Elecraft KIO2 - Manual (Page 8)

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Cut a 9" (23 cm) length of the 8-conductor cable. Note: 2 feet (60 cm) of the 8-conductor is supplied.
The extra cable can be used to make a replacement if the original becomes damaged.
Carefully remove 3/4" (2 cm) of the outer gray jacket from the cable. To avoid nicking the individual
conductors, proceed slowly, using a sharp tool to cut around the circumference of the jacket. It is OK to cut
through the foil shield, which will be discarded.
Peel off and discard the thin foil shield surrounding the individual wires.
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In the steps that follow you'll be removing insulation from all wires in the cable. If you
attempt to hold the individual wires with long-nose pliers during stripping, you may damage their
insulation or pull the wires out of the jacket. An alternative method is given in the following step.
Temporarily make a single knot in the middle of the 8-conductor cable. It should look like a pretzel,
with a diameter of about 1" (2.5 cm). The knot will apply tension to keep the wires from slipping out.
Choose any one of the eight insulated wires. Carefully remove 3/16" (5 mm) of insulation from one
end. Avoid nicking the stranded copper wires with the stripping tool.
Tightly twist the exposed strands of this wire together, then tin the strands using a very small amount
of solder. Use just enough to keep the wires from coming unraveled. Any more than this may make the
wire impossible to insert into the hole provided on the PC board.
Test the wire you just prepared to see if it will fit into one of the holes provided on the KIO2 board, at
J2. If it does not fit, you either did not twist the strands together cleanly, or you applied too much solder.
Strip 3/16" (5 mm) of insulation from each remaining insulated wire, at both ends of the cable.
Twist and tin the strands of each wire as you did above.
Twist and tin the strands of the bare wire. As with the other wires, use a minimum of solder.
Untie the knot in the cable.
If a small vise is available, clamp the KIO2 board into it in the orientation shown in Figure 4.
Otherwise you can lay the board on your work bench. Be careful not to damage crystal X1 or other
components when clamping the board into a vise.
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CAUTION: Before proceeding, make sure you have the KIO2 board in the orientation
shown: J2's label and outline should be to the left, and the DB9 connector should be to the right. A
connector will not be used for J2; the wires will be soldered in place.
The RED and RED/BLK wires in the cable, as well as the WHITE and WHITE/BLK wires,
may be confused during assembly because the black stripes on the RED/BLK and WHITE/BLK wires are
not very prominent. To avoid confusing the striped and non-striped wires, separate out the striped wires
only and mark them with a heavy black dot using a felt pen.