Or you can just bend all but the ground pins outward from the base of
the chip (e.g., www.speakeasy.net/
~jmiles1/ke5fx/492ap/large/close1.jpg). The pins won't break if you
don't flex them more than once or twice.

What's the board in? A receiver? What's it do?

It's a PLL that locks a Tek 492AP spectrum analyzer to an external 10
MHz GPS reference. The box contains an x100 prescaler, x10 prescaler, a
phase/frequency detector made from two halves of a 74LS74, and a slow
loop filter made from an LF356 opamp. There's also a relay that
switches the correction signal in and out of the circuit based on
whether the GPS reference is connected.

The 494 and 494A had the reflock assembly built in, but the 492A didn't.
So I added it, along with a few other tweaks that bring it up to 494A-
level functionality.

Lots of stuff in a very small box, without much room for component
standoffs or other prototyping aids. I've built a ton of stuff that
way, at frequencies up to and including 2 GHz. Wouldn't even consider
any other assembly techniques for RF work at this point.

-- jm

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