I got my U3S kit a couple of days ago and have pretty much finished the assembly.? I verified that the GPS module is working.? It even picks up the satellites down in the basement shop.? I've also verified that the control unit shows "diagnostic" on the LCD when powered up and will go into setup.? I measured the voltage out of the regulator on the Si5351 board and it's putting out ~ 3.3 volts, so no shorts.? Now I have to wind the toroids for the LPF and see if there's RF output.? I'm building the LPF for 630 M.? I built the 5 W amp, but may try going straight to a homebrew 50 W amp that I built.? 200 mW in gives me about 12 - 15 out, which should be fine for now.?
The main board I received is marked V4.? Are there any different assembly instructions for the V4 board?? I followed the V3 pages and other than slight differences in the connector pins they seem quite similar.? The only problem I've had is that the Nylon spacers that came with my kits appear to be tapped wrong.? Six of the eight spacers are tapped for M3 on one end and M2.6 on the other end and all the screws are M3.? Also, the hole in my 5 W PA heatsink is tapped, rather than being a pass through hole for the screw.??
The boards are very high quality and the assembly instructions are the best I've seen for any kit.?
Fred WA0GMH
