I got my case last week and assembled the radio.? I really like the case.? It's well made and well worth the money.
I have a few comments.
The potentiometer holes in the front-panel are too small.? Drilling they out is trivial but necessary.
There is a replacement volume control pot included with the case kit.? The replacement lacks an on/off switch.? I assume that the issue here is that it's impossible to find a knob for the pot/switch included in the original kit.? There is a new on/off button for the back panel.? I can't see anyone wanting the button located on the back so I ordered a replacement pot with integral switch on ebay.
The audio jacks for the front-panel are made for PCB mounting.? These are hard to wire.? I replaced mine with panel mount jacks from my parts bin.
The kit includes three small circuit cards.? One for wiring the power button and fuse-holder, now not needed since I discarded the button.? One for wiring the encoder.? Since I already wired it, not much use to me.? One for a serial and USB port and two audio jacks on the back-panel.? There are no instructions so I have no idea how to wire this and i have no idea what the jacks are for.
There's an LED for the front-panel that should display TX/RX state.? This might be nice, but I can tell the radio mode without it.? No wiring instructions for this either.
Feet are included with the kit.? They are too tall and not necessary.? I put small stick-on rubber pads on the bottom of mine.
The kit includes duplicate parts like the pots and audio jacks already included in the original kit.? I assume this is to replace them if they are damaged when disassembling the kit for mounting in the new case.? The extra parts seem like a waste of money for the seller.
I have no idea what I'll do with this thing when I'm finished.? I need another rig like I need another hole in my head.? It's an entertaining project however.
Rich - KE1EV
