Hello, all! My name is Rich, and I live in the state of Michigan in the United States. Kit building is not as common in my country as it once was, with the demise of once-great companies such as Knight and Heathkit. I enjoy building kits, with my last one being a K1EL K42 keyer-reader. I also enjoy working with vintage equipment - I have a Heathkit HW-101, a Knight Kit T150-A transmitter and its matching Knight R100-A receiver, and a Kenwood TS-120S (which is my main radio for HF)
I saw the Klopik-2 kit from RV3YF for sale on EBay. It looked interesting, so I posted questions on both EHam.net and on QRZ.com, asking if anyone was familiar with the Klopik-2. A ham from Russia told me how to contact Oleg, RV3YF, and to direct my questions to him. I purchased the Klopik-2 kit for much less than the cost on EBay, and received it within a few weeks.
Unfortunately, Oleg seems to have lost patience with all of my questions. I have a basic knowledge of electronics, I can read a schematic, and can follow instructions, but the instructions that came with the kit are a little hard to understand in places (maybe something was lost in the translation?), and I am also used to instructions that give step-by-step directions (such as, "Install this resistor in this place, then these capacitors, and then this transistor. Turn on the power supply. Next, test the circuit for proper functioning by applying the test probes of your meter to these points in the circuit"). Most kits made in America have instructions in that format; the ones that came with the Klopik have left me floundering an places, necessitating questions to Oleg. I am hoping to find someone else here who is familiar with the kit, who can help me along.
So far, I have completed the low-pass filter kit and the host board kit, and I am currently working on the band-pass filter kit.
I have a few questions (and will likely have many more before I am finished!). I have never built a kit this complicated before now.
First, I have a question regarding how to wind the band-pass filter coils. The instructions give a particular number of turns of wire per coil, but with the given number of turns, I get a different inductance on my meter than the chart says I should - I have to remove anywhere from 2 to 3 turns before the reading is correct. Is this something to be concerned about, or not as long as I have the correct inductance?
Second, the instructions for the 80 meter and 160 meter coils say to wind them on "3 section frames". Can someone please explain to me exactly what this means - what is the correct way to construct them? Good photographs would be helpful to me.
Third, what is the correct procedure for tuning or adjusting the band pass filters? I know that each coil has a variable capacitor, and that the coils can be moved closer to or farther away from each other, but how do I know when they are adjusted correctly, and how do I do it?
Fourth, where on the band pass filter board are the input and output connections, and the connections for 12 volts power? There are no markings on the board to indicate these connections. For that matter, where are the 12 volt power connections on the low pass board? Again, good photographs would be very helpful.
Fifth, how do all the boards in the kit - host board, power amplifier, low pass filter, and band pass filter - all connect to each other? Yes, there is a diagram on the host board instructions, but it is not entirely helpful since it does not show where the connections are on the individual boards, nor does it indicate specifically what other components are necessary for switching from one band to another (my instructions only say "band switcher").
Thank you all in advance. As I have said previously, good photographs would be extremely helpful, as would advice and instructions from people who have built this kit already.
73,
Rich Knack
KC8MWG
Сообщение от UR5ZQV
