Torqued

A friend has been mentioning getting on the air with digital modes.  While it's easy to hear and copy those modes with a computer and the software, generally an SSB radio is required to transmit.  And to make SSB work a microphone input is required.  I did have a mic cable setup for the K2 but I recalled that it didn't work when I tried to use it several years ago.

The mic (a Shure 444 originally used with my HT-37) seems to work so I suspected the problem was with the way I had the jumpers set for the K2.  The jumpers looked OK at first but then I noticed that only one of the grounds was jumpered.  So I added another ground jumper (and also four uncommitted jumpers in case it needs to be changed in the future):

not sure what the 4.7 k ohm resistor and wire are for, think it was for a fixed level AF output

In the process of buttoning the K2 back up I managed to torque off the threaded shaft of the 1/2 inch aluminum standoff:

Fudge !

I thought about buying a replacement standoff or maybe even contacting Elecraft but decided that I needed to get the K2 back together ASAP.  So I found a couple of 1/2 inch threaded BRASS standoffs along with a long 4-40 STEEL machine screw and was able to button the rig back up.  I plugged in the Shure 444 and was able to talk !  

So one step closer to actually using the K2 !  Baby steps and slow ones at that :(

Best Regards,
Chuck, WB9KZY
http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm