Keith KD1E asked: I've been installing one component at a time and soldering it in. The assembly instructions call for installing many and then soldering them later. I assume this is because you're likely to find you have a wrong component in when you get to further down the list and discover you can't find the one you need and have one that isn't called for. With that assumption I've been carefully verifying the markings on the component and on the board before I install & solder. Am I doing OK?
---------------------------- You'll find many of the later Elecraft manuals call for installing and soldering one part at a time. Either way is okay. I prefer the one part at a time method for a couple of reasons. One is that I hate dealing with a nest of leads all sticking out on the other side of the board. Second is that it's very easy while soldering to move a lead slightly so the part on the other side is no longer sitting against the board, and it's not noticed until it's been soldered. Of course you can reheat while pressing down on the part, but that's just extra work as far as I'm concerned. Like you, I hate to rework and go to great lengths to avoid it. So I use this approach: 1) Read the step. 2) Find the part and confirm its value by looking at it or measuring it if I'm not sure. 3) Find the location on the board and confirm that's the correct location by looking back at the step (It's amazing how often C9 becomes C19 in my head!) 4) Place the part on the board. 5) Check the step and confirm both the position and value of the part (It's always a good idea to orient parts so they can be read after installation to aid troubleshooting at some future date, if necessary, unless the part only goes one way due to polarity, etc.) 6) Solder the part in place and clip the leads as instructed. 7) Check off the step in the manual. That process becomes automatic and I've only had to remove/reposition one part to date. And that one was because I was too busy thinking about photographing the step for the manual. When I was sitting at the computer editing the photo to illustrate the step I was reading the numbers of the part (multi-pin RP5 in the KX1 of all things) and looking at the procedure and suddenly I realized the numbers didn't match. A quick check confirmed that I had worded the step correctly but put the wrong on the board and then photographed it for Figure 4! Aaaargh!!! (And yes, I did take it off, but it's not something I'd recommend doing on purpose...). Ron AC7AC _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
