Précautions, électricité statique

Electrostatic Sensitive Devices (ESD)

Field Effect Transistors (FET) in this module can be destroyed by static discharges.

• Take applicable precautions:
  • Always touch chassis first, before touching anything inside the module.
  • Ensure your soldering station is "ESD safe".

Premières étapes

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Preparations

• A) Cut trace at "A": the last gain stage is not used.
• B) Lift (unsolder) the end of the choke from the pad where it meets with 2 other coils.
• C) Remove the output FET. Cutters with fine tips will do the job nicely. The FET will not be reused.

Dérivation du dernier étage

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Replace last FET by conductive bridge

• D) Solder a fine copper foil strip across the input and output traces of the last stage.
  • Make the strip as short as possible, otherwise glue residue may remain trapped underneath.
  • Inductance grows rapidly with any excess length at 2.3 GHz !
  • Keep the strip about the same width as the traces it bridges.
  • Remove any remnant of the former FET legs before positionning the bridge.
  • Ensure it does not touch the upper and lower traces that fed the FET originally.

Ré-assemblage du module

Closing up

• Verify that the choke you lifted will not touch the cover upon closure.
• Put the cover back and re-install the module in the transverter box.