Many thanks to the excellent Herculodge blog for making me aware of this cool–nearly retro–Tecsun 2P3 AM Radio Receiver Kit on Amazon.
Should be a fun, inexpensive and relatively simple through-hole kit. I am curious how well the instructions are written in English. Has anyone assembled the Tecsun 2P3?
Update: Bob points out that the Tecsun 2P3 is also available on eBay. (for $26.99 US shipped)
I have translated the manual before while I was reselling this kit. FYI:
http://crkits.com/twopthreemanual.pdf
Hello, I bougt from Amazon USA this Tecsun 2P3 kit, and this came with 3x10kohms resistor less and shell IF emty coil missing too. Why they do not putting all components like in instructions? I writing to Kaito USA, but did not answer anymore. Anyway, I buid this and works like an industrial radio.
I just built a 2P3 over the weekend. The kit was a real treat to build. My kit was short three resistors, though my local Radio Shack stocked them. The large, color schematic/directions poster was surprisingly well thought out. It didn’t include a step-by-step assembly sequence, like what comes with a Ramsey transmitter kit. The schematic and parts list were laid out well enough to make it easy to identify components and assemble the circuit.
The included alignment directions were quite nice, and would make it easy for a novice to get peak performance out of this little radio.
My resulting radio is quite selective. I especially like how well the double-coil ferrite antenna allows me to null strong local stations in order to hear distant signals on adjacent frequencies.
I am tempted to purchase a second kit to keep in unassembled form.
I love these little radios and have built a couple of them. They are sensitive, selective (although tuning at the high end of the MW band is touchy), and fun to build.
But the instructions are a little vague, which could be a problem for novice builders.
However, there is nothing quite like these radio kits on the market today. There are many electronics kits, but none have such a nice finish as the 2P3. You end up with a highly functional and good-looking little radio. Sure, a bit more expensive than a junk-store radio — but you get to build this one!
So happy with these little radios that I took the time to write up a detailed, illustrated, comprehensive assembly manual — something like what you get with mainstream electronics kits. I am offing this 36-page manual as a hyperlinked, high-resolution, color PDF on Etsy.com, in case someone would like *much* more thorough assembly instructions. I am sure just about anyone could build the great little radio following my manual. Check it out, if you are interested.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/208723987/2p3-radio-kit-detailed-assembly-manual
Cute little radio!
I saw it on Anon-Co, they also offer the PL-880 in special edition version, looks very nice and worth to check it out.
Best regards,
Moshe.
They are $26.99 with free shipping on eBay.
Thanks, Bob! Just updated the post.
Thanks for posting this – I bought one today (rather not heard it was cheaper a few weeks ago!) but even at this price it is a bargain. When a pizza costs $20 or more these days, $35 doesn’t seem like a bad deal for something I can use and enjoy for years knowing I built it. I like the sound of the assembly focus too – I want to learn the how and the why of the parts, and reviewers have said this does that well.
Cheers!
Robert AK3Q
Right until the 2nd of September the price of this kit on amazon (sold by Kaito) was $19.99. You can verify this at camelcamelcamel.com. On Sept. 3, the wonderful folks at Kaito must have realized its popularity, and so jacked up the price by a mere 75% to $35. This is called robbery. If Kaito is reading, bring the price back to $20 and see it fly off the shelves.
I am putting one together now. I had a few missing parts in my kit.
Also, mine was only about 20 dollars off of Amazon. The instructions are pretty good. The English is above average, but still not native, and it has good graphics to help you in construction. It even has instructions for alignment and tuning. Hopefully I’ll have it up and running soon.
Dear Max: Thank you for taking the time to post your review … now that Thomas and you have both talked about this, I’m going to have to get one for myself and try it out.
Thomas … Great post. Just enjoy the array of great things you bring to our attention. I look forward to your missives every day. And I both respect — and greatly appreciate — the time and effort you put into your blog. We are all the beneficiaries of your passion, time and effort. It makes our enjoyment of the very great radio hobby all the richer still.
Thank you, Thomas!
Bill Patalon III
Bill: Thanks so much for your kind comment! I look forward to building this unit someday soon.
Best,
Thomas
Very cool, but $35? I bought a used Tecsun 390 on Ebay for exactly the same price.
I’d pay ~$15 to relive my kit building days (which involved tubes I’m sorry to say), but this is seriously overpriced.
Well done Mister !!!!