In my experience, all the leads of ESD equipment have a 1M ohm
resistor in them, normally moulded into the banana plug.
And Yes you need an antistatic wrist strap and a mat (I also connected
the earth of the motherboard to my ESD point while building).
All the leads need to go to one point (not a daisy chain) and that
needs to be connected to Mains Safety Earth.
I modified my Soldering station (which has an earthed tip) to add 4
banana plug sockets connected directly to the mains earth of the
station. now I have a convenient set-up with the ESD leads terminating
at one point.
Even if it might be possible to assemble the K3 without the mat, the
manual stresses in many places you must take ESD precautions, so if
something was faulty, you might not get a warranty repair in you
didn't. Besides, you've waited all this time for the K3, is it worth
the £20 or so to have to wait again if something does blow?
And, if you ever work on the K3, take a board out or fit another
option (the KRX3 for example), you'll need to use it again. The mats
are slightly soft and make a good working surface and help prevent
scratches etc.
It's worth the small investment.
73 de M0XDF, K3 #174
--
Hofstadter's Law: The time and effort required to complete a project are
always more than you expect, even when you take into account
Hofstadter's
Law.
On 12 May 2008, at 09:05, KBG Luxford wrote:
The anti-static wrist-strap should have something like a 1 megohm
resistor between the conductive strap and its connector at the end
of its spiral cord. The resistor does not impede the draining of
charge, and it is there to help protect you in case you touch
something at a dangerous potential.
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