Two IC AM Radio Kit

A nice easy soldering project. This kit actually contains a well written manual/guide that even has a section explaining proper soldering practices. All of the components are packaged by type and organized very well. This is not just a bag of parts, a board, and two pages of photocopied diagrams. Very well thought out kit that is easy to follow. If you are a novice at soldering or just want to boost your soldering confidence by making a project that will work in an afternoon this is a great product. If you are familiar with electronics and soldering you will still have fun with this kit. The organization of the components alone sets this kit high above others I have bought online. I hadn't soldered anything in a few years and just wanted a lazy Sunday project. I did a quick read through of the short manual and then just kinda freestyled it. The printed board and the organized components are enough to make the kit with if you know the basics.

Elenco provides an excellent book with their projects, so this is a very educational kit. The layout of the board makes it easy to solder for those with limited experience. The selectivity of the radio could be a bit better, but it was possible to tune in a number of AM stations.

Ideal para realizar un proyecto de soldadura. Aún no lo armo y espero que esté completo.

Just got it threw Prime next day. I was immediately impressed with the large 10 page instruction book. Nothing at all like you get from kits by China. You couldn't ask for better instructions! Thanks to the very user friendly instructions even a complete newbie or child 12 and up can figure this out as each component is clearly identified and tips on soldering is included. Along with the best in depth trouble shooting similar to a service manual with points to check with what the ohm reading should be or what the voltage should be and if not correct what components to check. This kit is perfect for anyone to understand how the am radio works and improve your understanding of circuits by presenting block diagrams, schematic and a pictorial diagram. It's not just for kids, adults regardless of age or experience will benefit from it. It says it takes about 3 hours to assemble. There are 26 parts. I will update with a final pic when completed. Update: took me about 45 minutes. Worked first try. The selectivity is poor but good enough to pull strong stations. But that is not what this kit is about. Elenco makes great kits. The quality and instructions can't be beat. But they are intended for educational purposes. If you just want a good am radio, you can do better. If you want to learn how they work, Elenco is untouchable! I recommend you dont use lead free solder, it's horrible to work with. I stopped using lead free 2 years ago. Instead stick with the regular lead based with flux. On the surface mounts like the battery holder, potentiometer, antenna wires and tuning capacitor apply a little bit of flux on the board so the heat and solder distribute better. Surface mounts can be tricky for newbies. Other than that, justtake your time. UPDATE: VIDEO Just to demo it can pull in strong stations. It was not my goal to build a Super AM DXing radio. Just wanted to sharpen my solder skill and there is that satisfaction of success too!

I got this AM radio kit to learn more about radios, and I most definitely did! This is perfect for anyone who likes diy electronics projects, it took me about 3 hours to assemble, and you don't really need to have much experience with soldering to get it done. My only suggestion is to use medium heat on your iron, and different solder than what it came with. The PCB board gets hot really easily and the connections can pull off trying to melt the lower guage solder. I used .022g 62/36/2 and had a much easier time getting good joints. It is definitely possible to do with the solder it comes with, but thinner stuff will make it much easier! The radio works great as well, with a little bit of tuning I can get stations from over 100 miles away, and by altering the antenna you can get some airbands too! Overall, this kit is great, and makes a super fun project for a rainy day! I have purchased kits from other manufacturers, and while some of them were good, the Elenco brand seems to be the best quality, and the INSTRUCTION MANUAL IS AMAZING, not only does it have the schematic, it explains what every part is, what it does, and how to identify the part. Because of the quality of the radio, and the manual, I will most certainly be buying other Elenco kits in the near-future.