The ‘Hilltopper-20’ Transceiver K1SWL rev. 15 October 2018
17
Final assembly:
1)
Install four 5/8” (1.5 cm) threaded spacers at the
corners of the top cover using the shorter
⅟
4
”
screws
as shown at right.
2) Add one each end and side-panels
. When they’re
properly aligned, the tabs and notches at the ends
of each panel will interlock cleanly.
The front/rear
panels have tabs. The side panels have notches.
When these are in place, hold the panels in tension
by placing an elastic band around them as shown.
3) Put top cover in place. This is to ensure proper
placement of the circuit board and to ensure side
pieces are square.
4)
Flip the assembly over. Insert the circuit board upside down into the unit with board
resting against the spacers attached to the top
.
5) There are bare tinned areas on each side panel. These
must line up with the corresponding bare areas on the
main circuit board. Solder all 6 pairs of contact points
between the main board and the panels.
Make sure
the panels line up with the edges of the cover.
Caution
– side panels get hot quickly and can
cause painful burns.
6)
Solder the upper and lower inside corners of the panels
(8 pl. total).
This adds considerably to the enclosure
strength.
7) Remove the elastic band and the top cover.
8) Remove the top cover and set it aside.
9) Install the controls
– pots R1, R16, switch SW1 and
rotary encoder SW2. Discard the nut and washer
that comes with the rotary encoder. Place the two
white 1/16
” spacers on pushbutton switch SW1’s leads and install SW1. Then tack one
lead on each to hold them in place. Fit the top cover to ensure the controls will align with
holes. Holding the top cover, turn unit over and complete soldering the controls.
10) Perform the Alignment and BFO Pitch Adjustment processes as described in the next
section.
11) Replace the top cover with spacers.
A word about soldering:
The tinned areas are thermally-
isolated from the rest of the board
material. 25 to 40W iron and a fine
point tip are sufficient. Do not use a
high-wattage iron! A proper
connection shows a smooth
transition across the joint and not
‘two rounded bumps’
