[Amps] New question

[Jeffrey Madore]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Katz" <stevek at jmr.com>
To: "'Jeffrey Madore'" <K1LE at ARRL.NET>; <AMPS at contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2003 11:44 AM
Subject: RE: [Amps] New question


> I have some suggestions, see below..... -WB2WIK/6

> > //You could also make a mica chip capacitor out of the dipped mica by
> > breaking the insulation away, cutting the leads off entirely and
soldering
> > the end caps of the plate stack directly to the PCB foil.  I've done
this
> > many times, it increases the srf (self-resonant frequency) of nearly any
> > dipped mica substantially.  It also damages the cap, at least the first
> > few times you try it (unless you're very careful, or very lucky, or
both),
> > so it pays to have some spares.

Thanks, Steve, this is good information. You're right that there is a
learning curve. What do you use to break away the insulation? I started with
a knife and switched to a dremmel. The insulation didn't seem to want to
crack and there is a fine line between cutting too deep and not deep enough.
Do you remove all of the insulation or just grind the sides down some and
then expose the end caps?

Thanks again,
Jeff - K1LE - CT ><>