Hi Yes it is important to ground on both sides. Here is how I do it. First make sure the crystals are down all the way on the board. Press on the top and heat the crystals leads to make sure there is no space between the crystal and the board. Turn the RF board bottom side up. Drop a clipped component lead into each of the ground holes. I like to use the leads from the 1n4007 diodes but a resistor or cap lead is OK. The leads should go through and rest on the work bench underneath. Solder all of the leads to the board. Now flip the board over and using a small flat blade screwdriver bend the ground leads at the base of each crystal so the lead is parallel to the side of the case of the crystal and touching. Clip each lead so it extends up about 3/4 of the height of the crystal. Now lay the hot iron on the side of the crystal along the lead and feed a little solder. As soon as it flows quickly lay the iron on the other side of the lead so you get a smooth fillet on both sides of the lead. Do all of the ground leads on one side of the crystals first. Then go back and do the other side after the crystals have cooled. Flip the board back over and trim any excess ground wires flush with the board. You should also clip all of the resistor pack leads near the crystals flush with the board. I know this all sounds like a lot of trouble but I you want to get every last ounce of performance out of you K2 it is necessary. It does make a measurable difference.
Don Brown KD5NDB ----- Original Message ----- From: "ON4WIX" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 2:27 PM Subject: [Elecraft] K2 - grounding of RCVR filter Xtals Hi all My K2 s/n 5361 is coming together nicely, up to now I've encountered no problems whatsoever. I just installed the receiver filter Xtals X7 through X11 and now I've arrived at the point where these Xtals have to be grounded (page 53, last step). The manual states that a special grounding technique is required for the grounding of X7-X11. Instead of soldering a grounding lead to the top of the Xtal housings the manual states that the grounding wires need to be soldered to the sides of the housings. There are 2 grounding pads for each Xtal. My question is: is it absolutely imperative to use 2 grounding leads for each Xtal? I don't see too many problems soldering the leads near the outer edge of the PC board, but the soldering points at the opposite sides of the housings are awfully close to RP4 and RP5... Any suggestions as to how I should go about soldering the grounding leads at those sides of the Xtal housings? Thanks for any advice. 73 de Glenn ON4WIX _______________________________________________ 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
