++++++++++++++++++ Continuation of Building Notes and Building Notes2 ++++++++++++++++++ Date: Mon, 5 May 2003 20:29:50 -0700 From: Bob Nielsen To: Elecraft at mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] What film? The front of the LCD has a polarizing strip as well as a thin protective film over that. The polarizing strip has a black border and is attached to the glass of the LCD itself. The protective film is very thin and hard to distinguish, but is the same size as the polarizing strip and once you find the edge, it peels right off. Be careful that you don't remove the polarizing strip, or the display will be almost impossible to read (I that found out the hard way!) Do not remove the white covering on the back either. Bob, N7XY On Mon, May 05, 2003 at 09:38:39PM -0500, Charles wrote: > I am building K2 #3346. the instructions say there is a protective > film on the front of the LCD and may have protective film on the > back. I don't think there is a film on either front or back, is this > possible. The back has a hard to remove white covering. I tried to > lift one corner, because it does not come off easily, I do not think > it is what they are talking about. > > Thanks, > Charles, KC9DAO ++++++++++++++++++ From: "Dave" To: Subject: Re: [Elecraft] special anouncement Date: Thu, 8 May 2003 17:49:17 +0100 Ouch, cringe... don't put a magnet anywhere near any kind of radio kit... the magnet may permanently magnetise the ferrite/iron dust cores and your radio will become very hard of hearing and won't transmit. When I worked in the two way radio business, we regularly had a certain brand of radio brought in for poor receive due to "faulty" cores when someone had placed a magnetic mount antenna on the radio when carrying it. The fix was to replace the cores. Dave, G4AON ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Cooper" To: Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2003 5:22 PM Subject: [Elecraft] special anouncement -- snip -- also would it hurt running a strong magnet over the boards to pick up any leads that may be trapped under a component or will that erase or damage a chip installed? it was either that or i was goin to try a can of compressed air. trying to avoid smoking my radio again thats how it happened in the first place i left leads the size of shaqs toenails on the board. ++++++++++++++++ From: "Tom, W6WW" To: Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Random K2 building hints for those starting out Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2003 23:03:03 -0400 Maintaining a list of hints & kinks for newbie kit builders is a good idea. Here are a couple more that have occured to me in my K2 building (first kit since Heathkits in 1955): - Masking tape works better for me than bending leads to temporarily hold parts in place while soldering. - It may be easier to follow the toroid winding instructions if you think of it as there is a clockwise and counterclockwise way of looking at the winding. - You CAN strip the toroid leads with an Xacto knife if you are very careful. It went better for me that way than the torch, which was hard to control down to the 1/8" distance from the core. 73, Tom, W6WW K2 #3453 > Hi, > > My K2 is in the RF board part 2 stage and I would like > to give my 2 cents worth of suggestions to help the > beginning builder. > > 1.) Muffin Tins make great parts holders. I raided > the kitchen late one night and ran off with some > regular and mini-muffin tins. The mini tins are > especially useful for pre sorting the caps and > hardware. They are metal so static charge is not an > issue either. > > 2.) I use electrical tape to hold components to the > board before soldering. I can hold down many > resistors, caps or sockets at once and not have to > worry about them lifting when I flip the board to > solder. I don't like bending the leads out, I find it > unreliable. > > 3.) The circuit boards are hard to place in a > Pana-vise board holder due to components being too > close to the edge. It can be done on the control and > front boards with care. I can clamp the rf board in > the holder by running a longish screw into the four > metal blocks at the edges of the board. I let them > stick out a bit so they fit into the notches in the > holder. > > 4.) At 40 my magnifying visor is not a luxury, it's a > necessity! I have one with several magnifications > available by flipping the lens into place. I use it > continuously to inspect part numbers and solder > joints. My visor has moved into the essential > equipment category! > > 5.) I would install the ssb option components to the > front board earlier in the process than the manual > suggests. I would do it before the pots are installed. > These are tightly spaced components and it would make > life alot easier to solder these components before the > pots are installed. IMHO > > 6.) I went to Home Depot and got a 4 foot shop light. > I hung it about three feet over the bench and it is a > great, shadowless source of light. > > 7.) This one is really basic but it may help somebody. > Put your finger over each lead before you clip it > off. A clipped lead will fly a great distance. They > can get into your eye and/or get impossibly embedded > into carpet. There are hundreds of them too! With > minimal practice it can be a one handed operation if > you have spring loaded cutters. > > That's all I can think of at the moment. Hope this > helps someone. Have fun building the kit. I never > cease to be amazed at the brilliant design and > forethought that went into the kit. > > Rick N3IKQ K2#3465 +++++++++++++++++ From: "Bob - AG5Q" To: "Tom, W6WW" , Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Random K2 building hints for those starting out Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2003 23:12:17 -0500 > Masking tape works better for me than bending leads to temporarily hold > parts in place while soldering. I don't feel comfortable using tape in contact with components because of the possibility of static electricity. One crude test of your tape is to unroll it in a totally dark room. If you can see sparks, it's pretty charged up. I just did an experiment with a roll of masking tape and a roll of plastic electrical tape. I put the roll on my finger so it would turn easily and as I quickly unrolled several inches of tape, I could see a blue line where the tape was separating from the roll. This discharge was visible for both rolls. I don't know how long the static charge persists, but it's there at least for a while. For the K2 assembly I bent the leads a little bit on a few components at a time and then soldered only one lead of each component in the group and checked them. If a component did slip while the board was upside down, I only had to reheat one lead to reseat it. This is not a perfect solution by any means. There is a trade off between the risk of reheating a component vs. the risk of static charge. I think static charge is especially insidious because you may be soldering resistors which are not likely to be affected, but the tape might be in contact with a previously mounted FET or IC that is sensitive. 73/ Bob - AG5Q +++++++++++++++