Reddit reviews Elenco FM Radio Kit
We found 9 Reddit comments about Elenco FM Radio Kit. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Build this kit to assemble a monophonic FM receiver (88-108mhz) with electronic auto-scanWill help you understand the basics of working with printed circuit boardsBecome familiar with a variety of electronic componentsDevelop good soldering skillsFor 30 years Elenco has been using their strong engineering and design skills to develop reliable, affordable electronic test equipment, tools, and educational kits
The simplest is to use a radio chip like from Silicon Labs - 99% of all radios you'd buy from Walmart, etc. use these chips these days.
They are designed for "digital" so they have SPI controls to set tuning. You'll want a custom PCB for these but it only requires power, clock, SPI microcontroller, antenna, and audio power amplifiers.
You can also build "old school" discrete FM radios using discrete parts (e.g. transistors or older FM ICs). Google for circuits for these. They are strictly more complicated to build.
Ones like this are "minimally functional" - it's not high fidelity. These are so-called "super-regenerative" radios which can product radio interference or added noise in the audio. But it's quick-and-dirty easy.
A superheterodyne is better but far more complex. You need IF transformers and more circuitry. Strictly the Silicon Labs are implementing a superhet internally. I recommend an FM radio kit rather than design/build your own completely from scratch.
https://www.amazon.com/Elenco-FM-88K-FM-Radio-Kit/dp/B004YHZE0G
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/fm-radio-kit?rmvSB=true
https://www.sciplus.com/p/amfm-radio-kit_2451
After almost 4 long months, I have just completed my (almost) fully labeled Deep Space Ergodox
Parts Listing:
I have always been a buckling springs fan.
And then one day I saw the "Deep Space" keyset and fell in love.
Since Deep Space obviously doesn't work on a buckling spring board, I decided to get a Cherry MX board.I was back home in the States for a month with a lot of free time, and I didn't just want to buy one so I started looking at kits. Once I saw the Ergodox I knew I had to build one.
Unfortunately this was in Auugust of this year, so the Deep Space group buy was long over, and there was no groupbuy up for the ergodox (or infinity ergodox) either.
Using the ergodox site I sourced and ordered the parts. I had never assembled anything using a soldering iron but decided to give it a shot. I used a cheap Amazon radio kit just to get a feel for it (I never got that damned kit working btw).
The ergodox assembly went great. Had it finished in a day. It all worked first try. I had forgotten to order a TRRS cable though, so I had to wait an excruciating 3 days to find out though. After three months of use I discovered that I missed two solder points on diodes so the keys acted erratically, but that was a quick fix.
I originally ordered it with blanks instead of Deep Space keys, because I wanted to test out DSA profile and they were considerably cheaper than the full Deep Space set. Once I decided I liked it I went ahead and ordered the Deep Space keyset.
I ordered it a week before I planned on leaving the U.S. and it, of course, arrived an hour after my plane took off.
I finally got the set a month or so later which was when I realized I made a mistake. Unfortunately I wasn't looking at the sets when I ordered. The ergodox Deep Space set is DRASTICLY different from my layout, and combined with the core does not cover the board.
By this time 90% of the PMK Deep Space set was sold out, so I had to hunt for people selling it. I came across a great deal on mech market for the function keys and ordered those. I also managed to catch a grab bag which covered the rest of the board. A few PMK blanks and it was at least covered in the proper colors.
As of this time I am still missing a 1.5 Return key in deepspace colors (do they even make this?) and a 1.5 Shift key in deep space colors (which only seems to be in the ergodox set which is a $44...and sold out). I'd also like to order a Planetary Set if it comes in stock to replace my Ravens with the Yellow Galaxy swirl.
Yeah, the innerfidelity video is great. I also practiced my soldering on a cheap little kit with a lot of components like this. That helped me become comfortable with my iron and again, more confident in what I was doing.
How about an FM radio circuit kit, like this?
I think you might need to get a soldering iron though.
my personal recommendation is to get a soldering kit first and watch the EEVBlog tutorials on soldering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Sb21qbpEQ part 1 is equipment, part 2 is throughhole, and part 3 is surface mount (which you don't have to watch). Part 2 is the most important; because you're just doing throughhole you can buy a cheap soldering station for like 25 bucks since throughhole components can take a bigger beating than SMD stuff.
I got the Elenco FM radio kit on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-FM-88K-FM-Radio-Kit/dp/B004YHZE0G because it was cool and gave me more of an incentive to finish. This part is to just work out how to throughhole solder on something that doesn't cost 80-100 dollars; you'll probably feel like you have the hang of it after a couple minutes, but it's better to get that way before you start on your board
I would find an old electronic item, disassemble and practice desoldering things on there. You'll find very quickly there are different types of tools/iron tips you're going to want. I say old electronic item because motherboards from like a computer or stereo component are difficult to work on. The solder doesn't flow as easy and you'll want to develop a technique/acquire all the tools before you attempt something like that.
They have a plethora of soldering kits where you can solder a digital clock, radio etc
Wholey smoke, those links. Lol.
For cleaner Amazon links you can scrap all the tracker junk after the product ID:
https://www.amazon.ca/CF210SP-Double-Frequency-Electronic-Assemble/dp/B07GYNHHHP/
And
https://www.amazon.ca/Elenco-FM-88K-FM-Radio-Kit/dp/B004YHZE0G/
Might want to just look around for radio building kits for sale; probably cheaper than buying the individual components by themselves. Here's a couple of examples:
https://www.amazon.ca/CF210SP-Double-Frequency-Electronic-Assemble/dp/B07GYNHHHP/ref=sr_1_10_sspa?crid=3EAT06389T0I7&keywords=radio+build+kit&qid=1566855907&s=gateway&sprefix=radio+build%2Caps%2C226&sr=8-10-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExTVNCTzlWWUFYUFZFJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMzEzOTE4Mk5TMkpDTVFOOEMwQyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwODE4NjczM0tEUUhRQlZBVlNIViZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX210ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=
https://www.amazon.ca/Elenco-FM-88K-FM-Radio-Kit/dp/B004YHZE0G/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3EAT06389T0I7&keywords=radio+build+kit&qid=1566855907&s=gateway&sprefix=radio+build%2Caps%2C226&sr=8-1
Just remembered about building a crystal radio kit as a kid (way back in the day and was great because it used no batteries) so went back to Amazon and searched with the phrase "crystal radio kit" which returned quite a number of hits for not only crystal radio kits but also other kit options like the ones mentioned above.
Electronics kits is the way to go. Buy something recenable cheap and try to make it work. Try not to shake on your hands...
https://www.amazon.com/Elenco-FM-88K-FM-Radio-Kit/dp/B004YHZE0G/ref=sr_1_3?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1469015634&sr=1-3&keywords=build+electronics
Also buy these, that will rescue you when you use too much solder...
http://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-5-Feet-2_0mm-1_5m-Desoldering-Braid-Solder-Remover-Wick-Cable-Wire-CP-2015-p-49770.html
Wash your hands, and dont worry too much about the fumes. It is a problem if you solder every single day, but you will be soldering for a short time, every month only.
Also one of these will help you, not burning your fingers.
https://www.circuitspecialists.com/content/98947/zd-10f-0.jpg