My process of building the mcHF version 0.5 in April of 2016.

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Packaging.


The mcHF kit has progressed a great deal over the versions. This kit being the lastest version 0.5 has many SMD/SMT preinstalled by the board manufacturer. This saves a great deal of time and labor placing very dense tiny components as well as lessoning the chances of poor installation.


The box from over the pond arrived intact The goodies from inside the box. UI and RF boards front side UI and RF boards back side


Put it together.


I chose a bit of a personal preferences path in the assembly. The LCD was naturally too high for my switches ( switch heigth = 13mm ) thus it got modified. The solution was to trim off a bit of the connectors length and remove the plastic pins retainer. Adding the 4.4mm tall 2mm sockets so the LCD could be easily removed. I wanted a E4 (tuning encoder) that is more rugged. I chose one with threaded mounting shaft. All my encoders include the push switch. I could see no reason to have buttons M1 through M3 when those functions are easily done with the encoder push switch. I also kept the push swich on E4 and elected to use it for an additional step+ .


Installed 2mm pin spaceing, 4.4mm tall lcd sockets. Trimmed the LCD pins. Adding switches and other items to the board. UI board with switches, Encoders and LCD.

Moving on to the RF board it was time to wind the lowpass toroids. My MFJ antenna analyzer came in handy for measuring each coils inductance and I was able to be more accurate with the windings.

Method of winding the lowpass toroids. 10 meter bandpass coils installed, 20 meters being installed. MFJ-259B antenna analyzer testing a 40 meter bandpass filter. 20, 40 and 80 meter bandpass toroids laying on winding diagram page.



Final RF board assembly.


After lowpass filters are all installed its time to finish SWR and PA sections. Turn it on to test then mount my heatsink

RF board, lowpass filters installed, time for more parts. RF board completed. User Interface and RF boards installed and testing. Final version of heatsink shows it attached to RF board.


Wrap it up.


Measureing, cutting and drilling the new Hammond case. Lots of screwups but it will do just fine.

Hammond cabinet face after drilling, now cutting out the LCD viewing area with nibbling tool. Left end open shows Heatsink inside cabinet. Left end of cabinet shows USB and BNC connectiors. User Interface and RF boards installed and testing.



Ready for prime time.


The case is longer than the boards so I chose to add extension connectors on the right side. One could optionally cut the extra length off the case.

Case, back view shows holes in bottom for air draft. Case, left end view shows antenna and usb connections. Case, right view shows 6 audio and one DC connections. Case, front view with knobs, complete.


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Last edited: Monday April 01, 2018 by Don Lewis