If you own a K2 (or K1, KX1, etc.) you almost expect that kind of attention to detail to every single new K3.
Hand crafting these boards is obviously tedious and time intensive but necessary. Rumors have it that underpaid workers do this from sun up to sun down, 7 days a week, for as little as one U.S. dollar per day. This would be highly illegal if it was not the company owners doing the work. ;-) [Elecraft] K3 STATUS -- a note from the lab wayne burdick n6kr at elecraft.com Fri Nov 2 13:56:32 EST 2007 Since the K3's PCB modules are pre-assembled, we have to 100% test them, whether they're destined for a kit or for a fully-assembled unit. I thought I'd give you some flavor of what goes into this. For the K3 RF Board, we use a computer-controlled signal generator and spectrum analyzer, along with the K3's built-in true-RMS audio voltmeter, to do MDS tests on each band (receive mode). While the process is partially automated, each unit's band-pass filters, first I.F. trap, and mixer balance must be carefully aligned by hand. We also sweep each band for return loss from the antenna through the T-R switch. During this test, some low-pass filter toroid windings must be hand-adjusted. In transmit mode, each band is checked for drive range, max power output, key-down current drain, spectral purity, etc. Performance tests of this kind are also done on all other modules (there are over a dozen in even a basic K3). The results are highly repeatable, ensuring that both kit and factory-assembled K3s work equally well. However, this turns out to be very time-consuming, so reducing test time through automation is one of our major ongoing efforts. I'm now pitching in to help our manufacturing-engineering team (Brian, W6FVI and Rene, WR6MTR) by adding test firmware to the K3 itself. K3 owners will benefit from this effort in another way, since some tests are added to the K3's POST routine (power-up self-test), and all of the added remote control commands can be used to advantage in third-party software applications. That's the news from the lab. Back to work.... 73, Wayne N6KR --- http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ 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
