[Elecraft] K2 Crystal Grounding Leads
Building a K2. (Having great fun doing so!) Working on the RF board. At the point of installing crystals X1-X11. These have one or two ground leads each. Any reason not to solder the ground leads on the cases first and then install the crystals? This would involve routing three or four leads per crystal through the PC board. Particularly I am thinking of X7-X11 which sit right next to RP4 and RP5. These are close quarters for me. Thanks and 72! Jim Stephens, NX8Z Hurricane, West Virginia, USA __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] K2 Crystal Grounding Leads
Jim, That will work, and I have heard of some who did it that way. I find it is easy (even in the close quarters with the R-Paks) to solder the wires to the crystal cans after the crystals are mounted. My technique is to solder in the ground wires (don't trim the leads on the bottom of the board yet) Above the board, cut the wires to about 1/4 inch, then use a small flat screwdriver to force the wire in contact with the crystal quite close to the base. Tilt the board so the ground wires so bent are facing sort-of upward - place the length of the solder tip alongside the wire and crystal and apply a bit of solder to the junction. Then hold the end of the rest of the solder on the crystal case slightly away from the wire. When that solder melts, add a bit more to the wire/can junction and move on to the next crystal. I ground all the K2 crystals near the base. 73, Don W3FPR On 9/20/2011 7:39 PM, Jim Stephens wrote: Building a K2. (Having great fun doing so!) Working on the RF board. At the point of installing crystals X1-X11. These have one or two ground leads each. Any reason not to solder the ground leads on the cases first and then install the crystals? This would involve routing three or four leads per crystal through the PC board. Particularly I am thinking of X7-X11 which sit right next to RP4 and RP5. These are close quarters for me. Thanks and 72! __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] K2 Crystal Grounding Leads
You might also have a look at my comments/pic at the blog I kept during K2 construction: http://build-k2.blogspot.com/2010/09/grounding-crystals.html Cheers - Bruce - Bruce Rosen K1FFX K2/100 6982 -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/K2-Crystal-Grounding-Leads-tp6814273p6814574.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] K2 Crystal Grounding Leads
FWIW, I have always found it useful to scratch the surface of the crystals and tin them prior to mounting them on the board. It clears any tarnishing of the cans between time of manufacture and assembly and makes soldering easier. 73 De David G4DMP In a recent message, Don Wilhelm w3...@embarqmail.com writes I find it is easy (even in the close quarters with the R-Paks) to solder the wires to the crystal cans after the crystals are mounted. -- + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + | David M Pratt, Kippax, Leeds. | | Website: http://www.g4dmp.co.uk | + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
