Group(s),
The latest more-or-less monthly NJQRP meeting took place on Feb 22.
Our host and hostess for the invasion were James, KA5DVS and his long-
suffering wife Kathy.
Due to the meeting, club members got a late start in the FYBO
competition. Instead, we worked on kitting Rainbow tuners, so it was
WYBO instead.
To forestall any mass rebellion we let everybody enjoy the assembled
mass of food while socializing and showing off their latest
project. Then we got things rolling with a brief status report to
being the group up to speed on the project and to lay out the day's
tasks.
We also took a vote on the color picture to appear on the Rainbow manual
front cover. Ace digital photographer Dean, N2TNN had come up with a
half dozen or so great choices. We finally decided that the pix
showing the Rainbow pc board with an Altoids tin behind it best captured
the Rainbow project spirit.
In spite of dire warnings from Doug Hendricks and Jim Cates, we had
decided to enlist as much volunteer labor as we could so that all could
share in the joy of participation. As it turned out, all went very well.
The process we followed is really a variation of the classic
assembly line a la Henry Ford. Some preliminary work had already been
done in that the semiconductors had already been packed in zip-lock
anti-static bags under controlled conditions so that they would not be
damaged in handling.
Also, Herb, K2HPV had generated a mailing list *and* printed up
mailing labels, saving us lots of effort!
And the eight precision resistors needed for the kit had been
"prepped" for kitting by Herb and Ken N2CQ. Since the 1% resistors
have tiny color bands in an unfamiliar configuration, we decided to
lay them out in the order of use on self-adhesive labels so that kit
builders had only to start at one end of the row as they built and
remove the resistors in order. Believe me, it's a help to old eyes!
Before actual bagging of parts could begin, there was more prep
work, so we split into groups to so all of the up-front work. The
groups were:
One to put the mailing labels on the envelopes.
One to cut magnet wire for inductors.
One to cut hookup wire for jumpers.
One to count out 11 solder terminals and putt them in the anti-static
bags with the semiconductors.
One to do final proofreading of the manual. Mind you I had given the
manuscript to Bill W2DP, who had done a superb job of editing and both
of us had proofread it. We thought it was fine! The proofing team
included David, N2SMH who is a professional electronics industry editor -
thought he could escape work, but we made use of his talents! Don't
let this guy near a document with a red pen. When he and his henchmen
were done with it, the manual we thought was pretty good looked like it
was a victim of the St. Valentine's day massacre. But the final
result was well worth the effort.
Once all of the preliminaries were we set up an assembly line to do
final parts bagging. Tony W2GUM, who could not make the meeting, had
provided plastic parts bins. We set up in a row and dumped parts in
them in the order that they were listed in the manual's parts list.
In front of each bin was a label, indicating what part as in the bin and how
many went in each kit.
The bins were laid out on several tables, while kitters picked up a plastic
bag at one end of the line then walked past the tables, picking up parts
in order from the bins and putting them into the bags. Then the bags were
sealed with a wire tie.
Periodically, a QC audit was done on random bags to be sure that the
all of the parts were in them and that the quantities were correct.
Part of the way thru, we realized that we were missing some parts, so our host
and hostess printed out small sips of paper with the part values that
were put into the bags so that they could be added when at a future
date when additional parts were ordered.
It certainly was an all-day affair! We were all tired pups by the
time four o'clock showed up but all of the loose parts on hand had been
bagged and the mailing envelopes were all ready. The only remaining
jobs were putting in the missing parts, then putting manuals pc boards
and parts bags into the padded envelopes and mailing.
It all worked out remarkably well. All of our conscript labor had a
great cooperative spirit and pitched in to help wherever they were
needed.
Of course a couple of guys *did* slip off into James' basement to make a few
FYBO QSOs...
Speaking for NJQRP,
72/73,
Joe E., N2CX
72/73,
Joe E., N2CX
from Southern New Jersey, y'all
work: jeverhart@cayman.vf.mmc.com
home: n2cx@voicenet.com
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