VAX 6400 booting saga: how to transfer binaries to VMS with kermit?

I'm ripping my hair out over VMS (as usual). I have a little magic file that I need to transfer from PC to VAX. And kermit on both ends. I thought I knew how to use kermit, but no matter what I do, the file will never work as an executable on the VAX. It always complains about a corrupt descriptor block and it comes up too long. The file is exactly 2048 bytes long and when I send it it comes up as 5/6 blocks with DIR/SIZE=ALL. That is one block too many, isn't it? The funny thing is, when I do a round trip with kermit PC -put-> VAX -get-> PC, I get two identical files on the PC. But when I do VAX -get-> PC -put-> VAX of a working .EXE file on the VAX, I end up with a broken copy (same error.) So, what can I do? I have SET FILE TYPE BINARY on both sides. I'm so sorry for bothering you with my VMS ignorance, I greatly appreciate your patience and help.