Gosh, Roland, you have bitten off a big project. Trying to "finish" something someone else started is often harder than doing it all yourself.
That said, you can be successful. Just get ready to pat yourself on the back extra long when you are done. Once the assembly has gone past the point at which a resistance check is called for, the subsequent parts installed can alter what you get. So going back and redoing the resistance checks isn't always possible. You mentioned having a cheap 'multimeter'. I hope you mean a digital multimeter designed for use with solid state gear. Do not use any of the older multimeters that were in vogue before solid state was more common than tubes. The resistance range on older meters used enough current and voltage to do real serious harm to solid state components. If your cheap meter is a DMM it is probably fine. That said, the first thing I recommend is to start with step 1 in the manual - the stuff that's already been done, and check off each step again, checking the value of the part the person installed and carefully inspecting the solder joints for cold or missed joints and any bridges across pads. It's a bit tedious, but one of the most difficult things to find are the wrong parts in the wrong places or intermittents caused by missed solder joints, and the "resistance" checks don't always turn them up. Most of us use magnifiers while building. I have a head mounted binocular "optivisor" that is absolutely essential for me. Others find a magnifying visor in a lamp or a good magnifying glass is enough. Good light and good vision aids are important. The gang here will jump in to help you with any problems, and if you don't get the answer here, just drop a line to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]". The Elecraft guys have this crazy idea that NO Elecraft builder should ever fail in building their Elecraft rigs, and as long as people ask when they are stuck, I think they are still batting 1000. If you have a little patience and are willing to invest the time to take it one step at a time, you can have a fun trip and a rig that you'll be very proud to own - not only because it's a technically great rig, but because you will forever no longer be only a "button pusher", Hi! Welcome to the big club of "builders", Roland! Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- I picked up this partially built K2 from a friend who decided it wasn't his cup of tea. First thing I tried to do was follow along the manual and do the resistance checks on the completed control panel and front panel.These test were already done and the results written down, I was just trying to repeat the steps to see if I was on the right track. I'm not getting anything on some things and others look fine. My cheapy multimeter could be the problem. I'll tell you all right up front that I've never done anything like this before. Before I stuff it back in the box it came in and put it in the attic forever, I thought I'd give this list a try (cry?) for help. I always wanted to do this type of thing and have already invested in a soldering station and big magnifing light among other do-dads, mostly for this project. Kinda hoping to break out of just being a button pusher from stuff off the shelf. I know there has got to be some of you guys shaking your heads out there... Thanks, Roland in Stockton, Ca. de N5VWN _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
