Hi again, Fred. Thanks for your thoughts. On 04/15/2011 01:48 PM, Fred Jensen wrote: (snip)
> I don't know what RA Flux is. 0.025 may be a little big unless you've > had a lot of soldering experience. I used Alpha 63/37 "Energized > Rosin," 0.015 dia because I had a 1 lb roll. RA is, I guess, "rosin activated." I think there is also RMA, "rosin mildly activated." And that's the extent of what I know about those acronyms. Wow, 0.025 is a little big? Elecraft recommends 0.031 or finer, and I thought I was doing good getting one size smaller. I have some soldering experience, but nothing on this scale, and the last PCB I soldered was in nineteen seventy something when 1/16" solder was pretty fine and you didn't need a magnifying glass to read the part numbers. Of course, my eyes were better back when the parts were bigger. That doesn't seem quite right. I've got the 20W dummy load kit; I'm going to assemble it first as a "warm up" before tackling the K2. > Go slow, check each part against the reference designator, value, > location on the board, and orientation at least twice. You will install > several parts and then solder them all. I count connections on a piece > of paper as I install, and then count each one as I solder it. I didn't > have any unsoldered connections. > I like your idea of counting the connections and making to solder that many. I'll do that. I'm also going to double-check the part numbers as I install each part, and for those I can measure (R and C), meter 'em to make sure. I've got a big incentive to make no goofs: My parts store is out of stock on the Soldapult tools. All I've got is desoldering braid, and I'm no genius with that stuff. The Soldapult works like a charm. Or at least it did back when I last used one. Trying it on a plated-through board would be a new experience. Best Regards, Wayne Conrad ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
