[amsat-bb] DEMI 13ULNACK kit problem-THANKS

[Bill Howell <bhowell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I posted a month ago regarding my preamp kit which didn't work after 
I built it.

Thanks to everyone who responded. As some folks mentioned, if the 
voltages are correct, it should work (I even spoke with Steve at 
DEMI, who walked me through the readings. He said "it should be 
working".

I sent it to DEMI for repair. Their receptionist called me a few days 
later with the charges...
$5 plus shipping.

When I got it back, I noticed there was new soldering around the main 
transistor. My guess is that they replaced that device.

My best guess as to what killed it, is my use of an ungrounded-tip 
iron which I used on that device (some of the ground pads are *huge* 
heat sinks and in my excitement to get the kit finished, I grabbed a 
high-heat iron to do the job).
The 25 year old iron did indeed have a few volts on the tip (of 
course I checked this _after _ I did the soldering).

Bottom line here is, if you build one of these kits, take the usual 
precautions and don't get in a hurry  8^)



-- 

Bill Howell
University of Texas at Austin
College of Fine Arts
Office of Computing Technologies
N5ALO  Amsat 32459  QRP-L 415
----
Via the amsat-bb mailing list at AMSAT.ORG courtesy of AMSAT-NA.
To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe amsat-bb" to Majordomo@amsat.org