Building Kits

Items to consider:

IT’S FUN!!

Kit Selection.

Workplace Setup.

Soldering.

Aligning/testing.

Using your kit.

Some kit examples.

Kit Selection:

-Have you built before?

  • Start simple, then move up; kits are available for everyone at every skill and price level.
  • Plated through kit boards best.

-What do you want/need (XCVR; voltage tester; FM stereo xmtr; SW rcvr; code practice oscillator)?

-How much to spend?

-What’s available?

-Will your kit need additional parts (controls/connectors/enclosures, etc.)

FIRST –Review the manual, INCLUDING any change pages added or from the kit’s web site.

Workplace Setup:

-HINT – DON’T WORK WHEN YOU’RE TIRED!!

-Are any parts static sensitive?

  • Anti-static mat/wrist strap.
  • Or ground yourself before touching them/don’t touch terminals.

-Clean area.

-Carpet not too good (dropped parts).

-Lay out/inventory your tools.

-Inventory parts.

  • Egg cartons work great to hold parts.

-Lighting (combo light/magnifier; shielding; non-hand-held best).

-Magnifiers (lighted magnifier; “jeweler’s” goggles; holder/magnifier combo).

Soldering:

-DON’T GET BURNED – IT HURTS!!

  • Solid iron holder that won’t easily tip/drop iron.
  • REMEMBER TO POWER OFF WHEN THROUGH!!

-Safety Glasses

-Which iron?

  • 25w/40w (NOT your big 200W Weller Iron!).
  • Pencil tip for Surface Mount Devices (SMD’s).
  • Grounded for static sensitive?
  • Clean/TINNED tip.
  • Temperature controlled?
  • Wet tip-cleaning sponge handy.

-Other tools:

  • Small/sharp scraper to clean up any small solder bridges.
  • De-soldering braid or de-soldering bulb.

-Placing parts for solder (through the holes then spread the leads)

  • DOUBLE CHECK YOUR PARTS BEFORE SOLDERING!

-Heat the work (parts), NOT the solder

  • i.e. – Touch the solder to the parts to melt it, NOT the iron.
  • Solder will “flow” around the parts and into the board hole when ready.
  • Prevents cold solder joints.
  • Good joint – shiny “Hershey kiss” look; Bad joint – dull round solder blob.

-Clip the leads near the board.

-Check your work for any solder bridges.

  • My technique – test with ohmmeter after every couple of solder attempts.

Aligning/testing:

-Goal – don’t let the magic smoke out of all the little parts!

-Check your work a third time before powering up.

-Follow the manual.

-Plastic tools much better than metal – no electrical/magnetic interference.

  • Buy some or just make your own (you’re a ham!).

-Some kits only need an ohmmeter and your ears, others require more extensive gear.

-If it’s not working exactly right the first time, just take a break then try again later after a nap/coffee, etc.

-Common causes for kits not working (ask me how I’m familiar with these – HI!):

  • Solder bridges.
  • Cold solder joints
  • Parts installed wrong or backwards (electrolytic capacitors, diodes, etc.) or in wrong location.
  • Wrong value part installed (.01F vs .1F; 470Ωvs 47kΩ).
  • Sometimes defective part, but rare.
  • Integrated circuit (IC) chips working partially out of their socket (but they look seated).
  • Antenna not connected or bad/wrong antenna.
  • Power not connected.

Using your kit

-Find a carrying case.

-Show it off.

-Travel with it.

-Impress your friends.

-Keep it in the car.

-YOU BUILT IT – BE PROUD OF IT AND ENJOY IT!!

Some Kit Examples:

Small Wonder Labs:

Ten-Tec:

Receiver Kits Store

Model 1054

Model 1054 4 band regenerative shortwave receiver kit. Here it is: PROOF that the classic “first receiver” project need not be more expensive today than our favorite 1950’s kits. In fact, this great little receiver beats the pants off those 3-tube radios with the big plug-in coils. Excellent for clubs, classes and family activities. Band coverage: 49 meter SWL band, 40 meter ham band, 31 meter SWL band, plus 12-15 MHz tuning for daytime shortwave listening, 20 meter ham band and all those other shortwave sounds. You can enjoy the basic kit just by hooking up 9 to 12 volts DC, setting up a modest wire antenna (10 feet or more of hookup wire) and plugging in your own stereo headphones (1/8” plug). Features convenient push- button bandswitching, on-off switch, “on” LED, tuning, volume, and regeneration control. Case, knobs, and speaker not included. We recommend case (undrilled, no holes) TPx-43 for this receiver, available in unpainted aluminum, black or charcoal. Order TP-43 for aluminum, TPB-43 black, TPC-43 charcoal. Building skill level: Beginner. No previous kit building experience needed. Must be able to solder, read instructions, and use small hand tools.

More Information

1054 - Model 1054 - $39.00

Morse Express:

DC Voltage Monitor

Check battery status at a glance! You can build this kit to monitor 5, 8, or 12V DC power supplies (optional parts supplied) and you can set the LEDs to indicate .25, .5, or 1V steps. SIZE: 1.3" x 2.7". Current usage depends on the voltage and the number of LEDs lit (typical 80mA at 12V) but you can easily add a pushbutton switch on the input-- push and check!

Similar to the VM-2, the VM2-110 unit reads your AC line voltage. Build both for your shack and check both at a glance! VM-2 DC 5,8,or12V voltage monitor board kit. $7.95

Ramsey:

Top of Form
SR2C - Shortwave Receiver Kit
Only:$44.95
Price with your options:
This product has a shipping weight of 0.26 pounds.
Bottom of Form
The Perfect "Beginners Receiver"!
Tunable over 2 MHz bandwidth anywhere in the 4 to 20 MHz Shortwave Band
  • Clean superheterodyne design with automatic gain control
  • Extremely sensitive front end!
  • Here's a complete shortwave radio guaranteed to inspire awe in any listener. Imagine tuning in the BBC, Radio Moscow, Radio Baghdad and other services with just a few feet of antenna. This very sensitive (about a microvolt!) receiver is a true superhet design with AGC and plenty of speaker volume.Smooth varactor diode tuning allows you to tune any 2 MHz portion of the 4 to 20 MHz frequency range, and the kit conveniently runs on a 9 volt battery (not included). Add our matching custom case and knob set to give your radio a finished, polished look. Amaze yourself and others - see how you can listen to the world on a receiver you built in an evening. Drives any speaker or earphone. Included case measures 5"W x 11/2"H x 51/4"D.

The XV Series provides important benefits for the operator in both receive and transmit modes. On receive, the transverters combine a low receive noise figure (typically 0.8 dB) with a high dynamic range front end (+17 dBm mixer), ensuring exceptional weak-signal performance even in large-signal environments. Reliable overload detection is included at the IF port to protect the mixer. On transmit, the XV's 20-25 watts output will drive most high power linear amplifiers. A sequenced keying output is provided for external amplifiers, and a built-in wattmeter using a 10-segment LED bargraph provides fast power output monitoring. Provision is also made for an optional crystal oven to enhance frequency stability. XV50, 144, 222 Price: $369.00 XV432: $399 Crystal Oven Option (XVOVN) $45.00

The concept of placing a beacon on amateur radio frequencies is not new. However, many beacons presently in use are either completely home brew, or else they require some specialized skills or equipment to set up and program. There are amateurs who would like to set up a beacon for experimental use, for hidden transmitter hunts, or to announce their participation in some radio event, but who lack the time, experience, skills, or equipment to do so. Until now! The Freakin' Beacon controller was intended from day one to be as straight forward and as general purpose as possible. This no nonsense approach made the Freakin' Beacon easy for us to design and easy for you to program and use. No special skills or equipment are required. Just connect the Freakin' Beacon to any PC with a terminal emulator, turn it on, and type in your message. The unique command set uses capital letters as instructions to the beacon, and lower case letters, numbers, and punctuation as "sent" characters. That's it! Just type in the character string, which is stored in non-volatile EEPROM inside the PIC microcontroller on the Freakin' Beacon, and you are ready to go. Then plug the Freakin' Beacon into the key jack of your beacon transmitter and let 'er rip.

The K2 is a full-featured HF transceiver with the options you have come to expect from radios costing over twice as much. Two VFOs with multiple memories, split TX/RX operation, RIT/XIT, full break-in CW, memory keyer, narrow IF crystal filtering, excellent RX dynamic range and IF derived AGC are standard on the K2.

Performance: We've designed big rig features and performance into the K2. Eric and Wayne are experienced CW operators, so solid CW performance (in addition to SSB) is a priority with the K2. Excellent sensitivity and dynamic range, Full QSK Break-in (diode switched), adjustable RX/TX CW pitch, High Speed Memory Keyer, Selectable RX Sideband, and Sharp IF Crystal Filtering are standard. Check out our K2 Performance Number Comparisons with other radios for more details.

Low Power Consumption

The K2 is designed for use both at home and in the field. The K2’s low receive current (approx. 150 mA in battery save mode) makes portable operation possible from small gel cell batteries. The K2 even includes an option for an internal 2.9-Ah rechargeable battery.

Build the K2 for QRP or 100W Operation
The K2 offers efficient QRP CW operation with up to 15 watts output. Build it as a K2/100 by including the internal KPA100 option to get a full featured 100W radio. The KPA100 kit of internal parts, including its micro-controller and heatsink fit totally inside the K2. The KPA100 includes an internal speaker and a RS-232 Aux I/O computer control rig interface (equivalent to the KIO2), SWR / Power metering and microprocessor controlled silent PIN diode switched T/R.

The ATS-3B Six band HF CW/Digital transceiver fits into an Altoids tin! (Digital modes require user built PC interface and Pocketdigi software for PDA or desktop PC)

Already have an ATS rig or want to talk to people who have one? Join the ATS users group.

Aircraft Receiver
Tune in the Friendly Skies

VEC-131K
Only $29.95
This exciting project tunes the entire voice aircraft band, from 118-136 MHz, and picks up air traffic 100 miles or more away.
Climb into the cockpit and fly -right seat- as pilots and air-traffic controllers work together to keep skies friendly and safe.
Track progress of incoming/outgoing traffic in your area, gain advanced weather information first-hand from pilot reports and discover how the National Air Traffic System really works.
This is not only a fun kit to build and operate, its also a great way to learn about radio/electronics and aviation at the same time! Uses 9 volt battery (not included), and drives a speaker/headphones. 13/4x31/2x31/2 in.
Skill Level: Intermediate Requires more involved construction, you may use some test gear for final adjustment or tuning.
VEC-131KC, $14.95. All metal cabinet for Aircraft receiver, includes knobs, hardware and rubber feet. Brushed aluminumlooking decal for front panel.