Elecraft K2 - Serial Number 007239 Build. Day 4

Hours 0:50:00    Total Build Time:   10:01:00


Well it is day 4 of the Elecraft K2 build.  Today I started on the Front Panel assembly.  All of the parts for the front panel come bagged up together.

Front Panel components

The parts were dumped out on the table and sorted prior to assembly.

Front Panel components before sorting

A spacer is used to assure that all of the push button switches are at the same hight.  The spacer is also the circuit board that is used for the RF probe.

Using spacer to set switch height before soldering

All the switches have been added to the front panel board and have been soldered.  Looking good so far..

Switches added to the Font Panel board

Elecraft K2 - Serial Number 007239 Build. Day 3

Hours 2:23:00    Total Build Time:   9:11:00

Well its day 3 of the build and everything seems to be going OK.  Today I finished the "Control" board for the K2.

The day started off installing the connectors on the board.  Connectors P1, P2, and P4 are used to connect the control board to the main RF board.

Control Board at the start of the day.  Plugs haven't been added at this point.

All Plugs and Connectors installed on the board

After all of the plugs and connectors were installed on the board, it was time to install the integrated circuits (IC's ) on the board.  Well guess what?  The 2nd IC installed on the board presented a problem.  The problem was that the chip number that was specified in the manual was not included with the kit.

Installation of IC's

The first IC, U1 was a NE602.  As shown in the photo, the manual indicated that the chip was either a NE602 or a SA602.  Well guess what?  That chip was not included.  I continued on and installed the other chips shown in the manual.  When I was finished, the only IC left was a SA612AN.  What in the heck is a SA612AN???  I went to the internet and did a search for replacement chips for the NE602.  I learned that the NE602 is an old chip.  In a forum, someone mentioned that an SA612AN is a newer replacement that will work.

I wish they would tell you this in the manual.  Well, up to this point, this is the only problem that I have found in the manual so far.  I looked on Elecrafts web site to see if there was an errata sheet for the K2 that showed this but I was unable to find one.  I will have to send them an email showing the problem.

CW key shaping modification

Over the years since the K2 transceiver kit has been introduced there have been several modifications to improve the kit.  One of these modifications has been the Key Shaping Components.  As shown in the photo above, two capacitors have been added to the circuit board on the back side.  I had to be careful installing the electrolytic capacitor to make sure I got the polarity correct.

Completed K2 Control Board

The manual calls for a final inspection of the control board when all components have been soldered to the board.  Checks are made to see if parts have been installed correctly and in the correct position.  Next the solder joints on the back side of the circuit board are checked to see if  1) All components have been soldered.  2) Look for Cold solder joints, and finally 3) Check to see if there are any solder bridges.

The manual provides a list of resistance checks that need to be made.  The manual states that you are checking "to ensure that there are no shorts in the most critical control circuits."

As you can see from the photo below, everything checked out.

Elecraft K2 - Serial Number 007239 Build. Day 2

Hours 2:58:00    Total Build Time:   6:44:00

Instruction Manual showing installation of the electrolytic Capacitors

Its Saturday and Day 2 of the Elecraft K2 build.  Today I continued working on the "Control Board".  The day started out on pg. 16 installing the electrolytic capacitors as shown in the instructions below.  The instructions have been very good up to this point.  I had one question yesterday when installing the fixed capacitors wondering if "C44" was going to be installed.  I looked ahead in the manual and at the end of construction of the Control Board it mentioned that C44 was not used.  It would have been nice to know at the step where the fixed capacitors were installed that C44 was not going to be used.

Installing the first electrolytic capacitor

At this point, special attention has to be paid to the polarity of the electrolytic capacitors so they don't get installed wrong.  You might have the right capacitor for the position but still install it wrong.

The instructions up to this point have you load several components on the board before soldering them into position.  I decided that after loading 3 or 4 components I would then take a break and solder them and trim the leads.  I know that doing it that way is not the quickest but it was easier to solder when there weren't as many component leads in the way.  Anyway, this isn't a race to get it done.

After the electrolytic capacitors were installed along with an adjustable capacitor, the transistors were installed.

A trimmer capacitor installed next to crystal X2. 

Installing the transistors

Installed transistors

Progress on Control Board, Saturday 29 October, 2011.

Voltage regulators.  It is important to get these in the correct position!!  After looking at this photo, I am going to touch up the soldering job for the regulators on the top side of the board

Oscillator crystal X1 with ground attached

Main 40 pin processor socket installed

At the end of the day, I finished up on page 18 after finishing the installation of P5 and P6.

Crock Pot Chili

Well its Saturday again and the weekend is usually when I cook up a batch of Crock Pot Chili.  This recipe is an adaptation from "Williams Crock Pot Chili" in the "McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook".

Beans used in the Chili Recipe

I start out with 5 cups of uncooked beans.  2 Cups Black Beans,  2 Cups Pinto Beans, and 1 Cup Red Beans.  

Beans in the Pressure Cooker.
 Add water 3 cups per 1 cup beans 

Put them in a Pressure cooker along with 3 cups of water for 1 cup of Dried Beans.  3:1 ratio.  So at this point there should be 15 cups of water.  I am using the biggest pressure cooker that I have.

Beans Cooking

Once the Pressure cooker has reached presser and steam is coming out, the beans are cooked for 40 minutes.

While the beans are cooking in the pressure cooker it is time to start cutting up the peppers.  From left to right we have:

1      Green Bell Pepper

1      Jalapeño Pepper

1      Red Bell Pepper

1      Anaheim Pepper

1      Pasilla Pepper

Fresh Peppers

Peppers chopped in the Crock Pot

The peppers are all chopped up and put in the crock pot.  At this point in time, the Crock Pot is on high.

Next I add an Onion, and 6 cloves of Garlic.   I chop these up and add them to the crock pot.

Some corn and Petite Diced Tomatoes (medium hotness) are added to the crock pot.  I drain and wash the corn hoping to get most of the sodium off of it.  Yes, I know, the sodium is also in the corn so washing it probably doesn't help that much....

I also like throwing a few carrots in the chili also.  Around 2 cups of chopped carrots.   I am the type of cook that will get a base recipe down and then modify it as I go.  Once that I find something that I like, I then stick to it.

Chili mix so far before the spices have been added

Chili Recipe spices:  Smoked Paprika, Chili Powder, Cumin, Vegetable Broth, and Liquid Smoke

Next I add the spices to the Chili mix:

2 Tbsp      Smoked Paprika

1 Tbsp      Chili Powder

1 tsp         Cumin

2 Tbsp      Vegetable broth (powdered)

2 Tbsp      Liquid Smoke

It's at this point in the process of making the Chili right after I add the Smoked Paprika that my mouth begins to water....  Yum Yum...

Next I add:

2 Tbsp   Red Wine Vinegar
2 Tbsp   Honey

Chili mix with all spices.  Beans haven't been added yet.

And below is the chili after the beans have been rinsed and added to the crock pot.  The crock pot is on high and the timer has been set for 8 hours.  I don't know if I will cook it that long as I check it as its cooking.  Some times it takes longer.

Elecraft K2 - Serial Number 007239 Build

New project!   As if I didn't have enough things to tinker with already...  I had been looking at these Amateur Radio kits for a while now and decided that it would be fun to try to assemble an Elecraft K2 Amateur Radio kit.

I spent some time on the internet looking at all the different Amateur radio kits that were availabe  and decided on the Elecraft K2.

I ordered the K2 and couldn't wait to start.  The K2 arrived on Thursday 27 October, 2011.  Today, Friday October 28, 2011 is the first build day.

Build Time:
3 hr 46 min    Total Build Hours: 3 hr 46 min.

Construction of the K2 starts with the Control Board.

"The Control board is the "brain" of the K2.  It monitors all signals during receive and transmit, and handles display and control functions via the Front Panel Board."  excerpt from the K2 manual

Well, I am off and soldering.  This afternoon I started the initial assembly of the Control Board.  In preparation the manual suggests that all parts are inventoried before starting.  In inventoried the parts for the Control Board and then started assembly.

Initial assembly starts with the fixed resistors, followed by the resistor networks.  Some diodes, inductor, and potentiometer are then added to the board.  Next comes the job of adding all of the fixed capacitors.  A cupcake pan worked really well to organize the capacitors.  A different type of capacitor was put in each cup.  I also added a strip of paper in each cup with the identification number of the capacitor.  This was really helpful when adding the capacitors to the circuit board.

As you can tell from my time, I am not the fastest builder.  I want to take my time and make sure that I have it correct when I finish.