N8VCL: First Kit: NS-40

Every so often I get the idea in my head that I can do something.
For example, in the mid-late 90's I thought I could do woodwork. I watched Norm Abrams. He had everything down pat, neat and tidy, right on the first cut, every time. So I bought myself a Shopsmith Mark V `cuz I was gonna do woodworking stuff!

$3500 later...I didn't do any woodworking. I made a little sawdust, and used it to cut framing lumber to measurements to assemble a swing set, but no "woodworking" like you see on TV and in the magazines.
Ended up selling it. Cheap.

That's just one example. There's a bunch.

So lately I've gotten the idea that I could build a ham radio kit. I have been looking at the pictures online and they all seem so neat and tidy. Surely anyone can do it, right? I didn't stop to think back on all the other things I thought I could do...like car repairs (flames shooting out the carburetor, anyone?). I just sent the money via paypal and dreamed of how cool and easy this was gonna be.

The Kit came today. It's a 4-State QRP club kit called the NS-40. NS stands for "No Simpler" and it's a 40 Meter, crystal CW QRP (low power)transmitter. Here it is in its unassuming package.

Here are the parts:

Here's the PC board. I thought screening it like a QSL card was cool.

Now, there are only 14 parts, so it is pretty simple. So I broke out the soldering iron and set to work. First was inventorying the parts. This was the first time I started to think "Uh oh..." I don't have a magnifier I better get one if I plan on doing this ever again. My over-40 eyes could barely make out the markings on the components. I don't remember everything being so darn teeny-tiny when I was in electronics shop in high school!!

Then I started soldering, or trying to solder, anyway. My new 30W iron wasn't getting it. It would leave a little burn mark on the board, but the tip wasn't getting hot enough to melt the solder. I was getting frustrated and the dread of realizing I may have found another thing I can't do was creeping up.

I sent an IM to my good friend Bill, KA8VIT and he gave me a couple suggestions. As I took a deep breath and tightened the tip on the iron, it all started working much better. About an hour after starting, here is the finished transmitter: