT 2017


Robert,

I just now had time to look at your photos.  It seems to me that your 
solder on T5 (and maybe elsewhere) looks like "balls" with convex 
sides.  That is indicitive of a solder connection that has not received 
enough heat.
A good solder connection should have a slight fillet and end up with 
obvious solder that has flowed out entirely onto the solder pad and also 
up onto the leads.  The edges of the solder should taper out to an 
almost invisible edge with a concave fillet of solder between the pad 
and the lead.
See the diagrams in the Soldering Tutorial available at the Elecraft 
website (you may have to search for it).

I suggest you remove the solder from any connection that looks like 
those and re-do them.  Do not apply so much solder to "pile it on" - 
that does no good.  Heat the solder pad and lead until you can see the 
solder flow out onto both.

Using a small gauge solder helps.  With large diameter solder, by the 
time you apply 'a little bit', that is already too much.  Save the large 
solder for antenna wires.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 6/8/2017 10:20 PM, Robert Forster wrote:
>
> This should lead me to suspect T5 correct?
> the soldering on the underside of the board for T5 looks ok (no ring 
> for these points but the topside of the board looks rough!  I used the 
> USB microscope and took some photos.
> Here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsm2aNdeG
>
>



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