I got some time today to look at the back side of the RF board, and yes it's pretty tight but the mod went well with no problems. I ordered the parts (and spares) from Mouser with a couple of smaller tips for my Weller.
Removal of the old parts was accomplished by moving back and forth between both ends of each part until I could push them off the board. Everything came off so cleanly that there was very little clean up on the pads. I used some extra flux, applied with a wooden toothpick both to the pads and the new parts. I put a little solder on one pad, oriented the new parts and lightly soldered one end. Holding it in place with another toothpick, I then final soldered both ends. Slow, carefully and viola' job done. Maybe an hour or so total time. I don't have any test equipment to prove a difference with the dynamic range on 160/80 meters, but I regularly have wall to wall noise on those bands so it will be interesting to see what improvement there is. For those considering making the change themselves, I have only had minimal experience with SMT but am familiar with working with tiny stuff in my business. I am proficient at home brewing. -- John Fritze Jr K2QY AARA president 2013 ACACES secretary 2013 Albany County RACES Radio Officer ARES ENY DEC Northern District ARES Albany County EC Hudson Div. Asst. Director Twitter: @k2qy ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
