I recently completed my QMX 20 - 10m radio. The construction went very well. It went so well in part because of my wonderful dental hygienist!
On a visit last fall for my annual cleaning I spoke to my hygienist about building some new electronics. I was complaining about the detailed work involved especially ensuring that there were no shorts between component parts. She nodded politely and the cleaning continued.
As we were finishing up she disappeared and returned with some dental tools in a sterilized package. She handed them to me and informed me that these were past their useful lifetime and perhaps they might be of use to me!
EUREKA!! These tools are absolutely perfect for scraping at the area between traces on the QMX. With some magnification you can quickly evaluate if that "glob" is a solder bridge or just some flux! I also found them useful for compressing or spreading out coils on the LPF toroids. Definitely a useful addition in the shack!
On Jan 15, 2024, at 14:07, Rick Williams - VE7TK via <ve7tk@...> wrote:
I recently completed my QMX 20 - 10m radio. The construction went very well. It went so well in part because of my wonderful dental hygienist!
On a visit last fall for my annual cleaning I spoke to my hygienist about building some new electronics. I was complaining about the detailed work involved especially ensuring that there were no shorts between component parts. She nodded politely and the cleaning continued.
As we were finishing up she disappeared and returned with some dental tools in a sterilized package. She handed them to me and informed me that these were past their useful lifetime and perhaps they might be of use to me!
EUREKA!! These tools are absolutely perfect for scraping at the area between traces on the QMX. With some magnification you can quickly evaluate if that "glob" is a solder bridge or just some flux! I also found them useful for compressing or spreading out coils on the LPF toroids. Definitely a useful addition in the shack!
#15 scalpel blades are perfect for removing solder mask from traces, and for cutting traces and shorts.??I prefer carbon steel over stainless, and non-sterile may or may not be cheaper. 73, Don N2VGU
Your dental hygienist will usually give old picks away for free.? Back when I taught SCUBA, we'd get free dental picks to remove the O-ring from SCUBA tank?valves.? And when one of us got a handful, we'd share them with the divemasters and the up-and-coming students who looked like they'd?become divemasters.
Free is better than $4.99, but it's good that HF has them.? You can also find them at gun shows, usually for a dollar each.
Rick Williams - VE7TK
Colin Kaminski
Donald S Brant Jr