Gang,
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 put them in the anti-static bags with the semiconductors.
- And also 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 through, 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
from Southern New Jersey, y'all
home: n2cx@voicenet.com
