Hi OM,
Shall we back to basic? One of the advantages of kits from Elecraft is
'without' SMD stuff for the 'normal' skill builders. I consider myself is a
'normal' skill builders though I can handle SMD. Without SMD, most of
elecraft kits can be handled by simple and easily avaliable tools.
Falling SMD stuff on the floor is always a nightmare. I have to ask my two
kids to look for me because they have better eye sight. It will be up to
Elecraft to decide whether there are SMD based kits. However, non-SMD kits
should always be provided as an alternative from marketing / maintenance
point of views.
It is my 2 cents opinion.
72/73
Johnny Siu
builder of s/n 1146, 3837, 4165, 4255, 4597
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sandy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "John A. Ross[RSDTV]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "'wayne burdick'"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "'Elecraft Reflector'" <elecraft@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2005 7:35 AM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] SMD-based kits
I'll leave the "SMD stuff" to you younger guys with better eyesight than
mine!
Having been an 'in the field' electronics tech (and part time engineer!)
for YEARS, in the avionics and marine electronics field, I have dropped my
share of
parts
on the floor! I can agree with Wayne on these teensy pieces being
UNMARKED
(curse you bastards in the component fabrication business!), or marked
with some
silly
code or "house number", I don't intend looking for the inevidible dropped
part!
I have gotten more "fumbly" with age and have trouble keeping up with
small parts
and hardware now.
Have had some fun building the K1 and an extra board for it. "IDing"
those pieces
CAN
be confusing even with the "micro printing" on them. Unmarked SMD's would
be out of
the
question! I can imagine it would be a nightmare for Wayne's techs trying
to sort a
returned
kit out with misplaced parts!
I'll take my "SMD's" mounted already..thank you!
73,
Sandy W5TVW
----- Original Message -----
From: "John A. Ross[RSDTV]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "'wayne burdick'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "'Elecraft Reflector'"
<elecraft@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2005 5:39 PM
Subject: RE: [Elecraft] SMD-based kits
| > -----Original Message-----
| > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
| > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of wayne burdick
| > Sent: 19 April 2005 22:21
| > To: Elecraft Reflector
| > Subject: [Elecraft] SMD-based kits
| >
| > snip <
|
| > However, supporting SMD-based kits would be an absolute
| > nightmare. Many parts have cryptic labels, or none at all,
| > notably capacitors. Keeping track of parts as you build --
| > which requires a lot of discipline -- is just the tip of the
| > iceberg. Imagine for a moment that you're an Elecraft
| > customer-service tech, confronted daily by kits with hundreds
| > of SMDS, many of which are installed in the wrong place, not
| > soldered correctly, damaged due to heating, etc. Problems
| > like this can be very painful to troubleshoot because of the
| > labeling problem. Already, Gary spends most of his time
| > finding and fixing problems with soldering and incorrect
| > component installation.
|
| Wayne
|
| You are right, misplaced, unmarked parts error tracing without a proper
BON
| tester and jig would be a serious pain.
|
| But you could supply the kit with MLCC already fitted. Soldered or held
by
| glue dots for the customer to solder to avoid this very issue.
|
| There is not that many other parts that would be unmarked if minimum
size
| was kept to 0805, could even stay with 1206 as these are quite close to
the
| pitch of R's used already.
|
| Would be good for the option kits, possibly front panel & controller
board
| at least as the available space is at a premium.
|
| > That said, looking into my crystal ball I can see a time when
| > home pick-'n'-place machines with AI-enabled vision systems
| > become commonplace....
|
| With the amount of reasonably cheap premade XY tables/linear guides and
PC
| axis controllers around (some in kit form!) all that's needed is some
will
| power, a Z axis solution and some double sided sticky tape to hold down
the
| SMT parts for picking!
|
| Still leaves the best xI around, the human eye & brain to do the
inspection
| job though.........
|
| Of course with the state of electronics manufacturing today, if your
garage
| is big enough, I have seen small footprint SMT placers go for next to
| nothing at auction.
|
| John
|
| (Serious lover of all things SMT... :-) )
|
|
| >
| > 73,
| > Wayne
| > N6KR
| >
|
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