Putting together a Doppler antenna switch for fox hunting (Handi-Finder) reminded me how fun making things can be. It’s been many years since I’ve built a radio kit, and I’ve been itching to feel that “glow” you get when you make something yourself.
I decided to purchase an Elecraft K1 Kit for 30 and 20 meters (sadly the four band module is no longer available, so I was forced to pick only two CW bands — I’m going to miss 40 and 17 for sure). Unlike current Elecraft “kits” which are nothing more than a mechanical assembly of pre-fabricated and tested circuit boards, the K1 is a “full kit”. The user needs to solder all the components, fabricate the toroids, do alignment, and complete the mechanical assembly. I’ve read that it takes about 24 hours to complete.
I spent about 3.5 hours inventorying every part and found everything there, including a few spare fasteners in case some got lost. My only frustration with the inventory process was that some of the capacitors are almost impossible to read due to nearly invisible laser etching/printing. As you can see from the photo below, there is quite a collection of parts (302 electrical, 127 mechanical, and 10 toroids to be wound) that will eventually find themselves onto three PCBs (Front Panel, RF, and Filter Board).
Those nasty caps came into play immediately as the first board to be assembled was the Filter Board. So far, I’ve spent about 1.25 hours assembling the 30 meter band parts (less toroids, which are installed later). So far that’s 24 parts in 75 minutes, or just about 3 min. a part. At that rate I’ll need 900 minutes or 15 hours for the electronics and another 6 hours for the mechanical stuff — just about 24 hours total with the inventory time. Hopefully winding the toroids won’t skew that number too much. My progress so far is shown in the photo below.
I must be a real New England Patriots fan as I’m going to watch their game against Denver rather than doing more assembly tonight.
