[Elecraft] CFL's

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

The CFL that failed for me was a 22 watt GE, was made in China, and was not in 
a hooded desk lamp...It was in a table lamp with a12 inch open-top fabric 
lampshade sitting on a living room end table...I was not putting CFL's down, I 
was trying to warn folks to keep an eye on them for signs of over-heating...I 
have been using them for at least 10 years and will continue to do so, but one 
thing is for sure, I no longer leave a CFL burning when I am away from home 
overnight...It will be an incandescent for as long as I can get them...They are 
trying to "outlaw" incandescents in NY now...

Again, these bulbs contain mercury and it is illegal in NY to dispose of them 
in the regular trash...We have to deliver them to the hazardous waste material 
facility where we also have to deliver computers, printers, TV's, etc...There 
is no curb pick-up for these items...

Jerry, wa2dkg

Message: 27
Date: Sun, 5 Oct 2008 09:43:19 -0700
From: "Ron D'Eau Claire" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: RE: [Elecraft] smoke test
To: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net>>
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Jim gave you an excellent analysis of what happened to your CFL. That
fixture might have contributed to the failure, and I'd be suspicious of it
unless that CFL is several years old or it was a very cheap "bargain" brand.


Here's why. The ballast circuit in the base produces some heat. It's not a
huge amount, but enough to make it very warm. It needs cooling, especially
in fixtures that have a reflector above the lamp to direct the light
downward, such as onto your desk. If it doesn't have enough holes at the top
part of the fixture to let lots of air pass around the lamp and the ballast
in its base, then out through the ventilation holes, you'll shorten the life
of the CFL. 

I believe the life span of the CFL is related to price too. My "evidence" is
purely anecdotal, but strong enough that I avoid the cheap "bargain" CFLs.
I've been using GE CFLs for several years after some lower priced CFLs
failed after only a few months of service. I use all sizes from 40-watt
(equivalent) 'warm light' CFLs for reading lights to big ones equivalent to
100 watt 'daylight' (5800K) lights on the work bench. I haven't changed a
single CFL in years. The "100 watt" CFLs are in swing-arm fixtures with
cone-shaped reflectors that have a ring of holes around the switch at the
back of the socket that lets air pass by easily. Although the CFL itself
gets too hot to hold onto after extended use, the metal reflectors get just
slightly warm to the touch and I've experienced no failures yet. 

I have also observed the RFI generated by both "bargain" and the GE bulbs.
There's a huge difference, at least with the bargain CFLs I've used. The RFI
from a bargain CFL anywhere in the shack would be plainly audible across at
least part of the HF spectrum, but I have to hook a wire to the rig antenna
jack and put it quite close to the GE CFLs to hear any noise at all.

I'm not making claims that the GE CFLs are superior to all others. It just
happens that after I had RFI issues with some cheap no-name units that also
failed quite early, I did a little research and went looking for a better
brand. The GEs happen to be the brand I picked up and I've had no need to
replace one since.

Ron AC7AC

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Re: [Elecraft] CFL's

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Not  just California John, the entire nation...They've got a BIG push on to 
sell these screwy looking spirals here in NY...They do save energy, but they 
are also dangerous and they don't want us to know that...I reported it to the 
local fire marshall and he came and picked up the rest of my bulbs for 
testing...That was a year ago and is the last I heard of it...These bulbs 
contain mercury and it is illigal to dispose of them in the regular trash, you 
have to take them to a hazardous materials disposal center...

Jerry, wa2dkg
  - Original Message - 
  From: n4dsp<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
  To: Jeremiah McCarthy<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
  Sent: Sunday, October 05, 2008 9:29 AM
  Subject: Re: [Elecraft] CFL's



Are we speaking of the new Green lights that the liberals from California 
are pushing onto us?

john

I had this same experience in a living room lamp...I feel that we came 
close to having a fire because the lamp socket was too hot to touch...The white 
base of the bulb is not ceramic, it is plastic and is hollow, containing a 
number of electronic components...In my case, the white base was cooked to a 
light brown, was cracked, and it collapsed when I tried to unscrew it...The PCB 
inside was burned to a crisp...This bulb bore the name and logo of a bed-rock 
American company and was made in China...It would seem that the hype selling 
these bulbs to rhe public should include a warning about allowing the bulb, 
which runs relatively cool, to be too close to flammable objects, such as 
lampshades...

Jerry, wa2dkg

Message: 7
Date: Sat, 4 Oct 2008 21:23:55 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ralph Tyrrell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>>
Subject: [Elecraft] smoke test
To: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net<mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net>
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

As I sit at my computer the radio desk is to my back. I heard a burst of 
static behind me. That was odd since no radios were on.  The only thing on at 
the radio desk was the desk lamp and a power supply that keeps the batteries 
charged. Both are plugged into a strip that switches power to them.

I went over to the radio desk and looked at my equipment, both off. Still 
puzzled I turned on the 2m rig, all normal. Then I turned on the K3. All 
normal. I turned them off again. The K1 sits by, not connected to anything at 
this time.

Still puzzled  I sat there wondering if something had happened to my 
battery bank or one of the batteries.  I have three 26AH batteries in parallel. 
Each battery is fused before to goes to a fused buss.

Then my nose began to notice the smell we all dread. Something electrical 
was over heated.  Still I did not noticed a symptom I should have noticed 
earlier, the desk lamp was off. I touched the top of the lamp and it was very 
hot.  The bulb, a 13 Watt Florissant had failed. The ceramic base was too hot 
to touch. 

How often do Florissant bulbs fail this way?

I had the feeling that if I were not there a fire may have started.

73, Ty, W1TF, K3 #696, K1 #1423






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[Elecraft] CFL's

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

I had this same experience in a living room lamp...I feel that we came close to 
having a fire because the lamp socket was too hot to touch...The white base of 
the bulb is not ceramic, it is plastic and is hollow, containing a number of 
electronic components...In my case, the white base was cooked to a light brown, 
was cracked, and it collapsed when I tried to unscrew it...The PCB inside was 
burned to a crisp...This bulb bore the name and logo of a bed-rock American 
company and was made in China...It would seem that the hype selling these bulbs 
to rhe public should include a warning about allowing the bulb, which runs 
relatively cool, to be too close to flammable objects, such as lampshades...

Jerry, wa2dkg

Message: 7
Date: Sat, 4 Oct 2008 21:23:55 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ralph Tyrrell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Elecraft] smoke test
To: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

As I sit at my computer the radio desk is to my back. I heard a burst of static 
behind me. That was odd since no radios were on.  The only thing on at the 
radio desk was the desk lamp and a power supply that keeps the batteries 
charged. Both are plugged into a strip that switches power to them.

I went over to the radio desk and looked at my equipment, both off. Still 
puzzled I turned on the 2m rig, all normal. Then I turned on the K3. All 
normal. I turned them off again. The K1 sits by, not connected to anything at 
this time.

Still puzzled  I sat there wondering if something had happened to my battery 
bank or one of the batteries.  I have three 26AH batteries in parallel. Each 
battery is fused before to goes to a fused buss.

Then my nose began to notice the smell we all dread. Something electrical was 
over heated.  Still I did not noticed a symptom I should have noticed earlier, 
the desk lamp was off. I touched the top of the lamp and it was very hot.  The 
bulb, a 13 Watt Florissant had failed. The ceramic base was too hot to touch. 

How often do Florissant bulbs fail this way?

I had the feeling that if I were not there a fire may have started.

73, Ty, W1TF, K3 #696, K1 #1423
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[Elecraft] OT freeby

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

I have 2 old antenna rotators that I want to dispose of, one is a CDR and the 
other is a Ham-M...These are 70's vintage but they work perfectly...They are 
free to anyone who can come to my QTH and pick them up, first come, first 
served...I cannot get out to mail them, therefore they will not be posted on 
e-bay...I also have a 10 foot Rohn tower with roof mounting kit and bottom 
mounted rotator plate. ..It is a little rusty but sound and salvageable with a 
little Rustoleum...

I am located in Hicksville, NY which is in the center of Nassau County on Long 
Island...Contact me direct and off the reflector...I do not monitor the 
reflector...

Jerry McCarthy, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Tin Whiskers

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Tin whiskers could be a problem in more than a home entertainment system, a PC, 
or that K-3 under the dash...Automobiles today are fully computerized and that 
could spell disaster if whiskers short out the control unit while you are 
bombing down the expressway at 65 MPH...You lose most of your braking, your 
ability to steer and your ability to motor out of the way of that semi behind 
you...It was a long time ago and there is no evidence that I know of as to why 
it happened, but Harry Chapin was killed on the Long Island Expressway when his 
Volkswagen died and he was run over by a semi...

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[Elecraft] Crimped vs soldering

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Regardless of our personal experiences, the fact remains that soldering a 
crimped connection is unacceptable in Mil-Spec work...There are good reasons, 
not the least of which is premature failure away from the connector, back 
inside the wire's insulation where the rigid solder wick condition ends and 
morphs to a flexible condition...Military black boxes get a lot of maintenance 
and cables are being disconnected and re-connected often resulting in a lot of 
flexing...Exposed areas of stranded wire between the wire's insulation and the 
connector are also unacceptable...It can lead to a condition called 
"bird-caging"...I don't think bird-caging needs explanation...As far as strain 
relief is concerned, I haven't seen any strain relief on APP connectors, which 
is where this discussion started...

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[Elecraft] USPS and shipping costs

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Mail order houses that charge shipping based on the price of the purchase 
rather than on the weight or size bother me and I will avoid them if 
possible...From places that do this it will cost much more money to ship a two 
ounce diamond ring worth $500 than another place will charge for a 50 pound bag 
of fertilizer worth $15...If you are buying many items, as the cost of your 
purchase goes up, so does your shipping cost...That makes no sense to me...

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[Elecraft] Crimped connectors

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Only to make a point, not an argument...I worked for 30 years at Grumman and we 
built most of the Navy's aircraft, which are subject to a highly corrosive 
environment...All connections, thousands of them, were crimped using "Stakons", 
the trade name for those little red, blue, and yellow terminal lugs...AMP was 
the manufacturer of both the tools and the terminals...Soldering was grounds 
for a "crab", or rejection of the connection...Solder can wick up the wire 
under the insulation causing a rigid condition subject to vibration 
fatigue...Also, the heat from soldering distorts  the red, blue, or yellow 
insulation sleeve on the terminal lug compromising it's integrity...Of course 
there were a few connectors that had pins that had to be soldered, but not 
many...The pins in most of the connectors by Cannon, Amphenol, Deutch, etc. 
were crimped... 

Rivet and skin corrosion on the outside of the aircraft is much more of a 
problem than corrosion of crimped wire connections...

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[Elecraft] Encoder shaft felt washer

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

>>I personally am not a fan of the felt washer solution 
in either the K2 or the K3. Not only for the reason you state, but it also 
seems like it must wear out eventually or get rubbed down smooth so it doesn't 
provide friction. It just seems "Mickey Mouse" as we used to say<<

I replaced my felt washer with a leather one because the felt one got damaged 
when it fell to the floor and got run over by the wheel of my chair...I don't 
think there is anything wrong with felt...In the 30's and 40's felt washers 
were common in radios and early TV's...Some early TV's did not have detent 
tuners, they had belt driven continuous tuners and felt washers were used to 
maintain friction so that the tuner shaft did not creep...Admittedly they were 
a very fine grade hard white felt that did not shed...

If the felt washer in the K-2 or K-3 wears to the extent that it no longer 
provides friction, we simply loosen the set screws and move the knob in 
closer...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Encoder felt washer

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

>>My old K2 developed that problem several months after I built it. Looking
closely I could see some bits of the felt hairs caught in the C-ring and
bearing. I carefully tugged gently on each hair with tweezers while turning
the shaft in the direction needed to unwind each one and, after removing
several of them suddenly the encoder ran free again.<<

Several years ago I replaced the encoder shaft felt washer with a leather 
washer cut from an old glove...No more trouble with hairs in the 
bearing...Leather washers are often used in the drag brake in fishing 
reels...One could probably get useable leather from several sources, including 
the tongue of an old shoe...

Jerry, wa2dkg 
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[Elecraft] Listen Up

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

>>In my opinion the problem is those list members who refuse to accept that 
those who are frustrated or who just would like more accurate shipping
predictions have any right to express this on the list. It is just as valid
an issue for those waiting for a K3 as technical questions are for those who
are lucky enough to already have one. It is notable to me that most of the
complaints and discussion about dates have been made in polite, moderate
language, while most of the inflammatory comments and use of pejorative
language ("whiners", "whingers" etc.) has come from those who disagree with
them. So exactly who are the fine folks and who aren't?<<

All of this "in my opinion" is valid...However, it works both ways as regards 
the use of pejorative language...Eric, Wayne, and Elecraft in general have been 
accused of lying, deception, and subterfuge...Voicing disappointment and 
frustration is one thing, attacks on the character of folks is quite another, 
and that is what has happened here...IMHO, that is a reflection of character 
and is not acceptable...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Solder and flux

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

>>I solder at 800F with a Weller temp-controlled iron and have a little 
tub of "Kesler 44" rosin flux on the bench. When reheating a joint I 
take an Exacto knife with the number 11 blade(the pointed triangular one 
that is also good for removing splinters, self-mutilation, etc.) and 
just dip the point about 1 or 2 mm into the goo...about as much as a 
pile and a half of fly poop...if you are familiar with that... and apply 
it to the soldering point before heating.<<

An excellent method...In the absence of rosin flux, remember that fresh solder 
contains flux...Reheat the reluctant joint with a clean, hot iron then just 
TOUCH the tip-joint juncture with fresh solder and the joint will quickly 
liquify, allowing whatever rework is necessary, be it the removal of excess 
solder or eliminating a cold joint...

Having better means at my disposal, I seldom use solder wick, but I find that 
it works best if you lay the wick down over the joint, place the clean, hot 
iron on top of that, and then add a dab of fresh solder...Wait a second or two 
for things to flow and the wick will usually suck up all the excess...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Listen up

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

>>Congratulations for calling the whiners and malcontents to task for their 
disgraceful behavior. I, for one, wish that the reflector was 'monitored' 
to weed out the thrash.<<

Eric is the "monitor" (moderator) and does his job...Unfortunately, he is one 
of the targets of all the vitriol and is in the unenviable position of 
appearing self-serving and biased if he edits out the gripers, complainers, and 
lechery...The rest of us here are the losers...We all like to think that all 
hams are fine folks, but unfortunately, that is not true, as woefully 
demonstrated here...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Reed & Prince

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

It is "Reed and Prince, not "Reid and Prince"...The Reed and Prince company has 
been in business in Massachusetts for over 120 years...They started out making 
nails...The "cross-head" Reed and Prince screw goes back to the 1930's and 
preceded Phillips...

The Reed and Prince screw driver was designed for production work...Because of 
the sharp point, one size fits all, making it unnecessary to change tips on the 
production line...Many screw drivers sold today as Phillips are not really 
Phillips because they have a sharp point, a characteristic of Reed and 
Prince...Phillips drivers have a blunt point and it is necessary to change tips 
to accommodate the size screw...If a Reed and Prince tip is used on a Phillips 
screw, the pointed tip will bottom out in the shallow recess of the Phillips 
screw, preventing the side flutes of the tip from fully engaging the cross 
slots, possibly resulting in stripping out the cross slot...Examination of the 
recess in the screw will tell if it is a Phillips or a Reed and Prince...The 
Phillips will have a shallow, almost flat bottom, the Reed and Prince will be 
deeper and have a pointed bottom...

I prefer  Apex drivers because many different tips (straight slot, Phillips, 
Allen, Torx, etc) are available...They use a 1/4" hex drive on the back of the 
tips that plug into a socket in the driver handle...They are hard and brittle 
and will chip if over-torqued, but they will not round over, which causes 
slipping...

Retrieving (pick-up) tools are available on line from Stanley Supply and 
Services, formerly Jensen Tools... 

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Sony Power Connectors

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

There is nothing unique about the power cables Sony uses...In every piece of 
Sony equipment I have ever come across, they used the standard IEC 
configuration widely used in computers, printers, TV's, lab equipment, etc...I 
have a Sony TV, DVD, VCR, and satellite receiver...They all use the same power 
connector that my computer and printer does, both of which are NOT Sony...

I agree that microphone connections ought to be standardized, but to single out 
Sony's power connectors does not make sense to me...

Jerry, wa2dkg

>> Sony is one of the worst--try using after market stuff 
on their products--even their power connectors are relatively unique.<<
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[Elecraft] ESD Safety

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Until retirement in 1993, I worked for 35 years soldering in the aerospace 
industry...In every soldering station and straight soldering iron I ever 
encountered that had a 3 prong AC connector, the soldering tip was connected 
directly to house ground...I have an old Weller WTCP, a Hakko 936, an old Pace, 
and several straight soldering irons with 3 prong plugs and they all have tips 
grounded directly to house ground...The Hakko 808 desoldering tool has a 
grounded tip...Most soldering handles and the wire for them are made of static 
dissipating plastic to help drain any charge on the operator's body...It would 
be next to impossible to use one of these tools and not accidently touch the 
chassis or ground plane with it at one time or another...Grounding the work mat 
and the wrist strap through a 1 meg resistor is normal, but not the soldering 
tip...Some mats have a ring on the end of the ground wire that you slip over 
the round ground prong on the AC plug before you plug the solde
 ring iron in...

It is important to remove the tip and clean it up occasionally...Corrosion 
eventually leads to the tip becoming isolated from ground... 

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Soldering APP's

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

>>One tip: make sure of the orientation of the connector pins before 
soldering especially on heavy gauge wire. This can be a bit tricky as the 
pin will want to rotate on the wire as soon as you touch it with the 
soldering iron (Murphy at work). It's important so you don't have to twist 
the conductor to get the pin into the connector.<<

The above quote regarding the orientation of the pins is very important and 
this is how I handle it...Any heavy duty soldering iron will do, probably, the 
bigger, the better...I have used an old 40 watt Hexicon and a Weller heat gun, 
both work well... 

Clamp the stripped cable in a small bench vise with the stripped end protruding 
horizontally out the side of the vise jaws...Grip it on the insulation leaving 
about an inch of  insulated cable sticking out...Slip the connector pin onto 
the wire, tin the iron, and press the hot iron against the outer end of the 
wire-socket on the pin, pushing the pin straight inward.against end of the 
wire...This holds the pin in place and keeps it from rotating...Apply the 
solder to the BACK of the pin where the wire enters the solder cup...When the 
pin is hot enough, the solder will melt and wick into the joint with little or 
no buildup on the outside of the solder cup...Don't over heat it or the 
insulation will melt and shrivel back...I chill it by dripping alcohol on it 
with an acid brush...If any solder builds up on the outside of the pin and 
interferes, don't try to reheat it...Solder is very soft and can be shaved down 
with an Exacto or razor blade...

Jerry, wa2dkg

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Vermin

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Tape over the rear accessory holes might keep insects out, but it will not keep 
rodents out...They've got teeth, this coming from someone who knows because 
they got into a bagged, stored air conditioner and built a smelly nest...A 
dummy connector or a blank metal plate made from flashing would be my 
choice...Flashing can be cut with scissors...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] K-2 headphone jack

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

One way to eliminate the problem (I have never had it) with the front panel 
headphone jack in the K-2 is to use the rear panel mounted external speaker 
jack, which is less convenient, but more reliable...While this will energize 
only one side of the headset, the jack is a standard 1/8" mono phone jack, 
easily replaceable...One could use a monaural headset, or install a stereo jack 
and wire it so that both sides of the headphones work...This will not work if 
the front panel jack has already failed...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] E---mail filters

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Due to "retirement" economics and the age of the computer, (which also 
translate into economics) my connection is dial-up...The digest arrives on my 
doorstep as one, single e-mail message...There is no way to break it up into 
separate folders until after it is downloaded...Separating and deleting 
individual messages from it is a long, drawn out, screen-swapping process...Why 
should I have to spend an hour or so of my time at the end of the day manually 
filtering out stuff that should not be there in the first place?...The 
important word in the responder's message is "manually"...It cannot be done 
automatically...And what is RFC 822?...It might mean something to a computer 
guru, but it means nothing to me as a casual user...I never heard of it...BTW, 
I don't use Outlook...

Jerry, wa2dkg


>There is no fundamental reason why not. I don't have Outlook in front
of me, but I am fairly sure, as long as you request the digest in RFC 
822 digest format, you can simply move the attachments into a folder 
then manually run a set of filters on that folder.<
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[Elecraft] filters

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

It is amazing that some allegedly well informed self appointed experts cannot 
grasp the idea that if one MUST receive the reflector in digest form, for 
whatever reason, one CANNOT use e-mail filters...Lotsa flames coming!...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] How do I unsubscribe

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

I have to say I sympathize with the gentleman who wants to 
unsubscribe...Unfortunately, I think he might have unintentionally started yet 
another OT  "Can You Top This"  thread...It is already evident in several 
topics in this very issue of the reflector, where a select few inject their 
opinions...Who cares?...Really!!...

Jerry, wa2dkg

PS: I fully expect will be called out on this, but enough is enough...Wake up, 
people...
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[Elecraft] D connectors

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

D connectors have been in use in military aircraft for a long time and the 
black boxes are swapped in and out like clockwork...In my experience D's very 
reliable...They came in 9, 15, 25, 37, and 50 pin configurations as I remember, 
and I seem to recall a 44 pin one, too...They were made by several 
manufacturers both in crimp and solder types...

I think some folks don't like them because they are intimidated when it comes 
to soldering them...Cheap consumer versions have plastic insulators that soften 
when the pins are heated and allow the pins to move or even fall out...I keep a 
matching set of high quality industrial D's for use as holders when I am 
soldering these connectors...The high quality connector is held in a small vise 
and the cheap mating connector is mated to it for soldering...This keeps the 
pins from moving around when heated...

Soldering them is really very easy...Dip the untinned, stripped end of the wire 
in liquid rosin flux, insert it into the pin socket and hold it there with your 
fingers...Holding the iron in the other hand, pick up a small amount of solder 
on the hot tip and touch it to the wire and pin at the joint...The solder will 
flow off the tip and into the joint with minimal heating and you are 
done...BTW, I always use spaghetti sleeves on them, especially if there is a 
bare shield wire in the mix...

Jerry wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] speed

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

>>If they don't want us to drive us fast, why do they make such cars? And why 
do the speedometers go up so high?<<

One good reason is so that we can call on the reserve of power and floor-board 
it, getting out of the way of that 10 ton truck that is bearing down on 
us...This is a good reason for NOT putting governors on automobiles as some 
have suggested...

Jerry, wa2dkg 
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[Elecraft] Solder

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Good idea...I do the same using an empty sewing thread spool...Holding a one 
pound spool of solder while soldering 17 relays can get very tiring on an 
arthritic wrist...

Jerry, wa2dkg

>>For some time, I have used a fly-tying bobbin as a solder dispenser. If you 
>>don't know what that is, go to a fly-fishing shop or a well-equipped sporting 
>>goods store. Be sure to check the I.D. of the tip to be sure it will handle 
>>the solder you are using.<<
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[Elecraft] Solder in Elecraft kits

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

I don't think Elecraft should supply solder...It might be a nice gesture, but 
with the escalating price of solder due to RoHS, I think it would place an 
unnecessary economic and RoHS compliance burden on Elecraft which could impact 
the price of kits...If the builder is "green", he has the choice of buying 
lead-free solder, or not...Elecraft would have to chose between lead-tin or 
lead-free solder, and that in itself would be a problem for some 
folks...Personally I hate working with lead-free, it is a real pain if you have 
to do rework...

Heathkit did provide solder...I have one of their TV dot generators that once 
belonged to my Dad and solder is listed in the bill of materials...I still have 
an unused roll of Heathkit solder and that is the only reason I am sure, 
otherwise I don't think I would have remembered either...It is a on small, red, 
metal spool with Heathkit's logo...The solder was made by Ersin, was multi 
core, and looks like it is about .030"...As I remember, they supplied a small 
amount on a spool for small projects like test instruments, and for big kits 
like their color TV's there were several full rolls...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Wood bits

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

On this side of the lake these bits are known as "brad-points"...There is 
another similar type known as "Forstner", but they are much more expensive and 
I am not sure they are available in the smaller diameters...

Jerry, wa2dkg

>>Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but, I've tried using wood 
>>drills (the ones with the point which only cut on the outside edge, good for 
>>thin sheet metal, too) to make copper lands on a plain board. I think they 
>>are also known as torpedo drills. I've seen kits made up of lots of little 
>>squares or circles of pcb material that you stick onto your main copper clad 
>>board. That's a little more messy, but works. I prefer the drill method, it 
>>also starts a hole for your component wire.<<

>>David
G3UNA<<
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[Elecraft] Moving crystal frequency

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

I remember buying crystals at Lafayette Radio in the mid sixties and moving 
their frequencies by rubbing them in toothpaste on a piece of plate glass...A 
lot of work !!...I had a 2 year novice at the time...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Code/dog

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

My older brother, a WWII vet, attributes this skit to Wally Cox on either
the Ed Sullivan Show or the Dave Garroway show...Cox was a WWII vet and
started out in show business as a stand-up comedian, often telling of his
military experiences, particularly a very funny story about the day he was
drafted at Whitehall Street in NYC...
 
Jerry, wa2dkg
 
>>wayne burdick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>I heard this very funny piece on NPR a couple of years ago about a 
>>40's-era comedian who did skits about military life. In one skit he 
>>played a radio-class instructor disgusted with a new class of 
>>underachieving recruits who were there to learn the code. He chastised 
>>them for not studying while bragging that he could teach anyone the 
>>code, even "a dog," which cracked up the studio audience (or, I'm not 
>>sure which, prompted the laugh-track operator to open it up all the 
>>way).
 
Jerry, wa2dkg


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[Elecraft] Walter Winchell

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Back in the days of B&W TV Winchell had a 15 minute gossip gig...(or was it 1/2 
hour?...I don't remember anymore)...At the beginning of the show he was shown 
sitting at a table sending his CW message using a bug...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Elecraft Pocket Knife

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

>If your boy was in the UK he would likely get arrested for carrying a
>knife in a public place or at school. Unlike the old days, knives are
>regarded as dangerous weapons, engraved "Elecraft" or not.
>Incidentally, we can't carry guns either.

I am surprised to hear that...About 2 years ago I built a KX-1 for a blind ham 
on the UK...As a token of his appreciation, he sent me a very beautiful, very 
expensive, custom made pocket knife...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] CFL lamps

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

I have had CFL's throughout the house for years with no complaints, until 
recently...I had been working in the basement and having finished my chore, 
came upstairs...I smelled the familiar odor of "things electronic" 
burning...The table lamp in the living room was out and was the source of the 
odor...

The 20 watt "twisty" was so hot I could not touch it, and when it cooled enough 
to remove it the white base was blistered and had small cracks in the plastic 
base radiating out from around the glass tube...It is my opinion that we came 
very close to afire...Cutting the base open revealed a small PCB that was badly 
scorched...I will continue to use CFL's but will be sure they are reputable 
name brand units, although with out-sourcing, I guess we can't be sure that 
means anything...This one was a GE and was made in China...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] KPA-100 board

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

On the KPA-100, two different length 3/16" hex spacers are screwed down onto 
the long Allen set screws that hold the circuit board in place...When these 
spacers are tightened down, they make the Allen set screws very rigid...Four 
out of the seven spacers are visible after the board is installed...If you have 
a 3/16" open end ignition wrench, you can loosen these 4 spacers a bit by 
reaching in under the board with the wrench...This allows more flexibility to 
the long Allen screws and the circuit board can be slipped on or off much 
easier...Be sure to re-tighten them after the board is installed...Lacking an 
ignition wrench they could be loosened with long-nosed pliers, but I would not 
recommend it as it will surely mar the spacers...

>> I am trying to fit the PC to the heat sink but there is not a neat match of 
>> set screws to holes in the PC. No problems in screwing the set screws into 
>> the heat sinks (i.e. certainly not cross-threaded) but there is a tiny 
>> mismatch. I am very very reluctant to use any force (and I have to get it 
>> back off anyway).
Anyone else have this problem and any suggestions? Maybe a comment will make a 
change from K3 frenzy (and yes it does look great!)
73
Nick G3RWF<<
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[Elecraft] Countersinking screws

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Countersinking screws in a home shop without the proper tools can be 
frustrating...If you have a drill press and can securely clamp the panel so 
that it cannot wander, you might succeed...Even so, the bit itself can flex and 
chatter, resulting in a triangular hole...Feeding the bit into the cut very 
slowly helps, but it is no guarantee that it will not chatter...

It is next to impossible to countersink holes using a hand held drill motor 
even if the panel is clamped in a vise...The cutting angle of twist drills is 
not necessarily uniform...It depends on the hardness of the material they were 
intended to drill into...Bits bought from surplus clearing houses are sometimes 
sharpened to odd angles...

In industry, countersinks have a smooth pilot-pin protruding from the center of 
the cutter that is the same size as the screw hole...The pilot bears against 
the sides of the hole and keeps the countersink from wandering...These tools 
have from 4 to 6 cutting edges, resulting in smooth cutting...Twist drills only 
have 2 cutting edges and no pilot and this causes chatter...These countersinks 
have a built in adjustable depth controlling device...If you do not cut deep 
enough, the screw will protrude above the panel...If you cut too deep, the 
screw will seat below the surface of the panel and you will have a silver ring 
of bare metal showing all around the screw head...

I would not advise trying to countersink the screws in your prized K-2 unless 
you have the tools and the skills...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Saving Energy and staying dry

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

I am very concerned about the environment and have seen a lot of beneficial 
results...However, the dire predictions of global warming 100 years from now 
really concern me...It reminds me of an old story about amputating a man's arm 
at the shoulder because he had an infected finger...When Al Gore was in 
congress many years ago he made a speech predicting a hole in the ozone layer 
over Kennebunkport...That never happened...Should we take him seriously now?...

As I understand it, there are many green house gasses and CO2 is only a small 
percentage...Water vapor,  plain old humidity, is the worst offender and there 
is nothing we can do about it...Every living creature from the smallest flea to 
the biggest whale exhales CO2 and there is nothing we can do about that, 
either...

Predictions of global warming are the result of computer modeling and computers 
are programmed by fallible human beings...There are as many scientists who 
reject global warming as there are those who predict it, but they get no 
ink...That is what worries me, we are not hearing both sides...Are we barking 
up the wrong tree and wasting a lot of money?...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] KX-1 Paddle

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

>>Any ideas on keeping the paddle screw tight?<< 

>>Mine seems to work loose easily, Locktite or similar<<
>>would work but I want to remove it.<<

The paddle on the KX-1 works loose because the thumbscrew strikes the edge of 
the circuit board before the paddle body is pulled up tight against the 
transceiver...There are 2 ways to fix it: (1) grind or file the end of the 
screw a mite, shortening it so that it does not strike the board, or, (2) make 
up a heavy paper or felt gasket and glue it to the paddle body where it comes 
up against the KX-1 case...This will move the paddle body outward a bit, 
keeping the screw from striking the circuit board...I prefer the gasket because 
grinding the screw might damage the threads making the screw hard to 
"start"...Beveling the end of the screw after cutting it might help...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] fishing rods

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Many fishermen, like myself, like to custom build their own rods...If you are 
looking for a fishing rod to use as an antenna support, Google "fishing rod 
blanks"...A lot of costly labor goes into building a fishing rod, but the bare 
blanks can be bought at much less than the cost of a complete rod...The blank 
is just that, blank, with no tip, eyelets, grips, or reel seat...The companies 
that sell fishing rod blanks also sell all the other components needed to "roll 
your own" fishing rod, so you can buy fishing rod ferrules that will allow you 
to cut the rod blank down to manageable lengths for storage or transporting, 
then assemble it on site...A vast array of rod blank lengths and weights are 
available...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Toroids

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

I have wound hundreds of toroids and have an "IMHO" to submit...The flame 
method is the poorest, most time wasting, most dangerous procedure...Since we 
need to strip the enamel up to as close to the core as possible, the flame will 
inevitably damage the first and last few turns by scorching both those turns 
and the core...The flame method requires 3 steps, (1) burn the enamel off, (2) 
clean up the scorched wire, (3) tin the wire...You will be lucky if you really 
can do so...

The "blob" method requires only one step and should be done with high heat...I 
used to use an old fashioned unregulated 40 watt iron for this...Today I use a 
Hakko 808...There is no need to first scrape the wire...The object is to burn 
the enamel off, and the heat of the iron and the solder alone will do that..If 
the enamel won't burn, the iron is simply not hot enough...Start as close to 
the core as possible...Put a blob of solder on the tip, immerse the wire in the 
blob, and slowly work out towards the tip of the wire, adding more solder as 
necessary...

Starting at the tip of the wire and working inwards towards the core has a 
tendency to push the wire inward, especially with the 28 gage wire used in the 
KSB2...This forms a loose turn inside the core, which, when pulled back out 
into place, will leave enamel on the wire close to the core, in the area where 
soldering onto the circuit board should occur...

After the toroid is wound, I pin it down flat on the bench with a weight, like 
a draftsman's paper weight, covering only half the toroid and leaving the wire 
leads sticking straight out...This leaves both hands free to manipulate the 
iron and the solder...Tin the top lead, then turn the toroid over and do the 
other lead...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Out of line

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

>>No need to apologize. Your comments are right on target for this reflector.
If some feel otherwise, there is always the delete key, or they can
unsubscribe.<<

My reply to this post is a little late because I just spent 2 weeks in the 
hospital and I am just catching up...

IMHO, this remark is elitist and out of line...For those of us who are at a 
financial disadvantage, a dial-up connection is our only option, necessitating 
receiving the reflector in digest form...The "delete" key is not an option for 
us, and neither is "unsubscribe"...We have to download everything, be it truth, 
fact, and friction, cluttering up the mailbox...Sorry, but I resent the 
attitude...

Jerry, wa2dkg 
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[Elecraft] Speaker jack

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

This speaker jack problem applies only to basic K-2's...I assumed that Dohn was 
talking about a basic K-2...The basic K-2 cover is not installed in a KPA-100 
so the external speaker jack cannot cause a problem...I always use the external 
speaker jack to obtain output to the computer sound card when aligning the 
filters with Spectrogram...This is how I discovered that the new style jacks 
were different from the old ones...When an external speaker (or a cable to your 
computer) is plugged into one of these new speaker jacks, the internal speaker 
goes mute and there is no output to the computer...Reversing the "AF" and "SP" 
connections at the jack (page 79) corrects it...

Jerry, wa2dkg 



>>I have encountered several of these "faulty" jacks...If the jack has a 7/16" 
>>hex nut to attach it to the panel, it is a new jack in the >>Elecraft world 
>>and it is internally wire in reverse to the originals, which had a knurled 
>>thumb screw type nut...The fix is >>simple...Referring to page 79 in the 
>>manual, reverse the positions of wires "AF" and "SP"...

>>Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] SPK-2 speaker jack

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

I have encountered several of these "faulty" jacks...If the jack has a 7/16" 
hex nut to attach it to the panel, it is a new jack in the Elecraft world and 
it is internally wire in reverse to the originals, which had a knurled thumb 
screw type nut...The fix is simple...Referring to page 79 in the manual, 
reverse the positions of wires "AF" and "SP"...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Mag-light

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

IMO, a mag-light is great for inspecting one's work, but if one intends to use 
the mag-light while soldering, the need to be 8 inches or less away from the 
work will interfere with most soldering irons...That is when a magnifier worn 
on the head, or clip-ons, are better...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] 1N4148

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

All 1N4148 diodes I have ever seen were made of glass...If it got hot enough to 
melt glass, the board would be burned...Long before that could happen the diode 
would open...I suspect something else is at work here...

Jerry, wa2dkg 

>Hey there Elecraft! I just noticed that D18 on the back of rf bd got fried. 
The diode looks melted in the middle,<
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[Elecraft] Rework eliminators

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Solder wick should be avoided?...Wish I knew that 40 years ago...

Everything has it's purpose...Solder wick works very well in those instances 
where excess solder on the inaccessible "other side" of the board will not 
respond to solder suckers like the Hakko 808...The sudden blast of air, sucked  
through the joint, chills and solidifies the solder before it can all be 
removed...This is particularly a problem on any joint that is on the ground 
foil on the far side of the board...I've built, up-graded, and repaired a lot 
of Elecrafts and would not want to be without the Hakko 808 and solder wick...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Solder

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

I might be reading something into this issue that is not there...I get the 
impression that there are some folks who believe that once the soldering iron 
is hot and you clean and tin the tip, that is the only time it needs to be 
done, and if you need to clean and tin it more than once, something is 
wrong...Any time the iron is returned to the stand for any length of time, 
remaining flux will burn and blacken and the tinned coating will oxidize and 
discolor...

The tip needs to cleaned and re-tinned, either on a damp sponge or pot-scrubber 
every time the iron is picked up to solder a joint...You can solder many joints 
with one cleaning, but once the iron is returned to the holder for a time, it 
must be cleaned and tinned...This is basic Soldering 101...

I have heard that a damp sponge chills the tip...I have never found that to be 
a problem...After wiping the tip on the sponge, you need to apply a little 
solder...If the tip was too cold, you could not do that...The tip needs to be 
wet with a little solder in order to efficiently transfer heat to the joint 
before solder is applied to the joint...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] K2 power connector

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Is the connector on the K-2 end of your power cable an original Elecraft 
connector?...If it is an after market replacement, the outer sleeve, which is 
power supply ground, might not be the right diameter and is not making contact 
with the wiper type ground contact inside J-3, the 12 volt input power 
connector on the K-2...There is a wide variety of after market connectors in a 
wider variety of sizes...

Jerry, wa2dkg

>>I did discover a perplexing issue that I can't seem to resolve. If the
antenna is not connected to the rig, the rig does not power up at all. I
hooked the K1 to a dummy load to accomplish the "fine tuning", and the same
thing happened. Curious, I hooked it up to a coaxial switch, with one lead
going to the dummy load and the other to the antenna. When I turned the
switch to the dummy load, the rig shut down. I turned it off, switched the
lead to the antenna, and no problem whatsoever. <<
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[Elecraft] BNC to UHF adaptor

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Amphenol's part number for their male BNC to female UHF adaptor is 
#2900...Readily available...RS number is (or was) 278-120...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Hakko 808

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

tequipment.net has drawings with dimensions of all Hakko tips and nozzles on 
their website...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] OT-NASA

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

>>I was not NASA certified but worked with techs that were. They explained that 
>>minimum solder, ie concave verses convex solder blob, was due to not 
>>inspection of solder pad. If the solder was piled on the inspectors would 
>>reject it because they had a harder time determining cold solder pads, 
>>minimal solder allowed proper inspection of the pad.<<

I was NASA certified and weight was the prime consideration...Most of our 
soldering involved high pin density cable connectors...Everything was inspected 
twice, first by our own QC, then by NASA...They did not want to see a filet at 
the solder cups of the connector pins, they wanted to see a void, with the wire 
little more than tacked into the cup...They did a pull test on every wire...No 
wicking or bird-caging of the stranded wire was allowed...All flux had to be 
removed and many connectors were crabbed due to the presence of flux...

We did not do an lot of circuit boards, but minimum solder was still the 
rule...Circuit board technology in the late 60's was rather primitive by 
today's standards and most of our boards were fabricated in house in the photo 
lab...There weren't many moon-shots, so board manufacture count was low...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Eraser

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

>>Take one of those pink erasers split one end with razor
blade [sharp knife] drag leads of part through it helps
clean up & helps solder flow <<

Good idea...Years ago a commercially available tool for cleaning tarnished 
component leads was available...It might still be...It was nothing more than a 
short piece of braided ground strap folded in half, end for end...You place the 
wire lead of the part to be cleaned between the folds of the braid, pinch it, 
and pull it through, polishing the wire...I always keep a home-made one 
handy...I made mine from coax shield...It's great for those parts that have 
been hiding in the junque box for years...

A short piece of surgical tubing or small rubber hose is excellent for 
stripping the outer jacket off of coax cableAfter carefully scoring the 
jacket all the way around the cable, insert it into the hose, pinch, and 
pull...The jacket will come off neat and clean..

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] OT-NASA soldering

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Judging from a direct response, it seems that my statement about using minimum 
solder to save lift-off weight during the lunar lander program generated 
skepticism...At that time NASA estimated that they saved 450 pounds on the 
entire Saturn 5 launch vehicle by limiting the amount of solder used for a 
"one-shot" launch...NASA did not use Mil-Spec, they had their own spec...

Jerry, wa2dkg

>>Anything that is built for NASA and will fly will most likely have to be 
>>conformal coated...Leaving excess lead length might cause the ends to 
>>protrude out of the conformal coating, defeating the purpose of the 
>>coating...I was not aware of any min-max lead length protrusion in my 
>>dealings with NASAWe used minimum solder to save lift-off weight and we 
>>always trimmed flush...<<
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[Elecraft] soldering

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Anything that is built for NASA and will fly will most likely have to be 
conformal coated...Leaving excess lead length might cause the ends to protrude 
out of the conformal coating, defeating the purpose of the coating...I was not 
aware of any min-max lead length protrusion in my dealings with NASAWe used 
minimum solder to save lift-off weight and we always trimmed flush...This does 
not mean that specs have not been updated since I left Grumman...

Jerry, wa2dkg

Certified NASA, Navy, and Airforce solderer...
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[Elecraft] (no subject)

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

>Friday as an F14 decided to make a great deal of noise over my house 
performing some odd stunt.<

Hi, Kevin:

Are you sure it was an F-14 Tomcat?... ;^) ...If it really was, that is very 
interesting...As far as I know, the Navy retired ALL F-14's several months 
ago...They have been officially declared "decommissioned"...If it was an F-14, 
I did not know the Navy stationed them at Whidbey and are still flying 
them...My guess is that it was an FA18 Hornet, which also has twin engines and 
twin vertical tail fins, but cannot sweep the wings...

The next to last F-14D (# 711) built by Grumman arrived here on Long Island 
this past week...It has been loaned back to Grumman by the Navy and will be put 
on a pedestal for permanent display at Grumman's facility...With the limited 
presence Grumman maintains here, I cannot imagine where they are going to put 
it...The F-14 is a big airplane...73

Jerry McCarthy, wa2dkg
Reftired Grumman employee and member of Grumman Retirees' Club...
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[Elecraft] DC power connector

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Yesterday I opened up my K2, S/N 2549, to replace D10...When I unplugged the 
coaxial DC power connector, it was a little cruddy so I wiped it with a clean 
cloth...I noticed that the outer sleeve of the connector, which is the negative 
leg from the power supply, spun easily...This means that it was not making good 
electrical contact with the negative solder lug inside the backshell of the 
connector...This was a replacement Radio Shack connector..The original Elecraft 
connector, which is at another location in my QTH, does not have this 
fault...It probable accounted for a few MV of drop which was why I was 
replacing D10...I was able to solder  the sleeve to the ground lug, but a new 
connector is in order...If anyone has replaced their connector with one from 
RS, it might be a good idea to check it out...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Nylon Screw

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

The nylon screw is the ultimate answer...The reason the short occurs is that in 
some instances the tapered head of the screw comes into contact with the sides 
of the hole in the tab of Q6...Counter sinking the hole in the tab of Q6 works 
as a temporary measure, but I would not recommend it as a permanent fix...It 
will get you on the air while you wait for the nylon screw to arrive...

Jerry, wa2dkg

>
Hello all:


I had disassembled my previously operational KX1 (SN854) in anticipation of
adding the KXB3080 option. However I realized that it would be some time
before I could get around to it, and I felt like operating. So I put it
back together, powered it up, and released the smoke. Examination showed
that a short section of V+ PCB trace just after the power switch had
vaporized. PCB traces make excellent fusible links. I measured the
resistance to ground from the far end of the trace. It was 1025 Ohms. By
now I had a pretty good idea what was going on. I repaired the trace, and
measured the same resistance at the power connector. So far so good. I
powered it up outside of the case and all is well. Now I'm real sure what's
going on. I reassembled it into the case, and measured the resistance at
the power connector; 0.4 Ohms. Q6 was shorted to the case. I backed off the
screw for Q6 1/8 of a turn and the short goes away. I examined the plastic
spacer and it does not seem deformed. The insulating pad also seems fine.
I did not torque the screw to 20 foot pounds. I don't know what to do next.
All suggestions appreciated.<


>Thanks,<


>Paul N8NOV<

 
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[Elecraft] Slightly OT

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

I received a builder inquiry by direct post from one WARD HEAPE...While 
transferring the message from my in box to my saves, I accidently deleted it 
instead...Ward, if you are reading this, please re-post direct...Sorry...

Jerry McCarthy, wa2dkg 
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[Elecraft] RE: Grumman (was Weller)

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

It was a climate controlled room in Bethpage, Long Island, was in Plant 5,
and was called "the clean room"...If he actually took you right into the
room (not outside looking through a window), then you had to put on a
smock, booties, and hat and enter through an air lock...You should feel
privileged because not many outsiders got that kind of treatment...The
clean room was where the OAO, the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, the
forerunner of the Hubbel Telescope was built, and was originally a hanger
where WWII fighters were built...

Jerry, wa2dkg


> [Original Message]
> From: Vin Cortina <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; 
> Date: 7/23/06 8:55:11 AM
> Subject: Grumman (was Weller)
>
> Speaking of Grumman and the LM.  I know this is off topic, but I just had
to 
> tell you all back in the mid to late 80's in my early years at H.P., I
was 
> doing field service on what we called Test and Measurement equipment, and
I 
> was specializing in microwave network analysis.  Grumman was one of my 
> accounts, and I visited them in Bethpage, Calverton and some other minor 
> site, I believe.  Anyway, there was one lab I went to somewhat frequently 
> and the older engineers there took a shining to me, I guess.  They
brought 
> me into the lab (they may have called it a hangar) where the LM was made. 
> Doesn't sound like much of a story now, but you must imagine what a
thrill 
> that was.  I was 13 years old when Apollo 11 made its historic voyage,
and 
> have been an amateur astronomer longer than I've been a ham.  So this was
a 
> VERY big deal to me.  I only hope those fellows know what a gift they
gave 
> me by simply giving me a personal tour of that place.
>
> OK, now back to my KX1
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Vin  KR2F
>
> K1-4 s/n:1977
> KX1  s/n:1476
>
>
> - Original Message - 
> From: "Jeremiah McCarthy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: 
> Sent: Sunday, July 23, 2006 10:01 AM
> Subject: [Elecraft] Weller
>
>
> > Gregory Beat wrote:
> >
> >>Grumman used the TCP irons for the Lunar LM construction in 1960s;
Collins
> > for the "S" line production and rework stations in 1960s and 1970s and 
> > NASA
> > in 2002 used a Weller WTCPT pencil (tied to station's 24 VAC bus) on ISS
> > Alpha for soldering tests in microgravity.<
> >
> > A very informative post...Thanks, Greg...
> >
> > I own one of those Grumman soldering stations...The company let me keep
it 
> > when I retired in 1993 and it is still in use today...It is at least 35 
> > years old and works perfectly...
> >
> > Jerry, wa2dkg
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> > Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com 
>



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[Elecraft] Weller

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Gregory Beat wrote:

>Grumman used the TCP irons for the Lunar LM construction in 1960s; Collins 
for the "S" line production and rework stations in 1960s and 1970s and NASA 
in 2002 used a Weller WTCPT pencil (tied to station's 24 VAC bus) on ISS 
Alpha for soldering tests in microgravity.<

A very informative post...Thanks, Greg...

I own one of those Grumman soldering stations...The company let me keep it when 
I retired in 1993 and it is still in use today...It is at least 35 years old 
and works perfectly...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Spam

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Last night my personal e-mail in box was spammed by a purveyor of an 
after-market item for Elecraft radios...I strongly resent this intrusion...

I am a listed Elecraft builder who specializes in service to those who cannot 
build their own radios, with particular attention given to the blind, 
handicapped and elderly...My service is of high quality and is unadvertised, 
non-commercial, and without compensation...I will not put myself in the 
position of hawking an outside vendor's product, for the vendor's profit, to my 
ham radio friends...

Jerry McCarthy, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Black Widow Paddle

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

I wonder if using a power sander, which has a soft rubber backing pad, will 
cause rounding over of the edges of the parts for the Black Widow paddle...

I read the instructions for polishing the brass in the Black Widow paddle using 
fine sandpaper...The problem is that the sandpaper quickly loads up and stops 
cutting...I would go to an automotive paint supply and buy "wet-or-dry" emery 
paper...Wet or dry is usually a gray color on the back side with black abrasive 
on the business side...

Tape the paper to the table as suggested, then apply a small amount of water to 
it and start sanding...The water will hold the metal particles in suspension 
and allow the paper to continue cutting, and the cutting will be FAST...As the 
cutting continues, the water will thicken into a brass colored slurry which can 
be rinsed or wiped off, after which sanding can continue using the same sheet 
of sandpaper...This method is excellent for polishing the edges of plexiglass...


Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] KXPD1 screw

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

I would not use a lock washer, I would use a flat washer...A lock washer is 
intended to permanently anchor a nut or screw..(bolt ?)The sharp edges on it 
bite into the metal...In the case of the KXPD1 paddle, the body of the paddle 
is aluminum, a relatively soft metal...Since the paddle will most likely 
removed and re-attached often, the lock washer would gradually chew it's way 
into the body of the paddle, eventually defeating it's purpose as a spacer and 
marring the paddle...

Jerry, wa2dkg


>Thanks to all that helped me with this issue...

My final solution was to add a #6 lock washer (this was almost enough) then
to carefully disk the end of the knerled Bolt (the group seems to call it aq
screw) with a drummel..

Dah Dah it is fixed...

Thank you all agian


Ken K1UM<
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[Elecraft] Coax cable

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Hi, Jesse:

There are several good ways to unravel the braid on coax...One way is to use a 
sharp pointed tool, like an awl, a dental pick, an ice pick, or even a BIG 
needle, and, starting near the end, inset the point into the braid and push the 
point of the tool outward toward the end of the cable, unraveling the 
braid...Continue doing that, working back a little at a time towards the cut 
end of the outer jacket until you have it all unraveled...

Another way is to lay the cable on the table and simply comb it with a fine 
wire brush, starting at the end of the bare braid and working back towards the 
cut end of outer jacket, rotating the cable on the table as you go...A wire 
brush is also good to use to comb the braid out over the grounding ring when 
installing BNC's, after which the braid can be trimmed with cuticle 
scissors...A suede brush is ideal...

Still another way is to grasp the end of the unraveled braid and push it inward 
towards the cut end of the outer jacket, causing it to bunch up near the end of 
the outer jacket...Then take an awl and open up a hole in the bunched up braid 
near the end of the outer jacket...Bend the cable over sharply at the hole and, 
using the awl, work the inner conductor out through the hole...This leaves the 
braid unraveled and intact...It can now be pulled straight forming a braided 
wire...

The banana plugs are intended to be plugged into your DMM which you will be 
using as a read-out when using the probe...Soldering to the banana plugs can be 
a challenge because the plug has to be held stationary somehow...A vise will 
soak up the heat preventing good soldering...A spring type wooden clothespin is 
handy for holding the banana plug when soldering, it won't soak up the heat...

Hope this helps...GL and 73

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] KXPD1 screw

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

How many hams have a 6-32 die in their tool kit to use on the paddle 
screw?...And, if they did have one, it would not be necessary to thread it onto 
the screw beforehand...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] KXPD1

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

A response to my earlier post regarding the knurled screw on the KXPD1 paddle 
suggests that a proper nut be threaded onto the screw before cutting it, then 
back the nut off, thereby cleaning up the threads...Yes, this is a time honored 
method of chasing a damaged thread, and is used on many of the all purpose 
crimper-cutter tools available today in Sears, Home Depot, etc...However, this 
is often good for only one shot...The leading edge of the starting thread is 
still left razor thin and sharp and will eventually bend over and jam the 
screw...IMHO, it is best to bevel the end of the screw...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] KXPD1

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

I have built about 10 KX1's and the retaining screw for the paddle DOES 
protrude through the anchor nut and in some cases strikes the circuit board, 
preventing the paddle from being pulled up tight...Not everyone who buys a KX1 
also buys the paddle, so it might not be encountered a lot, but I have had 2 of 
them so far where this was a problem...

There are 3 ways to fix it...(1) file the notch in the circuit board deeper, 
but this is hairy because it is very close to a circuit trace, (2) make up a 
thin plastic shim and place it between the paddle body and the KX1 case, or, 
(3) grind off the end of the knurled screw about 1/32"...IMHO, number 3 is the 
best option, but it must be done carefully because it will burr the end of the 
threads making it difficult to start the screw into the anchor nut...To 
overcome that, CAREFULLY grind or file a 45 degree bevel all the way around on 
the end of the screw, as if you were going to bring it to a point, but stopping 
far short of that...It will start threading into the anchor nut easily now...

Jerry, wa2dkg


>I must have done something wrong... When I plug the kxbd1 in it wiggles
too much..<

>Should I have screwed the knerled nut on the key jack? The jack on my kx-1
is flush with the upper conver so the nut wont screw on.
Suggestions to solve the case of the wiggling KXBD1<
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[Elecraft] telescoping poles

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

A good base for a portable antenna using telescoping poles is a surf 
fisherman's sand spike...It is a tube with a spike on one end that one inserts 
into the sand to hold an unattended fishing pole upright...Google it...

>I have been very pleased with my MFJ 33' mast. Easy to setup and takedown.
Still looking for a light and secure base for it.<

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Soldering stations

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

When I was going through certification for soldering at Grumman back in the 
'60's, the mantra was, if the solder won't flow, do not raise the heat, use a 
bigger iron...It makes sense, solder melts a 361 degrees regardless of the size 
of the job..

I remember trying to solder strain gauges on landing gear struts outdoors in 
zero degree wind chills...Didn't work until we got the bird indoors...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Soldering stations

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Once again I read about having to change the tip in the Weller WTCP soldering 
station in order to change the temperature...This is just not so and makes me 
wonder if I am listening to someone who has never used the Weller...I have both 
the Weller WTCP and the Hakko 936 and the Weller wins, hands down...In my 
working days, over 40 years of soldering, I used Wellers, Paces, Edsyns, you 
name it, the Weller WTCP is my first choice...And, it is MADE IN THE USA!!!...

The temperature controlling element in the Weller is the tip..If the tip is not 
hot enough, the heater will come on and STAY on until it is hot enough...The 
Hakko's temperature is controlled by a thermostat that is mounted on the heater 
 up inside the handle...It is controlling the temperature of the heater, not 
the tip, and is at the top of the heater, as far away from the tip as you can 
get...I have had instances with my Hakko where the solder wire welded itself to 
the tip and would not come loose until the tip heated more, yet the idiot light 
on the control unit was flashing merrily on and off, indicating it was hot 
enough...

I use a PTB7 tip in the Weller for 99% of my work, including soldering the 
ground pins on the BNC connectors in the KX1 and the binocular cores in the 
KPA100...I have been using the same tip for years and it never discolors...The 
only time I have ever had to change a tip is when working room was the 
problem...We would have to change the tip in any iron under those 
circumstances, wouldn't we?...

My Hakko 936 is for sale...It has been used once, is effectively new, is still 
in original wraps in the original box, and comes with 2 extra tips and a 
brass-wool tip cleaner, and I will guarantee it...The first $65 dollar check 
takes it...

Jerry, wa2dkg 
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RE: [Elecraft] LED light

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

> [Original Message]
> From: EricJ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: Alexandra Carter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Cc: 
> Date: 4/11/06 3:59:11 PM
> Subject: RE: [Elecraft] LED light
>
> I thought they were all white. Mine is. I slip a piece of red acetate
> between the LED and case sometimes, but the LED itself is white.
>
> Eric
> KE6US
> Ww.ke6us.com 
>
> -Original Message-
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Alexandra Carter
> Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 1:35 PM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Cc: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] LED light
>
> The LED light in the KX1 is red, and will not allow you to read color
codes.
> That is not its purpose. 73 de Alex NS6Y

I am talking about an LED breast pocket flashlight, not the LED built into
the KX1...Unless Elecraft has made a change since last week, the LED in the
KX1 is white, not red and is intended for log keeping in the dark away from
the QTH...

The LED penlight is listed on page 456 in Stanley Supply's catalog and
comes in 2 body colors, black or gold...It is available in 3 LED colors,
white, blue, or red...Mine is white and it's part number is 434-018 priced
at $19.95...When it is shined on installed capacitors and resistors in the
radio, the numbers and colors fly out at you...

Jerry, wa2dkg





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[Elecraft] LED light

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Stanley Supply and Services, formerly Jenson Tools, sells a real nice LED 
penlight called "Stylus Hi-Intensity" LED penlight...I have one and would hate 
to be without it...It can be turned on momentarily with a push button, or full 
on with a twist of the barrel...It uses 3  (yes, 4 "A's") cells...Well 
built of brass, it even carries a serial number...Not cheap, about 20 bucks and 
comes in 3 LED colors, white, blue, and red...Mine is white...The usual 
disclaimers apply...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] KXB-3080

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Randy:

I have done 2 of these conversions and noticed something to be careful 
of...Underneath L2, in back of J7, leads L2-1 and L2-4 pass over each other and 
can short out toroid L2...I used a dental pick to move the wire lead from L2-1 
away from L2-4...This is a hidden area in under L2 and right next to J-7...I 
used a bright LED penlight light and a magnifier to see it...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] high altitude solder

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Kester 44HA will be available at any NASA facility commissary in the near 
future...The crew returning from the space station this week brought back 5,000 
1 pound rolls that were taken up there in order to out-gas them for high 
altitude use...Prices will be high...

Jerry, wa2dkg

>I plan to do a lot of mountaintopping in the next few years and will
be assembling a K1 for this specific use. I need to locate a good
source for MILSPEC high altitude solder that meets Elecraft's
specifications and will not void the warranty. The reported 22%
increase in equipment efficiency will make the extra expense
worthwhile. Does anybody know of a vendor that still sells it? Are
there any special precautions or procedures for using this solder?<
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[Elecraft] Thermistor board

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

When building the thermistor board for the K2, you will notice that the 
thermistor board does not have plate-thru holes...The solder bond between the 
board foil and the wire lead is on the surface of the board only, not through 
the board to the other side...One should leave a small raised fillet of solder 
at these connections...If they are clipped off flush with the board, there is a 
chance that the bond between the wire and the solder pad has been cut 
off...Been there, done that...After the wires are soldered into the thermistor 
board and bent over, try swiveling them from side to side...If they swivel, you 
have a bad joint...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Blimp

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

I worked with an engineer years ago who spent his military time in the Navy's 
blimp service and hated every minute of it...He had a colorful description, 
"bags"...He confirmed Eric's apt description of the ride, but he called it 
"porpoising"...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] magnet wire

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

The magnet wire that Mouser sells is heat strip-able (Beldsol insulated), but 
not all magnet wire is heat strip-able...The magnet wire RS used to sell was 
not heat strip-able...The insulation on this wire is called Formvar and is 
suited for high temperature applications such as electric motors and power 
transformers...It must be mechanically or chemically stripped...Heat strip-able 
wire would fail under the high heat conditions encountered in some electric 
motors, like in power saws...The commutator connections in these motors are not 
soldered, they are swagged...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Oops

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

See, not all of us are geniuses...I think I just forwarded the entire day's 
reflector...Sorry

Jerry, wa2dkg 
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[Elecraft] Magnet wire

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Heat strip magnet wire is not intended for winding transformers and motors and 
should not be used for that purpose...Formvar insulated wire is what is used 
for that...Chemical stripping was used on Formvar, but the chemicals are no 
longer available retail...Some electric motors under continuous use, like power 
saws, get hot enough to destroy heat strip insulation...The commutator 
connections on these machines are not soldered, they are swaged... 

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Buzzers

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

A buzzer can be made up from a non-latching relay by wiring it's own coil in 
series with it's own NC contacts...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Positive ground

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Prior to and including 1955 all Chrysler built cars had a 6 volt positive 
ground system...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] SKN

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

"But the organization that sponsors the event seems to think otherwise."

No, they don't...That is reading between the lines...Consulting the ARRL 
"Members Only" page, attached is an excerpt from the SKN announcement which 
also appears on page 89, December, 2005 QST...Note the words "using straight 
keys"...Elsewhere in this article the author mentions what we might HEAR (bugs) 
being used during SKN, but it does not say they sanction the use of bugs, nor 
does it call a bug a straight key...This is not a contest, there are no awards 
or certificates, maybe just honorable mention...Why would one want to use 
anything but a straight key?...It defeats the whole purpose of the 
event...IMHO...
>In this era of digital communication, keyboarding, FM and electronic keys, 
>once a year many excellent operators bring the past to the present and 
>participate in the annual ARRL Straight Key Night. The object of this friendly 
>event is to enjoy some good, old fashioned QSO fun, using straight keys. The 
>emphasis is on rag-chewing rather than fast contest-type exchanges. SKN 2006 
>begins at 7:00 p.m. EST December 31 and runs for 24 hours through 7:00 p.m. 
>EST January 1( --2400 UTC January 1, 2006)< 
Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] SKN

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

It is interesting that SKN should come up right now, although SKN 2006 is 
approaching...I've been cleaning out the shack and going through old issues of 
QST...I came across December, 1975, the last "small" QST, measuring 6 !/2 
inches by 9 1/2 inches...On page 95 in "Operating Events", they mention SKN and 
the rules...The event was 6 hours long and started at 0100 hours Zulu on 
December 31It specifically said "Rules require the use of a straight 
key"...No amount of revisionist thinking can convince me that a bug is a 
straight key, and I own a left-handed Lightning Bug myself...I don't operate 
SKN anymore, but it always used to "bug" me when I heard someone call CQ SKN 
with a bug...They did not slow down to my speed because they couldn't !!...The 
idea behind SKN was to send ARRL one's operating results and the name and call 
of the best fist heard...IMHO, only a straight key can produce a true fist 
signature, bugs and keyers cannot because they are too automatic and are eith
 er partially of fully devoid of the human element...I know this is going to 
fall on me like a ton of bricks, but that's life, isn't it?...Maybe I'll dust 
off the J-38 on New Year's eve...The K2 is ready, I don't know whether I am or 
not...

Anybody interested in acquiring some old issues of QST, starting around 
1962?..Don't all yell at once...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] RE: Elecraft Digest, Vol 20, Issue 18

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

The article about home brewed SM test tweezers is on page 64, QST,
Novenber, 2004...

Jerry, wa2dkg





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[Elecraft] KPA100 finals

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

The screws do not "back out", and any kind of product like Locktite would 
really mess things up making it impossible to tighten the screws or to replace 
the finals should you have a failed final transistor...During heat build-up in 
the transistor and the heat sink the expansion of parts compresses the 
insulators...Everything cools and shrinks back to normal, but the insulators do 
not, they are compressed, and that leaves things loose...

Make sure that the screw driver you are using is not a Reed and Prince instead 
of a Phillips...Reed and Prince drivers have a sharp point and Phillips, by 
comparison, have a blunt point...If a Reed and Prince screw driver is used on a 
Phillips screw, the point bottoms out in the screw before the side flutes are 
fully engaged and the crosshead of the screw might strip out...Some screw 
drivers sold as Phillips have too sharp a point...

Jerry, wa2dkg

>I have always used a high quality #1 screwdriver when I tightened these
screws, but it stripped out anyway. I use my K2/100s exclusively for
contesting and have been finding I need to re-tighten those screws after
20-30 hours of full bore operating (100 watts, lots of CQs). Maybe a
Lock-tight type product is needed to keep the screws from backing out after
thermal cycling, but some of you may have some advice whether this should be
done or not. Anyway, in case you find your final's screw stripped, this
method worked for me.<
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[Elecraft] Sal Ammoniac

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Sal ammoniac seems to rather innocuous...Not only is it commonly used in solder 
flux, dry cell electrolyte and fertilizer, it is used in Vodka as flavor 
enhancer, in cough medicine as an expectorant, and in the manufacture of 
candy...It is also used in plywood glue, in shampoo, and as a media for growing 
yeast...I hardly think it will harm circuit boards if it is used to tin a 
soldering iron tip...Besides, I have been using it for 60 years and have not 
seen any bad things happen...

Jerry, wa2dkg 


>I'd be very reluctant to use a soldering iron tip cleaned with sal ammoniac 
on electronic equipment. For some manufacturers, it will void the warranty.

I do not recall Elecraft's policy on sal ammoniac, but I'd check with them 
before using a soldering iron tip cleaned with sal ammoniac on Elecraft 
products<
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[Elecraft] Hakko 808 tips

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

I get the reflector in digest form and did not get to read some of the past 
week's input until this morning...There is a chemical called "sal ammoniac" 
(ammonium chloride)...It comes in small white blocks and is sold in hardware 
stores and tin smith supplyers...I have a block that is probably 40 years 
old...Sal ammoniac is used to tin soldering iron tips...I use my Hakko 808 
quite a lot for stripping and tinning the enamel coated wire in toroids, so the 
808 sits cooking in the holder for hours...When my 808 tips start to discolor 
and reject solder, I re-tin them with sal ammoniac and they are restored to as 
good as new...These tips are QUITE expensive and we don't want to have to be 
throwing them out when they are still useful...

Soldering iron tips and de-soldering tips are usually iron plated copper, and 
they are factory tinned near the tip only...Sometimes the iron coating becomes 
discolored and will not tin anymore...Filing it will remove the iron plating 
and ruin the tip...This is where sal ammoniac can be used...If you are not 
careful, it will tin the ENTIRE tip, even the part that was not factory 
tinned...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Phillips screws

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

I don't think that electrical contact between the covers and the 2-D blocks is 
intended to be established by the screw threads...It is established by contact 
between the unpainted inner surface of the panel and the bare 2-D block when 
the screw is tightened down...If you check one of the black oxide screws with 
an ohm meter, you will find that the black oxide coating is not a good 
conductor when compared to one of the plated ZN screws...Anti-corrosion agents 
on the threads should not inhibit grounding... IMHO...

Jerry, wa2dlg
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[Elecraft] Speaker

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Check the wiring of the speaker connector coming from the top cover...It plugs 
into P5 in the right front corner of the RF board...If the wires in this 
connector are reversed, the speaker will be shorted out when the cover is put 
in place and the screws are tightened down...

I once had a K2 in for upgrade and when the last screw in the top cover was 
inserted and tightened down, the speaker cut out...Backing it off a tad 
restored audio...The speaker connector was wired backwards...I have no idea why 
the fault did not show up sooner, but it is obvious that the cover screws do 
not always make good electrical contact...

Jerry, wa2dkg

>Recently I learned how important electrical contact
at these screw points is.
I had low speaker output and I thought the band
conditions were the reason. I noticed at some point that
in picking the K2 up from the left side, the volume
increased and the leftmost LED on the signal strength
meter disappeared. I removed the bottom panel and on
screwing it back with power applied, turning the screw
created electrical noise. I worked it back and forth
until the noise disappeared and now the K2 is much more
sensitive and louder.
With no other K2 to compare, I hadn't realised there
was a problem.<
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[Elecraft] Phillips Screws

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

There is another recessed, or "cross-head" screw in common use...It is called 
"Reed and Prince"...Phillips has  gained more popularity, but Reed and Prince, 
in my humble opinion, is a better format...Phillips uses different size tips 
and the tips are blunt, or rounded...Reed and Prince tips are sharp pointed...A 
single Reed and Prince tip will properly fit any size Reed and Prince 
screw...That was their intention in order to simplify production and cut down 
on the number of tools required...If a Reed and Prince tip is used on a 
Phillips screw, the sharp-pointed tip will most likely bottom out before the 
side flutes are properly engaged and a tear-out of the screw head will 
result...If the # 2 Phillips tip you is using has a sharp point, it is most 
likely not a Phillips at all, but a Reed and Prince...Grinding the tip down a 
little to remove the sharp point might help...Reed and Prince is an old 
American fastener company, incorporated in 1902, and they developed the 
"cross-hea
 d" screw in 1938...

There are anti-seize compounds available for automobile spark plugs in order to 
keep the steel threads of the spark plugs from seizing and stripping out the 
threads in an aluminum cylinder head...A small amount on the screws at the 2-D 
blocks should help prevent corrosion galling... 

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] lead-free solder

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

I have encountered this problem...It is a problem even with conventional 60/40 
solder if the joint you are trying to de-solder is on the ground 
plane...Desoldering the joint, then resoldering it with 60/40, then desoldering 
it again helps a lot to remove the solder on the other side of the board..Use 
caution not to dwell too long on the joint lest the land be damaged...

Jerry, wa2dkg

>Ron made several good points, but I want to add another - I have done repair
work on 2 K2s to date that used lead-free solder, and I can tell you that
de-soldering that stuff is no fun - even with my Hakko 808. Sure the solder
sucks off the side the Hakko is on, but the solder itself apparently does
not conduct heat very well, so after every de-soldering attempt, I had to
reheat the lead from the component side and remove the component (being
careful not to injure the plated thru hole), and then use a stainless steel
needle to open the hole for replacement component.<
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[Elecraft] CW/Emergencies

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Modern technology renders everything else obsolete only if power is 
available... In the recent past we had a major power outage in the 
northeast...EVERYTHING was out, the radio and TV stations, the cell phones, the 
cable, the Internet, the land line telephones, even our repeaters, rendering my 
HT just about useless...Everything was out for 22 hours!!!...My land line 
telephone lasted for a few hours, then went out for the duration...

IMHO, the CW testing issue is a "one foot in the door",  or, "give them an inch 
and they will take a mile" issue...Once testing is out of the picture, CW will 
become a little more insignificant to the Commission, and the next logical step 
is to expand the phone bands at the expense of CW...True, CW is permitted 
everywhere, but has anyone ever tried to call a CW CQ in the phone bands?...

In my mind, this IS an issue that is relevant on this reflector, the K1's and 
KX1's are CW rigs, and probably half the K-2's are dedicated to CW...Folks who 
are CW only need to be alerted...What better place than on the reflector?...

Jerry, wa2dkg
K2 # 2549
KX1 # 839
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[Elecraft] Datlight saving

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

The XYL to the rescue, AGAIN!...She saved the newspaper clipping and says 
daylight saving will be extended one month overall, not a month in the spring 
and another in the fall...It will begin three weeks earlier, on the second 
Sunday in March, and end a week later on the first Sunday in 
November...Starting in 2007...;^)

Jerry, wa2dkg

> I heard something about Daylight Savings Time changing
> late this year but have not had this confirmed. Do any of you
> know about this?
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[Elecraft] Daylight Saving Time

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

As I understand it, legislation has been approved to start daylight saving a 
month earlier and end it a month later, but not until 2007...

Jerry, wa2dkg

> I heard something about Daylight Savings Time changing
> late this year but have not had this confirmed. Do any of you
> know about this?
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[Elecraft] Silver solder

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

   
"Must be the new math - 361 - 354 = 100.  Or have I managed to 
miss something?"

Senioritis...:-)

On a lighter note, I am building K2 number 4996...The owner and I were both 
hoping it would be number 5000, but he's glad that it was not number 4999...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Silver bearing solder

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Actually, silver bearing solder has a lower melting temperature than 63/37 
tin/lead solder...63/37 melts at 361 degrees...The silver bearing solder that 
McMaster-Carr sells is listed at 354 degrees, almost 100 degrees cooler than 
63/37, and is called "low melting point " solder...It's composition is 62% tin, 
35.75% lead, 2% silver, 0.25% antimony, and it has a multi-flux core...It meets 
J-STD-006 federal specs, which is the same as 63/37 and tells me it safe to 
use...It costs about $10 a pound more than 63/37 and seems ideal for SMT...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Your solder may be no clean

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

"Apparently some government agencies and their contractors like to see excess
rosin flux removed and train their people to do so. I'm not sure why they do
that, but in the environment in which Elecraft rigs are capable of being
used this is completely unnecessary."

(a) all government work must be inspected and "sold" to QC...QC demands 
integrity and cosmetics.. 
(b) Under high magnification, flux that does not appear to the naked 
eye stands out and can hide flaws...
(c) a lot of government work requires conformal coating...The coating 
will not adhere to flux coated joints
(d)  cosmetically, it looks better and requires very little effort to 
do...

There seems to be an opinion regarding solder that "eutectic" means the ability 
to go from a liquid state to a solid state without passing through a plastic 
state..."Eutectic" means that the ratio of the base metals of the alloy are 
formulated to give the lowest possible point of solidification, usually lower 
than the point of any of the base metals used, and has nothing to with the 
presence or absence of a plastic state...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] I love toroids

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

While we are on the subject of toroids, I would like to point out something I 
have encountered while up-grading pre-built K2's... Toroids can be wound 
backwards, and when this is done to vertically mounted toroids, the wire leads, 
as they exit the center of the core, are on the wrong side of the toroid...The 
"fix" is to pass the wire under the core to the other side so it reaches the 
solder pad...This adds another turn to the toroid, 1/2 a turn at each 
end...Also, the toroid is not secure and is free to move around which might 
result in wire fatigue, especially in a portable, mobile, or back-packing 
environment where vibration is present...

One of the radios I up-graded had evidently been dropped and landed upside 
down...The miswound toroids were standing up off the board by about 1/2 inch 
and had rotated 1/2 turn because the wires were pulled taut by the G force...

If a toroid has been wound backwards, it is best to strip it and rewind it 
correctly...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] S/N 5000

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Got it straight from the horse's ?--- S/N 5000 is going to Smithsonian... :-)

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Off topic

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

There is such a thing as "left-eyed" and "right-eyed"...That is why my 
instructor allowed me to fire the M1 from the left side...I had a better sight 
picture from the left and scored better, which is what he was concerned about 
because my life might depend on it...The real danger was from the bolt, not the 
hot casings...BTW, Porter Cable makes left handed power saws...I've got one...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] Denatured alcohol

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

Denatured alcohol is ethanol with other ingredients added in various 
concentrations, depending on the manufacturer...The most common ingredient is 
acetone which is dangerous around plastics and is not good to inhale...The only 
thing I ever used denatured alcohol for was rebuilding brake cylinders...

Flux removal was required in the aerospace industry, especially prior to 
conformal coating...I do it now for esthetic reasons... It's really no big 
deal, it just looks better...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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[Elecraft] ethanol/isopropyl

[Jeremiah McCarthy]

190 proof ethanol (grain alcohol) does cut rosin flux very well and is 
available at the local liquor store...It is EXPENSIVE, about $23 for 750 
ml...99% Isopropyl alcohol is about $5 a pint at several Google listed 
sources...Jensen sells it at $15 a gallon...You cannot drink isopropyl, so it 
will last longer around the house...

Usual disclaimers apply...

Jerry, wa2dkg
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