#Elecraft K2 build continues, having had to stop for a few days because I trapped my thumb in the car door and couldn't hold the soldering iron...

The 40 metre receiver is aligned and working really well. This thing is fantastically sensitive and quiet. S meter is a bit over optimistic, or the meter on my RSPdx reads low, one or the other. Anyway, I'm impressed with how it sounds.

Now, back to soldering. Next stop, the transmitter.

Often small things trip you up. #Elecraft K2 build continued:

After the initial assembly and first power up, the manual tells you to make a probe for the onboard frequency counter by soldering a length of RG274 to a 10 pF ceramic capacitor.

That tiny component didn't like the heat and split in two, so I had to get another from a local supplier. Form factor is slightly different but it does the same job, and this one survived. Photo shows the old broken one and the new completed assembly.

Elecraft K2 build: RF board part one. It lives!

@g0vgs @g0tue_CW #Elecraft #AmateurRadio #Morse

#Elecraft K2 build - the front panel board finished.

The hardest parts were mechanical - getting the switches at exactly the right height above the PCB and properly aligned, and fitting the knobs on the potentiometers (the manual says they may be tight, and they really are...).

Now on to the RF board!

Well, that's the K2 control board finished. It was all pretty easy except for soldering the ground leads onto the crystal cans (but Dave at #Elecraft looked at close up photos of my efforts and said they are fine). Overheating risk.

Then at the end, the two capacitors you have to solder onto the bottom of the board, which is a revision that prevents key clicks. This took some careful positioning - a third hand would be useful.

Anyway, now on the to front panel board.

#AmateurRadio
#HamRadio

I had a good chat with Andrew, WA4MTP, on #FediHams earlier today. I was using YSF and he was on Peanut via a cellphone, and of course it worked very well.

#YSF DE Fediverse 73737
#DMR (BM TG 2630002 and TGIF TG 7337)
#Echolink DK1MI-L 963110
#AllStarLink 57881
#Peanut  YSF-Fedi

https://dk1mi.radio/fedihams/​​

#HamRadio​
#AmateurRadio​

A 24 hour New Year's Eve net is in progress on the FreeStar network. Current net control as I post this is GB8NYE.

It seems pretty busy, with check-ins from Australia and the US. I see that there are many different ways to connect, including YSF, DMR and D-Star. Full details here:

https://www.qrz.com/db/GB0NYE?fbclid=IwAR04xRECfb3I680I4Nq2QEiK_ZBG4OS44hSlq7R_pFUQq2hXiAuYaAG2wZ8