David and All,
Well, some folks want everything! Maybe a voltmeter and an oscilloscope
should come with every kit as well! Or perhaps a magnifying visor and
tweezers should be included when SMD parts are involved.
I'm being facetious--sorry! But I think you are overreacting to the
problem. You probably can make a decent connection without a special
tool--it's just harder to do. You can take a non-specific crimping tool and
carefully manipulate the connector into a pretty good connection. It's just
that the APP tool does it in one easy press. Mitch at the Ham Stop (now
defunct I think) showed me how to do it at one of the hamfests. He was
selling those $10 crimpers as well as the $50 APP crimpers, and demonstrated
why the APP tool was so much easier, but not absolutely necessary. It took
3 or 4 different manipulating presses with the cheaper tool. But the end
result looked pretty good. You sort of have to coax (as in "persuade", not
RG8) the connector to form and clamp properly over the wire. I think you
could do the same thing with most other crimping tools. The problem most
people have with the cheaper crimpers is that they try to do it with one
crushing push. That usually causes the connector to bend inwards too much
leaving a gap with wire strands not captured. You want to clamp the
connector on, but without leaving a gap. So, pushing both from the top and
from the sides helps you do this. It doesn't take all that much time, but
it only takes a couple of seconds with the APP tool.
So don't assume you are SOL because you don't have the perfect tool. I have
several connectors around that were made before I got the APP tool. They
are just fine. But now that I have adopted the APP system almost
exclusively, it only makes good sense to get the best tool. Besides, most
of the really experienced folks I know say you get a better connection with
this system. So why wouldn't you want to "bite the bullet" a bit and gear
up for a better system???
Dave W7AQK
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Darwin, Keith" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2008 8:46 AM
Subject: Re: RE: [Elecraft] K3 power supply question
There was once an issue as to whether special tools were required to
assemble a K3. It was also described as requiring no soldering. I
believe the cable should be supplied ready assembled. Don't forget those
folks outside the US who pay a lot for US tools, plus shipping plus import
tax plus mark up....
David
G3UNA
From: "Darwin, Keith" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 2008/04/01 Tue PM 04:33:18 BST
To: <[email protected]>
Subject: RE: [Elecraft] K3 power supply question
-----Original Message-----
What am I missing here? Why isn't Elecraft assembling the connectors to
the wire as a part of their process?
------------------------
Kit vs. Factory built. Kits are, well, kits.
- Keith N1AS -
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