Posted: 7/31/2014 10:16:19 AM EDT
The first of many. 
The current state of the RF board. It's hard to tell from the picture, but since my last post I've added a bunch of diodes, transistors, ICs, all of the crystals, and a shit load of capacitors and resistors. 
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That is nice Kekoa. Was tricky for me to build a BFO lately, the old peepers make it rough! My eyes are still pretty good, but there are just so many tiny components/parts in this kit, that it would be impossible for me to do this without one of these. It was a well spent $40. Honestly, I don't see how even someone with perfect vision, could build a kit like this without magnification. |
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This! Quoted:
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Good job on the toroid and the board. Keeping the turns evenly spaced is an art. Let's see what the soldered side looks like. This! Nah...it's not that pretty, and I might embarrass myself. And besides, it's just a bunch of solder connections. |
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The first of many.
http://www.pbase.com/david_3/image/156806006/original.jpg The current state of the RF board. It's hard to tell from the picture, but since my last post I've added a bunch of diodes, transistors, ICs, all of the crystals, and a shit load of capacitors and resistors. http://www.pbase.com/david_3/image/156806007/original.jpg you know, they make machines that put the components on the board, right? j/k, looking good so far! 
ar-jedi |
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Go to the Dollar Store and buy several of their reading glasses in different magnifications, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, etc. Use whichever one is appropriate for the particular type of circuit you're building, low numbers for point-to-point, high numbers for SMT.
My problem is one bad eye and I lose depth perception at distances under about 3'. Yeah, I've soldered my fingertips before. 
If you imagine a complex circuit board as several small ones laid side by side, it's not so intimidatong. In fact, at least one kit maker lays out the building sequence this way |
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My eyes are still pretty good, but there are just so many tiny components/parts in this kit, that it would be impossible for me to do this without one of these. It was a well spent $40. Honestly, I don't see how even someone with perfect vision, could build a kit like this without magnification. Quoted:
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That is nice Kekoa. Was tricky for me to build a BFO lately, the old peepers make it rough! My eyes are still pretty good, but there are just so many tiny components/parts in this kit, that it would be impossible for me to do this without one of these. It was a well spent $40. Honestly, I don't see how even someone with perfect vision, could build a kit like this without magnification. Those are the best. They also offer a little auxiliary magnifier that flips down for very small stuff. I have a set at work, and it made me very happy to have the university order stuff from Brownells.  Don't bother with cheap ones, they will only lead to eye strain.
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Go to the Dollar Store and buy several of their reading glasses in different magnifications, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, etc. Use whichever one is appropriate for the particular type of circuit you're building, low numbers for point-to-point, high numbers for SMT. My problem is one bad eye and I lose depth perception at distances under about 3'. Yeah, I've soldered my fingertips before.
If you imagine a complex circuit board as several small ones laid side by side, it's not so intimidatong. In fact, at least one kit maker lays out the building sequence this way Been doing this for YEARS. When I was much younger, my dad used to get pissed when I'd steal borrow his reading glasses. He eventually gave me a nice pair so I'd stop taking them. He calls them "cheaters," must be an airforce thing. |
| I worked for Heathkit years ago and this thread brings back memories. Urban legend that actually happened: Back before PC boards, insulating tubing was used on the component leads to prevent shorting to other leads. In the day, the tubing was referred to as "spaghetti". Danged if someone didn't take the term literally and built a kit with real spaghetti noodles on the component leads. It was an audio amplifier so he was probably not a techie. |
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What magnification Optivisor are you using, Kekoa? I have the 2.5 magnification (DA-5). Most of the time, it seems to be just right . But, every once in a while, I need a little more, so I use a pair of 1.5x "cheater" reading glasses in addition to the Optivisor. By the way, I have still 20/20 vision, and normally don't wear glasses at all. But I have reached the point where I do need some weak (1.5) reading glasses if I'm reading a book, or anything with small print. About a year and a half ago, I built the CMOS-4 electronic keyer. I didn't have any magnification then, and it was almost impossible to to complete the kit without it. A friend clued me in on the Optivisor, and said it is one of those "must have" items around his house. He said uses it for things like reading the fine print on medicine bottles, etc., in addition to kit building and hobbies. It really has become an essential part of my tool box. Oh BTW, if anyone is interested, I got my Optivisor from Amazon. |
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If you imagine a complex circuit board as several small ones laid side by side, it's not so intimidatong. In fact, at least one kit maker lays out the building sequence this way This is the way the K2 build is set up. It is built in six stages. The RF board is built in three stages, with some testing and alignment at the end of each stage. I completed stage one of the RF board last week, and am now working on stage two. |