Paul, Cutting PC lands for changes/upgrades is an industry accepted practice, so it should not be regarded as 'hacking' at all - the result will still look neat and clean.
There are many ways to make a cut - if there are a lot of cuts the easiest is to use a small dental burr (it could be a Dremel wit a very tiny burr bit), or for one or two cuts, a sharp knife will suffice. I usually use the tip of my pocket knife just because it is handy (and yes, it will need sharpened afterward). I cut a 'V' groove through the circuit trace with the tip of the knife - I exert some downward pressure with one hand and control the knife blade with the fingers of the other hand placed on the back of the blade near the tip - it does take some pressure there as well. I make 2 angled slicing cuts about 1/16 inch apart and flick out the cut piece. Check continuity before and after the cut to be certain that the copper has been completely severed. It is harder to explain than to do. 73, Don W3FPR > -----Original Message----- > > I just purchased the KPA100 for my K2 (serial > 3640), and in going over the instructions I see > that the installation of the keying modification > is highly recommended. I'm a little nervous > about the part of the mod that requires the > cutting of a circuit trace. What's the best way > to perform this operation? (Kind of a shame to > have to hack at my K2 this way, but you gotta do > what you gotta do.) > > _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
