Vectronics 40-Meter QRP Transceiver Kit -- Is it all here?

Wouldn't do much good if all the parts weren't here.

Sorting and Counting

March 9, 2008

Ready to get started!

Time Spent:	0.5 hours

The manual for the kit has a very nice checklist so as you pull a piece from the zip top bags, you can check it off.

There were three baggies; one for each phase of construction. The first was filled with "generic" parts, i.e. parts that are common to the various versions that use the same circuit board. The second bag had parts that determine the band and frequency that the radio will receive/transmit on. The third included all the parts for connecting the radio to power, an antenna and a few other bits and pieces.

There is also a checklist for tools you'll need. Here is what you'll need:

A soldering iron

Rosin core solder

A solder sucker or solder wick

Hemostats or needle-nosed pliers

Angled wire cutters that can get close to the circuit board

A pencil for checking off as you go

A good magnifier

There are some other items you'll need for testing and using the radio but this is what you need for construction.

Here's the sorted bits

March 9, 2008

Sorted and ready to use

All the pieces are here!

Time Spent:	0.2 hours

I laid the parts out on two sheets of card stock. I was originally going to draw grids on the paper and label each of the squares but not only was this unnecessarily time consuming, it also took a lot of workspace.

Instead, I took a small box and poked holes in it with a push pin. I made rows for each type and number of part and sorted them that way. It only took about 15 minutes but it made it a breeze to find the parts I needed. Larger parts and parts that weren't in danger of rolling away just stayed on the card stock.