After posting Ron’s note about the MFK-8100K receiver kit, I touched base with MFJ and they have kindly donated a new 8100K kit to us for an SWLing Post giveaway. Thanks, MFJ!
This giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere. MFJ will ship it directly to you if there are no Covid-19 shipping restrictions to your country.
Here’s how to enter the giveaway…
Simply comment on this post and tell us about your favorite kit that you’ve built. This can be your first kit, your last kit, or anything in between. Don’t just give us a model name, tell us what made it a fun or special project.
If you’ve never built a kit, but are eager to do so, tell us why you would like to build the MFJ-8100K! Do you have a soldering iron?
We simply want to make sure a kit builder or want-to-be kit builder gets this prize! We’d even invite you to share a short post about building the MFJ-8100 (no obligation–only if you wish).
Details
We will pick a winner at random from the valid comments in this post on Wednesday, September 23, 2020 at 16:00 UTC.
This means you must enter a valid email address in the appropriate comments field (not within the comment text itself) so that we can contact you.
Of course, the SWLing Post doesn’t sell or share emails–never have, never will–this is only so we can contact you to obtain your shipping address if you win. Feel free to use a throw-away email address if you wish.
This is all about taking us on a great kit-building nostalgia trip, so have fun!
Click here to comment with your kit story and enter the giveaway.
Many thanks again to MFJ Enterprises for sponsoring this contest!
hi.i have build my first receiver 1981.it was straight receiver to 80m.but only dsb so very fine must tune at you heard amateurs.it was copy from finnish elektronic magasinet.few transistor and one 1ic etc.
I am fun of listening in sw radio, but my little radio bought was only a lower band. i’m interested to built your amazing radio kit. hoping i am lucky to pick on your giveaway kit. Thank you
very fine at this time has somebody interested to radio.i want this to my poor little ham schak room.
My first and favourite kit was an HAC (hear all continents) 1 valve receiver, mounted on an aluminium chassis, it was built using a soldering iron which had to be heated in the fireplace, the radio used 2 batteries one to heat the valve filament and the other to supply HT via a 90v battery.
Many happy hours were spent listening to stations all over the world and experimenting with home made aerials.
I now have a much treasured Antex X25 soldering iron !
I am brand new to shortwave radio. Rather than simply buying a receiver, I would like to really learn all about the hobby from the very basics.
Good evening.
Yes, I built the MFJ 8100 shortwave radio receiver before from a kit successfully, and I started enjoying it’s worldwide receiving capabilities right away. I want to build one of these sets again and use it as a backup for my homemade version of the Circuit Salad regenerative set the uses the same concept used in MFJ 8100.
I have everything I need to build the set, including solder, batteries, and headphones.
Hey I have all the kit in my home, but I will teach the children about electronics, it really helpful to build more
I am brand new to Ham Radio and enjoy it.
I am a new ham and have only ever built a few light flashers and things like that. Looks fun.
Built a vfo for my DX-60 in the early 70s
My favorite kit ever:
https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/cit_service_oscillator_k24_k.html
I still dream with
73
I love kits.Made one up from Tandy.Crystal radio.
And we have a winner:
https://swling.com/blog/2020/09/we-have-a-winner-the-mfj-8100k-shortwave-receiver-kit-giveaway/
Thank you to everyone who participated in this giveaway. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip down memory lane. So many wonderful kits!
Best,
Thomas
When I was in tech school at Keesler AFB many years ago, myself and my roommate each put together a Helicrafters radio (model long since forgotten). Life got me into electronics but the irony is that I never since have built anything. It would be fun to bring back those creative juices.
Heathkit, and not what I had listed. See, I told you it was too many years ago.
I was in 7th grade in 1966 when, while delivering newspapers one winter afternoon, a friend invited me into his house to see something amazing. It was a shortwave radio, an Allied Radio Star Roamer. He showed me QSLs from South Africa, Japan and England. I was dazzled.
Later that week, with my parents’ approval (which shocked me!), I toted all my paper route savings to the Allied Radio store in a nearby shopping mall and bought a Star Roamer kit at the Allied Radio (later became Radio Shack) store in a nearby mall.
It was in a heavy box and my heart was thumping as I opened it up and set up to build the thing in my Dad’s basement shop. I went really slow, afraid I’d make some kind of mistake and be stuck with an expensive ($40!) error.
But the Allied Radio kits had very clear, step-by-step instruction manuals, where you ticked off your progress, one soldered resistor at a time. It was hard to mess the thing up, as long as you followed the instructions. It took me less than a week, as I recall, building the radio for an hour or two at a time and then taking a break. No rush.
Finally, it was time to try the thing out. I attached a length of wire, maybe ten feet long, to the antenna terminal and tossed it across the cement basement floor. Toggled the power switch and held my breath … there was sound! I started tuning across the 31 meter band (the Star Roamer had a string-wound tuning mechanism and slide-rule dial) and miraculously began to hear radio signals popping as I tuned across the band. For the next half-hour I heard interval signals and radio station IDs for Moscow, Habana and South Africa.
It felt like witnessing — and building — a miracle.
I later added a Heathkit Q-Multiplier kit to the Star Roamer, to try and enhance the performance, but it was what it was. A wonderful if limited first receiver … that I build myself. Talk about satisfaction. Since that Star Roamer, more than 50 years ago, I’ve DXed with a Hallicrafters S-85, Hallicrafters SX-100, a Drake R4B, a Japan Radio NRD-525, an NRD-545, a Drake R8B and an Icom 7300. They all performed better, of course, but the Star Roamer is the one that still tugs on my heart strings!
The first kit I ever built was with my Dad back in the early 80’s. It was a Heathkit 135-178 MHz radio. It came out amazing, and I still use it occasionally. I’ve gotten better with a soldering iron since then, and would love to dig into another radio project.
My favorite kit was the one that worked as it should the first time I used the finished product. It taught me not to rush, but to be careful. Including not doing any assembly when I was tired. A lesson that I should not have had to learn, I think!
My very first crystal radio kit, back in 1961 with my dad when I was 6 years old.
That was the start of my fascination for the crazy hobby, 59 years later.
My favorite Kit that I have built is the Nino TNC. A good low cost solution to get into packet radio.
my first kit was a heathkit hw-32a 20 mtr tube radio, that I used in my car, using the 12 converter.
nest was hw8 and the latest was the bitx 40.
need another one to put together.
I’ve known about regen radios since I was a pre-teen. I’m almost 70 now and still haven’t used one. With a northern winter just around the corner, building and using this kit seems like a great way to pass the cold dark nights quickly approaching.
I would very much like to make this wireless.
Heath HR-10
I have done a number of Heathkits, I think my first one that got me into building kits was the walkie/talkies that i butil in the early 60’s. My dad got it for my birthday, 10 or 11 years old. Now that I am 70 years I still fiddle with projects of my own and others.
My first kit was a Rockmite 20 meter transceiver. The smd parts were a bit of a challenge for me! I would love to try another.
After saving “forever” as a high school student, working part time at Radio Shack, I or course bought a Heathkit HW-100 and HP-23 power supply kit. Took me a month of nights and weekends when I was not working or in school to build and align it. Took it into my high school electronics class and the teacher used it as an example for the class and helped me align it to spec. The radio worked wonderful and after about 10 years it was replaced by a TS-520S and then sold at a flea market. As far as the MFJ 8100, I have been looking at these for years, thinking of buying “just one more radio”. And if I win, I am sure to enjoy soldering, assembling and aligning that little regen beauty!
Not a kit, but swapping out the “killer Cap” in a couple Collins R390A receivers was fun. It’s the cap that, if it shorts, will take out the filters.
Last kit, 1975, High School Electronics course.
My favorite is one of the first kits I ever made. In Highschool (a very long time ago) I took an electronics class. We got to make two kits. My favorite is the analog multimeter kit. I used that for years until I dropped it and it broke into several piece and never worked again. I’ve made a few since then, but that one still stands out.
Last kit: multimeter, 1975, in High School Electronics class.
Hi Guys,
No way to remember my only try with a radio kit as it was some 40 years ago !
I guess it is high time for me to give another try, thanks to your generous offer…
Best regards,
Francois
Toulouse, France
My favorite kit was a Ramsey FM transmitter as a kid. I remember playing with antennas, the best being an FM stereo receiver dipole connected using the RCA cord from my Commodore VIC20. I would walk around the block seeing how far my signal went. I figure I got a solid 1000′ with a Sony SRF-A100. I wanted to take it to summer camp to have my own radio station but never finished the box I wanted to put it in. I ended up selling it on ebay for twice what I paid so that made me happy. I tried to build a second just to make a profit but I could never get it to work.
I think I have a soldering iron with a bad tip in a box somewhere. I still miss my DX-390 I got for my 10th birthday.
I have an old radio shack iron woth a bad tip in a box somewhere. Should get a new one. remember building a few Ramsey kits back as a kid.
Never built a kit but always wanted to
Hello all. Well, i am still fairly new to shortwave and ham radio and have yet to build any kit. As I have gotten into the shortwave listening I think my favorite things is finding digi modes to try and decode. Some reason it fascinates me that I can pull signals from thin out that turn out to be picture.
Thanks for the chance and hope I win.
73.
For years I had been listening to AM740’s Friday Night Bandstand, Ziggy and Big Band Sunday Night. I used a variety of radios and decided I wanted a higher audio quality radio.
The main issue with audio reproduction is the radio’s audio bandwidth. Most modern AM radios do not extend beyond 2.5KHz. This is primarily determined by the IF stage and, to a lesser degree, the RF stage
There are several types of radio that do not use an IF stage. Most are designed for high sensitivity which I do not need with AM740 in Toronto. The TRF (Tuned Radio Frequency) is the radio of choice for this application. I settled on a “Radio on a Chip” design using a single IC for the RF stage
The kit that I purchased uses a TA7642 and came with the ferrite rod and coil. The audio stage is built around the TBA820N. Various modifications were made to the TA7642 circuit to improve strong signal handling characteristics. I also added antenna shielding around the ferrite rod to provide a ground plane and minimize AM static. Modifications were also made to the TBA820 circuit to reduce distortion, noise and increase audio bandwidth.
The radio can produce very good sound with nice clean highs and very low bass. It is mounted in a wooden box and sits on the headboard of my bed.
In my region i dont have acces to “kits”, so always experiment with electronics, the first radio i have bulld has a Crystal Radio the schematics appeared in the popular mechanic magazine (i was a 12 years old):
http://rexresearch.com/xtlradio/tapped.pdf
i dont have high impedance headphone so connect to my old audio stereo. What amazing feeling when in the speaker sound a music radio.
Thanks for the gift!!! 😛
I was 14 when I was licenced in 1991 as a Tech, then upgraded less than a year later to Tech Plus. Eager to get on HF, I went to an electronics store a few towns over and got a 40m direct conversion receiver kit, the Ramsey HR-40. I didn’t have the money for the fancy enclosure that came with it, but the kit was within my reach and looked simple enough, so it sailed home with me that afternoon. I quickly pulled out the iron and set to work, building it faster than I thought it would go. I found a earphone that would work (it used a smaller than normal jack) and I plugged in, carefully reading the instruction on how to align the receiver into the 40M band. I didn’t have an external 40m oscillator to be able to align to, so I had to do a “Guess and by golly!” sort of alignment. To my surprise, the kit powered on without any issues and was operating correctly, a joy to a first time kit builder. I was able to quickly align the kit to get into the upper end of 40M, listening to all the QSO’s and some SW above the band. I probably went through 2-3 9V batteries over the next few weeks listening to the kit (by this time put into a VHS case).
Why is this my favorite kit? Well, it was my first, it worked the first time, and more importantly? working on 30 years later, I still have it and it still works!
Last kit I built was an LED Christmas tree. Quite fun!
The only kit I have built was the MFJ cub for 40 meters. What a relaxing time spent soldering parts to the board. It has been ten years, and have not made the time to build any other kits. I did attempted to homebrew a regenerative receiver based on a QST article.
Regen is fun.
I’m ready for a kit.
Never had chance to do one.
The first kit I assembled was a regenerative fm receiver and then a medium wave crystal receiver.
I did not assemble any kit for short waves.
Assembling the MFJ-8100K Kit would be an incredible experience.
In these current times listening to the world on a device assembled by my own hands is a wonderful thing.
I will make that dream come true.
I have built all sorts of odd little circuits since I was a teenager when my first took the innards of an old valve radiogram out and put them all open to prying fingers on a desk in my bedroom and began MW and LW dxing back in late 1970s. Since then I’ve finally become licensed as a radio amateur and have built a few kits, including Pixies, datamode interfaces and a homemade HAB GPRS tracker. My current favourite being the QRPLabs Ultimate3 WSPR/QRSS beacon and love the fact that just 200mW I can be heard thousands of miles away.
My favourite kit was a Dick Smith Electronics LED-flasher. It got me really interested in electronics. Thanks to my late father for getting it for me.
Hello,
i’m a swl since years, but always used radios (sony, icom, etc …) to listen to HF.
I’ve allready built electronic kits, but never radio kit. I’d like to get this one, it would be a nice exercice also for my son, aged 8, to learn how to do it and listen the result of our work 🙂
So, you now know how to do 2 happy people !
Thanks.
One of my first kits was a simple FM receiver. So rewarding to assemble a few parts with a wire antenna and radio stations came rolling in. Have built others since then but occasionally go back to that first one for the simplicity.
I got a Knight-Kit Span Master 2-tube regenerative receiver for Christmas 1963. I would have been 14. It didn’t work at all initially after I put it together. My father said there must be a cold solder joint somewhere and to reheat each joint. That did the trick as I recall. I had a random-length (L-type) antenna above my mother’s clothesline. And my first logging for which I got a QSL card was of Radio Habana Cuba on 11865 kc/s on 29 December 1963. I still have my logbooks and QSL cards. 😉 I logged stations from over 100 countries with that receiver.
I have always wanted to build a radio kit, especially a shortwave receiver!
Hello. First, thank you for doing this giveaway and for advancing the interest in shortwave radios. I have been collecting and listening to shortwave radios for about 5 years. While I have yet to build a “kit radio” the MFJ-8100K looks to be a great project! If given the opportunity, I would like to share my experience building it with your community.
The last kit I built was a radio shack power supply in the 70’s
I recently built a simple crystal radio kit with my son. He is becoming more interested in radio, having watched me and by listening to shortwave on a portable I gave him. It would be great to build this kit together for his next step in the hobby: figuring out how it all works!
Wouldn’t it be fun to return to the Globe Scout kit days of yesteryear! That was the last kit I built.
I became an amateur radio operator in 2004 and learned to solder by building a crystal radio. To my amazment it worked. I used a stand that help magnify so I could build a simple kit for proximity detection and taught soldering to boy scouts as I helped my son get his eagle scout. This holds good memories for me.
When I was quite young, I received a crystal radio set for Christmas. It was a no-soldering kit using springs and connecting wires. It took no battery or power. I hooked it up to a metal pipe and listened with the earpiece. It was great fun.
Later, my Dad and I built many kits. One in particular was a Heathkit depth sound for the boat. That was great fun, a proud achievement for us, and it worked well for many years. We sold it with the boat.
My Dad passed away in May 2020. I was thinking back to these fun things and thought about sharing this with my own grandchildren (his great-grandchildren).
Yes, I can solder and build kits.
Thank you.
The Philips experimental kits EE 20 and the newer EE 2050+2051+2052 were an important part of my life in my childhood. In the more recent years they have proved useful for trying circuit ideas of my own. Especially regenerative radio circuits intrigue me continuously. I encourage you to have a look at the instruction books. They contain a good number of circuit diagrams. I used the Finnish versions of the books.
The books are available in this web page: https://ee.old.no/library/
Many years ago, I built a Heathkit short wave receiver which, after building a HW-16, I regrettably sold. I am retired and camp a lot and would love to build this kit and scan the airways while sitting around a camp fire.
I would like to build with my son. I design and build electronics for a large defense contractor so I can never really share anything from work but something like this I could show him what I do and teach him some basics on parts and assembly techniques
Many years ago I built many Heathkits , from their shortwave receivers to their 25in colorTV set. It would be nostalgic to build an electronic kit like the MFJ shortwave receiver. Wish me luck!
I did a soldering kit when I was young in the 90s. Im a ham now. I listen to short wave.
I’m a new Ham license holder and have not built a kit yet. This would be a great start. Thanks
My first kit…was also our first COLOR television. I helped by sorting resisters for a heathkit that used a sonic “clicker” remote control. As a child, this meant never having to jump up and cranking on the channel knob ever again ! Wow , technology. How could it ever get any better !
Probably my most favorite kit was a Radio Shack Archer AM Broadcaster that I built in the mid-1970s. Wish I could remember the catalog number and find a schematic; I’d love to recreate it. It featured a crystal microphone and if I recall correctly, a 40-turn output tuning coil wound on a plastic rectangular frame. Oh, and Radio Shack’s classic coil-spring constuction scheme.
My second-favorite is a 1990s Ramsey Morse-Code memory keyer with capacitive touch paddles. This I still have, just need to find it in storage!
I’d love to try the MFJ-8100K receiver.
Whoops, correction. *Science Fair* brand, not Archer. And, its catalog number 28-209. Found this in the 1974 Radio Shack catalog shown at RadioShackCatalogs.com. ?
Well, I’m 72 now, and built my first kit when I was about 12: that was a kit sold by Philips in Holland for young people. It started off as a crystal set (branded “Pionier”), and with several upgrades became a 3 (?) transistor radio which I still have to this day. It was built without using any solder, and the components were connected to each other using small standoff studs and little bolts and wires to connect them to each other.
I graduated to building a 6 valve (tube) multi band short wave receiver designed by a UK guy who produced a couple of books, and this was one of his designs.
When I became a teenager more interested in cars, girls, and drinking beer, I dropped out of the hobby for some years, but am now back in it using a Tecsun PL880. I have just started using a Minikits Australia https://www.minikits.com.au/electronic-kits/high-frequency/hf-active-antenna/EME232-HF-Active-Antenna that I first built as a kit (because my darling wife does not want antenna wires hanging around the yard. It was an eye opener and challenging to have to solder SMD (surface mount components). While it works well, I realise I just have too many devices generating RFI in the house. In my own office (“shack”) I have probably 10 devices ranging from laser printer to several computers and Uninterruptible Power Supply, and modems, switches: even a wine fridge. I have also been told recently that I should not solder coax cables as that will impact the impedance: who would have thought? Anyway, I think I will have to move the active antenna to my shed in the back yard, some 15 metres away from the house, and even further from the high voltage power lines out the front of home in order to get any “peace” from RFI.
A new shortwave radio kit would get me back to basics, I think, and that appeals to me as I still like to tinker with soldering iron, components and antennas.
Not precisely a kit, but the first radio that I built, and with my son, was from the book “Learnabout making a transistor radio” by Ladybird books. Thanks!
I built few non-radio kits, I’d like to try building radio!
I bought and built a 4 States QRP Cricket 40 recently. It was a well thought-out project to get back into ham radio and soldering again. No crazy toroids to wind and simple to get up and running.
My very first kit was a 2m converter to use with a regular FM radio when I was between 10 and 15 yeaars old in the 70s. The brand was JostyKit, a Danish company, with mail order also in Sweden, selling electronic components and kits at that time from a pretty thick catalogue (they are not in this business anymore). I used to listen and then have my father to report to some of the guys I heard, which were collegues of his. I enjoyed this very much despite that the deviation in a broadcast FM radio doesn’t quite match the deviation of ham radio. The kit was pretty easy to build. It had only one or two trimming capacitors and the coils fixed as printed patterns into the PCB and it required no instruments to do the adjustments. One thing I remember that was a bit odd was the aerial input which was 75 ohm balanced.
Now I’m more into SWL, so I would very much enjoy building a shortwave receiver which perhaps also could be brought into the field. Building a kit is really a good way to learn the details of the receiver, as you also do If you build it, and perhaps design it, youself while still being pretty sure that it will work and, not the least, to save the tedious work of collecting parts from different sources.
I do still own some soldering irons.
I assembled a regenerative shortwave radio without an external antenna. The inductor ring served as the antenna. The restructuring was carried out by a capacitor with an air dielectric. Surprisingly, the receiver received signals well. The receiver assembled the crow’s nest by assembling and it worked. When assembled on the board, it stopped working.
As an 8 year old boy I was already fascinated by radios. At that time I received a radio experiment kit from my parents, which I used to tinker with with great joy. Today I am 58 years old and my last kit was a radio kit for soldering together for medium wave, made of cardboard in a nostalgic style. It’s standing at my desk and I’m always happy when I can receive some European channels with it in the evening. I would be very happy to win this beautiful kit, as it would be a very exciting challenge for me to assemble the mfk-8100K and to get a place in my radio collection.
The last construction that I assembled ATU of N7DDC. Nice and cheap design I am pleased with the work with this device on HF bands.
73 de Victor, US1RCH
Hello, I would like to win this kit to experiment in rf. Thank you
My iron needs something to do.
I have built several of MFJ’s Cub CW transceiver kits and they all were a lot of fun to build and use. I remember a great contact I had with a ham in California ( I’m in Michigan ) using 1 1/2 watts. A great little radio !
Mike AB8CQ
I have my soldering ‘iron’, solder & flux ready to get started on the mfj-8100k. Previously I have sent a basic crystal radio kit to my grandson and we are working together on setting it up & showing him how to enjoy it.
Hi my Call VU2CW. My first kit was Motorcycle Sound Kit of Electronics For You, in India. I am Shortwave Listener with License No.SWL-78, later in 2005 upgraded to Amateur Radio License. Thanks, 73, de VU2CW, Rajesh
I bought my favorite set, Ele??aft K2, in 2001 and assembled it in two months. My grandson was only one year old. He is now 19 years old but this transceiver is working great and it is still my favorite radio. Now, after 19 years, the broadcast is a little different – a lot of interference, extremely much! I am interested in the 8100 because it is a simple but effective receiver for hunting any signal. The most interesting thing is that a super simple circuit allows you to receive a signal, often better than a super expensive radio. I want to use it when traveling out of town and during campgrounds.
The favorite kit I have built was a Heathkit hero robot. It would have been about 1984. I loved trying to make it find its own path using its ultrasonic sensors.
My first kit and first radio was the Heathkit HW8. You learn so much building kits.
Ahhhhh — that would be a National two band 5 tube (AA5 with an added SW coil set) that I built in 1971.
It was a horrible little radio, absolutely lacking in both selectivity and frequency readout/stability, but MAN was it sensitive. There were stations all up and down the band, even if you discounted all the images (it was single conversion of course) which I soon learned all about. But even with the limitations, I had more fun building it and exploring the SW band than I can express. My ‘first’ log dating from July 1971 was made using this set, and it sparked a life-long hobby that I enjoy to this day.
Why would I want a regenerative kit at this stage in my life? To build with my grandson and granddaughter of course! I think they need to be exposed to this wonderful hobby and maybe even learn a thing or three about radio and electronics! Shoot, even if I don’t win I may buy one to do just that! 🙂
I have built several kits; HealthKit, QRP, etc. My favorite kit build is a HealthKit SB-310, which I built when I should have been working 110% on my doctoral dissertation (Physics). When my dear wife returned from her summer teaching job, she asked about the dissertation, and I proudly showed her my new SB-310. That was a mistake. We are still married , but that kit building adventure is a sore point. I paid for the kit by selling my old faithful HQ140.
I took and electronics class in middle school and built a digital clock from a kit. Nearly everyone did because it was the least expensive item in the Heathkit catalog at the time. I had a lot of fun and a great sense of satisfaction from that.
I have built a crystal radio kit from “le radio di Sophie” many years ago. Lots of fun and challenge on the AM band
Built a radio shack crystal radio kit as a kid. Spent a lot of time listening
My most recent kit was a JYE DSO-108 oscilliscope kit that I built for fun during the Christmas break. I’ve even used it for troublshooting.
My last SW recieiver kit was – get ready – a Heathkit SW-717 I built over a summer vacation from High School. I remember adding a shield made of aluminum foil between the speaker and the PC board – I had trouble with audio feed back into the reciever.
With hindsight I bet there was a bad ground somewhere in my amature solding.
Reminded me of the first kit I ever built…will date myself…Knight Kit Ocean Hopper. Then a Star Roamer. Have a K2 that is staring at me now asking when will I build it. Maybe it’ll stay un-built for the ages…and eBay.
After being away from ‘radio’ for a number of years as a operator in the US Army, I have recently tested out and achieved my General class amateur license. Venturing into ‘ham’ radio is what hopefully be an very fulfilling adventure through retirement years. Radio kit building along with on-the-air friendships will be just what I need.
My old kits came from Heathkit in cluding a color TV ,made 8 cb band radios my favorite building was up dating WW2 radios and transmitters to use on the ham bands ..
Heathkit color tv. About 1964 I was 14 yrs old. My grand mother thought it looked great, and had me build one for her as well. One the box and spread parts over a table and dive in. Great time for kit building.
Great idea, thanks! My kit building experience is mostly as a young Boy Scout with an ‘oatmeal box galena crystal’ project that led me into amateur radio, building several Heathkits for transmitting and receiving the ham bands. Great fun!
My first kit I built was a crystal radio many years ago. (More years than I care to admit.) I remember crawling under my mom’s kitchen sink to find a cold water pipe to hook up to. She wasn’t happy with me pulling all that stuff out if I remember right. It was worth it though when I heard KDKA loud and clear in my old school ear piece.
I still own all my kits.
My first kit (age 14) was a Lafayette Radio KT-135 Explor-air receiver.
Earlier, my parents had bought me a hobby Wen soldering gun.
I do not remember any errors because the radio worked the first time.
The construction manual is very good. Maybe as good as Heathkit and EICO.
I bought the kit without the cabinet because I only had a paper delivery route for funds.
I bought the cabinet when I had more money.
Later, I built a WRL Globe Chief transmitter for my novice class ham license.
Some later kits were Heathkit DX-60, HG-10 and HW-101.
None are as memorable as the KT-135 regen and maybe sparked my EE career.
Bob…w2ami x wn2ami 1962
Favorite kits are the TenTec 1340 and the Ft. Tuthill 80. Both lots of fun and different styles of kit building.
My preferred kit was an active filter for my Collins 392URR that I mount in the ’80, as a young students in electronics. Low and high pass band filter + notch (in these years notch was very important to “erase” CW-QRM in the tropical band listening). Now gifted to my school (I’m a teacher) to show to my students these basic circuits. I build it from an italian electronic magazine (CQ-elettronica), realizing by myself even the circuit boards.
of course, I’ll happy to build this kit with my students (we have realized another regenerative radio some years ago, using an Italian kit from the review Nuova ElettronIca)
I love kit building. One of my favorites was a keyer that was featured in a electronics magazine that had a LED and a photo-transistor. The key was activated when the “beam” was broken. It was a electronic as well as a woodworking project.
My most recent kit was a Elecraft KX3 but, it was mostly “plug and play”.
73 DE KF8ZK
I built my first electronic project (a one germanium transistor receiver) in the late ’50s and I haven’t stopped enjoying construction since that time.
I get a great sense of achievement when I build a kit and I make it work. The reason I prefer kits over home-built is that the kit usually has all the difficult to find parts and I can concentrate on the actual construction rather than hunting and waiting for parts and letting the project slide into the “One Day” box. It is important for me to go from start to finish in a reasonable amount of time as I don’t always have a lot of that precious commodity – time – available.
Sharing is also fun. I recently organised a Buildathon on behalf of the SARL (South African Radio League) of a few of the WSPR kits from QRP-Labs. Although most people stopped at building the Tx only, I went further and completed the full multiband Rx kit. It was a fun exercise to share with fellow constructors and is still operational to this day.
When you spend money on a kit you want to make sure that the documentation and support is there when you need it. Some suppliers will send you a small plastic bag with some parts in it and expect you to figure it out. That is nasty. However some suppliers can be trusted to make the experience educational and fruitful by providing adequate documentation, quality components and a great soldering experience. MFJ comes to mind, as I have never had any problems with their kits. And when you get stuck, well, they seem to have the answers.
My job is quite stressful and usually people-facing, so the hour or two in the workshop is seriously therapeutic alone time to recharge my inner self. Maybe it is the solder smoke, maybe it is the comfort that I can go from parts-to-pleasure in one go without interruptions.
And at the end of the exercise I end up with a cool new toy for the shack!
73 de Leon Uys ZR6N / AG5RH / A21LU
My favorite kit was an Elekit TU8200 tube amplifier. Brilliant design and a joy to build.
My first kit was a Philips RE2 medium wave receiver which was a Christmas present in 1969. It did not require any soldering with all the connections between components being held in screw clamps located in the base of the cabinet. I remember doing a modification detailed in the instructions which extended the frequency coverage to what used to be called the trawler band (fishing boats). This was near 160m and I heard my first ham – the rest is history!
https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/philips_radio_experimente_re2_re.html
My first kit was a 12 volt, 1amp DC power supply for an 8–channel 5-watt handie-talkie. I was 15 years old. After constructing the kit, I checked the voltage to be over 16 volts. I did more reading about voltage drops in a circuit. So I figured the voltage would drop when I was completed. So I turned the PS on to see the mythical purple smoke and the PS died. That was my first kit.
I haven’t seen this kind of spirit in a long time,it’s refreshing ! Such a grand idea and gesture by both MFJ and SWLing Post , raffling off a good radio kit for some budding Marconi out there.Thanks Guys
Excellent stuff! I’ve always been fascinated by regenerative receivers but have never owned or built one. My most used kit that I ever built was a Watson Antenna Tuner. I built it over 20 years ago and it’s still going strong! Here’s to all the soldering iron-toting filters out there!
Diyers….not filters…just shows you what my predictive dictionary looks like!
I last experimented with regen sw radios when I was a swl some 50 years ago. In those days it was all valves (tubes). I’d love to be able to bring back the nostalgia of tweaking the regen control just to the point of oscillation to get the weakest signals. Always a problem with stray capacity in those days, which it looks like MFJ have addressed as well. My best kit build was a Heathkit HW-100 transceiver btw.
At 8 years old I received a “magic” box with large blue ELECTRONICS on it. It hold ~40 components to build 30 projects, my favorite was the crystal set as it didn’t need any battery. This was a mystery to me that later led me to fell in love with AM radio, SW and I got my Ham license at 16 years old.
I’ve never built a kit. This looks like a good start. I have a small 25w pencil style solder device. I’ve only used it for a couple practice runs.
My first kit was a non-soldering electronics kit from Taiwanese Gakken, back in the early 1980’s. Componentes were inside single building blocks, that could be rearranged making different circuits, mainly different radio designs. It was called Gakken EX-30 or 60 and can be seen here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gakken_EX-System
first kit foe shortwave. been a ham from 2014. km6fjf
Hi, I concider electrónics Is so amazing! For me would ve More than great to build a *******. Since when I was a child AND I saw a sw radio for the first Time, I knew It Will ve my world. So hooking up and solderin every component of the kit******* would be a dream come true. From something that in my real life very hard to achieve because im from México as an ordinary worker. Kind regards
I built a Radio Shack AM radio when I was 10 years old. The soldering was not the best but it worked. I would strap it on my bmx bike and listen to KJRB. I was the coolest bmx kid with tunes, i was able to pick up Herb Jepko‘s Nitecap show on KSL at night and that started my SWL. I would love to build a Newer radio and see how I my skills have improved.
My first kit was a 5 tube shortwave from Radio Shack or Lafayette that I bought in the 1960’s. It was a regeneration type receiver and with a 40 foot long wire from my bedroom window to the top of a tree it really pulled in the DX. Before that I depended on my trusty table top 1938 Sears Silvertone multiband! That green tuning eye was a sight to behold! Ah, the memories.
The very first kit I ever built was a Remco Transistor Radio Kit. It had one transistor and a sliding metal core that fit inside a wire coil to tune the stations. The “chassis” was plastic and the connections were made by
inserting the leads from the components into holes in the plastic posts and securing them with brass rivets.
I checked and rechecked the connections over and over, at least a dozen times and…………..it didn’t work. BUT, I was hooked! Decades later I found out that the tuning scheme was permeability tuning. Collins liked that system. I’ll never forget that kit.
Well, I’ve never built a kit, but I owned a Heathkit Apache Model TX-1 many years ago. I also had the SB-10 Sideband Adapter for the Apache rig. It was a very good tube transmitter, and I could look over the construction manual to realign the rig with Heathkit’s excellent instructions.
Now, I have all the equipment needed to build a kit, like a solder station, tools, test equipment, etc. So, I’m ready to build this kit!
Favorite kit so far is the M 328 component tester. Working on a Frog Sounds kit now.
First kit was a crystal set when I was 8-9 years old. It was like magic, I was hooked. Fifty years later, I still am.
My first kit ever built when I was 16 years old. An Archer Globe Patrol 3 tube regen. It’s what got me seriously more interested in radio in general. Paid a whopping $25 for it along with another $12 for the wood cabinet.
A number of years later, I bought the solid state version of it to sit alongside the tube model. Still have both of them too. The only thing not original are the 4 knobs on the tube model. They started to crack right where the setscrews hold the knobs on the shafts, so I had to replace them.
Hi! Henry Radio in the UK offered a portable radio back in the late 1950s which my dad and I built! We only had a HUGE soldering iron so it got kinda tricky. It tuned up fine and I’ve still got it somewhere!
About 30 years ago a bought a half done Heathkit. I finished it. Just beautiful wood. Wish I still had it.
The last kit I built was in 1975 and a Packard Bell 5 tube radio, in high school. It launched my 20 year career as a Navy Electronics Technician. I am retired from the Navy and rebuild tube radios. I would love to build a shortwave radio kit. Thank you for the chance to do so.
Glad you are working with MFJ on this SW receiver promotion, Thomas. My favorite kit was a Heathkit HW-8 QRP transceiver, my first QRP rig. Fun to build. Fun to operate. Seems like centuries ago…
It’s a tie between the Heath SB-310 SW Receiver and a Fisher Audio Stereo FM Tuner, both built in the late ’60s. Building any Heathkit goes without saying–a fun, educational and you had a professional product when you finished. The SB-310 went all over the world with me when I was in the AF. Fisher had a few kits back in the ’60s. I already had their ready-made audio amplifier and needed an FM tuner. The kit actually went together easier than Heath’s and the assembly manual equaled Heath’s manual in clarity. I still have both instruments.
It’s been more than a minute since I’ve built a kit, but certainly no stranger to it. Does the name Knight Kit ring a bell with anyone? Always one not to have much money, I found that kits were the way to go. I used an Ungar wood burning pencil that just so happened to come with a rather chunky tip that was intended for soldering and un-soldering. Back in the day I spent many an hour salvaging components from discarded electronics. Kits were a novel concept for me seeing as how I had spent so much time straightening wire leads and saving them.
I loved building kits, and would like to try my hand at it again now that I am retired.
Yes I have a number of soldering tools irons Guns and “pencils” Solder I have as well .
First kit was a Heath HR-10B receiver. I had never soldered anything before, so this was an adventure. When I was finished and powered it up, it blew its fuse. After replacing the fuse a half dozen times, I gave up and shipped it back to Benton Harbor for repair. Cold solder joints were the problem and learning my lesson, every kit I built after the HR-10B powered up without blowing a fuse.
When I was a kid in the 1970s, my dad, who had been a WWII naval radio operator, got me a kit for a crystal radio. He had made one himself long ago (1930s) and listened to KFI on it, or KHJ when KFI went dark.
He didn’t do it for me, let me fool around and make some mistakes, and the thing worked great. I think it’s one reason I went into the radio hobby later in life was that heritage.
Building anything Heathkit, obviously. I’ve built an equalizer kit in the late 70’s, and recently built the latest crystal radio kit, along with refurbishing my old Heathkits.
A 40 meter direct conversion receiver.
I’m new to radio and have never built a kit before, but i do have a soldering iron! I’m in the really fun stage of soaking up all I can and being in wonder of it all.
My favorite experience building a kit was A Radio Shack P-Box MW AM Broadcast transmitter (Part 15).
It was a nerdy little project that looked weird –and it worked!
My favorite kit is favorite for sentimental reasons, being my first kit – a Lafayette Explore Air 4 band regen – a 3 tube, point to point soldered kit that I made 50 years ago this year. About 15 years ago, I was able to purchase one on ebay and its one of my prized “shelf” radios. I would love to build a modern regen this year and put them side by side to see how different the behavior is between 1/2 century of technology. 🙂
If I win, this will be my first kit build. I have all the necessary tools to complete the build and would really enjoy building it and using it. If I win this will be my favorite kit.
My first kit was a radio that I had dreamed about for a long time… it was the Heathkit SW-717. I was 14, I think. Needless to say I really made a mess of it! I had a cousin who was an extra class ham radio operator and he got it up and running. Scanning the airwaves of the big wide world was so exciting! – London, Moscow, Netherlands, Cuba, Prague, France, China and others – all of the places I would dream about visiting someday. Since then, I have built others kits, and I’m currently working on a bluetooth amplified speaker box. But nothing so special as that first radio, hearing those far away voices and sounds, twisting through the night sky, arriving in the dark through my headphones connected to the SW 717. I’d like to build the superhet MFJ MFK 8100J to bring back the romance of radio. And now I have a grandson to share it with.
Some of the fondest memories I have of my Dad revolve around assembling Heathkits. Over 60 years ago Christmas and Birthday meant picking something from their catalog and waiting for a big brown box to arrive. Little kits and big kits. My first SWL receiver thru a reel – to – reel tape recorder.
If you ever built one you’d remember inventorying the parts, putting all the resistors and caps into the freshly cut edge of the corrugated cardboard box. Then you borrowed you Mom’s cupcake tins to sort the hardware. Hard to say which kit was my favorite but I still have the VTVM, signal generator and bench supplies. I use them to this day.
I’ve put together a lot of radio/electronic kits over the years, but my favorite was the “Foxhole Radio” kit I built with my dad when I was about 12 years old. My dad was always a fan of radio and I was a curious kid so one day, after we discussed some of the ways he eased his boredom during his time in the service, he said that Foxhole Radios were really popular. We made it with some wire, an oatmeal canister, a razor blade, a pencil lead, some clips, a diode and some earplugs (I think we may’ve gotten the last time items from Radio Shack!) and stuck it all on a wooden board. It actually worked, once we grounded it to the radiator in the living room! It was sort of magical to me and between that and looking through my dad’s MW logs, I was hooked.
My favorite when I was younger was a X-tal receiver kit from Josty kit . 🙂
First kit was a one transistor Allied Radio Knight kit many hours late at night listening to am radio from distant places late at night. Last kit probably the Knight Kit Space Spanner SW radio which was also the source of many happy hours of listening. Those are now 60-70 year old memories. Would be nice to make a new memory
The only kit I have tried to build was a 20 meter Rock Mite transceiver. I failed miserably! So, I would like another chance on something easier.
3 Transistor Regen SW Radio
I would say this qualifies as a kit, somewhat. Either way, it was an adaptation of an old Radio Shack kit. It was the first kit I attempted to throw together with my soldering iron. The guy put together a nice website with lots of pictures and info:
http://www.netzener.net/index.php/project-articles/15-3-transistor-short-wave-radio
I shopped around for the parts I needed on a couple websites and scrapped parts out of old broken stuff, so I had to assemble the parts first. It helped a lot in learning how to identify parts. I slowly but surely started putting it together, making many mistakes along the way and needing to trace my way back to what I did wrong. I finally thought I had it finished…put in the battery…and NOTHING…also a good learning experience. There aren’t really a lot of parts but I had something in the wrong place. After I fixed it, it worked! What a fun experience operating a regen with all the hissing and squeals. I also enjoyed making different coils for it after I got it working. I haven’t made once since but keep telling myself I should try to make another one. It actually was the first radio I had that could even receive shortwave at all.
never build a kit, but will give it a try if i win one.
My most memorable kit was a Knight Ocean Hopper receiver, because it was my first kit. I, now, fondly recall the “hot” chassis.
My favorite kit build was my Elecraft K2. It provided many hours of pleasurable, non-frustrating building with its excellent instructions, as well as many more hours of operation. It is now more than 20 years old and still fun to operate.
My first kit: I got a KOSMOS experimental kit “RADIO UND ELEKTRONIK” in 1966 (KOSMOS wa a German publisher in the field of Technics an Nature, very famous was the so called ‘RADIOMANN’).
This kit teached me how to build a simple detector radio as well as an ‘Audion’ (a regenerative RX). The situation was much better compared to now: In Switzerland I could listen to many MW and LW stations from Germany, France, Italy etc. With this small set i listened radio plays and music under my blanket unnoticed by my parents!
I have built one of the last HW101 Heath, 40 years ago. It was a pleasure!
I built an fm tuner kit in the 70s and that was a great experience. I’d love to replicate it with a shortwave receiver kit!
I’ve never built one, but I’d love to try. Thanks
The last device I have been soldering was a Josti Kit in the 70s. It was a secret birthday gift from a late radio pal exactly 44 years ago. I was 14 years of age. That friend of mine has died 3 years ago. Now I’m a lone ranger on the airwaves.
I didn’t know anyone offered an SW radio kit any more. I think the last one I saw was a Knight Kit unit back in the 18th century, or thereabouts!! Would love to have an opportunity to burn my finger tips again with a soldering iron!!
My first kit was a Heathkit HG-10 VFO for my DX-60 transmitter – some 55+ years ago. I went on to build the Heath SB “twins” which served me well for many years.
I have built many kits over the nearly 50 years I’ve been a ham.
I think the kit that I got the biggest kick out of was a DSW-20 (first generation), from Small Wonder Labs. When I put it together, the sunspot cycle was in my favour. I was amazed by the number of contacts I could make all around the world with only a couple of watts, from a radio with a circuit board the size of a business card. I still have the radio, and fire it up from time to time. The fun factor on that one was at least 11 on a scale of 10.
73
Graham, VO1DZA
I always liked the old Allied do it your self radio kits.
In the middle of 80s I build a MW kit with my father as a 10 year old kid. This is when it all started 🙂
I’ve never built a kit but would like to do so as a bonding experience with my daughter.
Best lit I built was a Q Multiplier from Heathkit for my Hallicrafters SX25. Many years ago.
I’ve never made a kit radio before so this would be an ideal start!
My favorite kit was the 40 meter bitx transceiver. A nice kit with minimal challenges. It also gave me a chance to create a case to enclose the radio. Thanks
Wow!
How cool and nice of MFJ 🙂 I miss building kits, did a couple of the small MFJ blue box kits back in the late 70s and of course Heathkits 🙂
Fun and educational 🙂
I’ve built countless kits over the past 50-60 years, but one that was special to me was my very first. Sometime around 1964-65 when I was in high school I ordered a 3-tube regen receiver kit (KT-135 “Explor-Air”) from Lafayette Electronics in NY. I put it together all by myself and was thrilled when it worked when I powered it up. I quickly strung up a long wire outside of my bedroom window and had a ball listening to SW as well as AM stations. I also started sending off receptions reports and collecting verification cards from many stations. This was well before I got my amateur radio license. de WB4GLJ
A crystal radio in highschool a half century ago. Looking to build again.
It was fun to listen with no external power.
Thanks for giving us this opportunity! The MFJ-8100K is a very nice looking receiver. I particularly like it’s front panel appearance. These knobs, especially the regen/volume/band are just like the buttons of the FRG-7 or the FT-101. I recently owned an FRG-7 and the feeling of the knobs is amazing, no match to my newer gear. I like particularly the clever way they made the dial in this kit, silk-screen printed on the panel, this is cheap from the production point of view but elegant and fully functional. I hope it is quite “calibrated” on scale too. MFJ always produces things of low cost that look quite professional and at good prices, that is why it is a success company.
In most part of my life I’ve been devoted to QRP constructions, developing my own concept receivers/transmitters/transceivers and shared all my work for free to the rest of the world. Endless hours of experimentation even for the simplest circuits just to make sure people that will build these are satisfied, and they get that for free. All my work is presented on my website http://qrp.gr I wish there were companies out there that could offer people jobs (remotely working of course) as new KIT circuits developers for the radio amateur, as I could certainly fit around there. Currently I am doing it for my joy and share it with the rest of world 🙂
So to answer on your question, my favourite kit is actually my own builds 🙂
I give here some examples of my own developed concept projects:
http://qrp.gr/emtx/
http://qrp.gr/classic40/
http://qrp.gr/minivfo/
http://qrp.gr/supervfo/
http://qrp.gr/allbandtrx/
http://qrp.gr/allbander/
As far as concern computers, my favourite KIT is this one http://cb2.qrp.gr which I have produced in KIT form after really endless hours of testing and documentation organizing. People are already enjoying this amazing and cheap microcomputer all over the world.
Thanks for giving us the opportunity to win this MFJ-8100K and I really really hope I am lucky enough to win this and build it and show my build (and possibly modifications) to the rest of the world!
73
Kostas
My favourite radio kit is that:
https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/conrad_roehren_retro_radio.html
A friend of mine send that as s gift for my birthday from Germany.I still have it but in a hand made wooden box.keep up the good job.vasilis from greece
I have never built a kit but defintely would try if I would be lucky enough to win this : )
The first kit I ever built was the old ArcherKit VOM (the basic one). These days, I mostly just do some simple repairs like on my DX-390.
Personally, I hate using lead free solder, it does not “wet” the surfaces very well.
I have gone back to 63/37.
You won’t get an argument from me! 🙂
No argument from me either,and I have the appendix scar to prove it.
So did my late father,one of our ham friends and his son,and my mother.
Turns out breathing the lead solder fumes over time causes appendicitis…
when I came home the History Channel ran a show on the Golden Gate
Bridge.
The first half of it had grey lead oxide primer on the steel and they had to drill
out the rivet holes a little.
There were 74 cases of appendicitis on site.
The fix is simple,just run a fan in the room somewhere to carry away the fumes.
(But IMO lead solder is still better.)
I don’t think you can get 63/37 solder in some countries now.. 🙁
I hate lead free too!
My first kit was a Heathkit 101 when I first got my ham license back in the 70’s. I went on to build many more Heathkits. Whenever I would fly home to visit my parents, they had a Heath store nearby. During the visit, I would buy another kit at the Heath store and then proceed to assemble it on my mom’s kitchen table.
In the past few years I have assembled several of the Qrp-labs kits. The MFJ kit looks like it could be a lot of fun to assemble and then operate.
73
Bill
WD9EQD
Smithville, NJ
The first kit I built was an AM radio kit. It was lot of fun at the time.
My favorite was a QRPLabs WSPR transmitter kit I received as a Christmas gift. It was a fun build and a nice surprise under the tree!
I have never assembled a kit, only a few repairs. I only own SDR (RTL-SDR, RSP1A). I would like to try some more “authentic” things.
Favorite kit I ever built was a Red Hot Radio 20m kit. Then sold it a couple of years later. Still kicking my butt over that mistake. Did my first and last QRP contest with it back when 20m was hot. Ah, the good ol’ days….
73, Jerry N5RV
The thought of making a kit brings back my memory of my father building Heathkit radios and amplifiers. He was not a ham but an EE who loved technical things.
It’s been a while since I built one myself, but I’ve been looking for an interesting project to get back into building.
Thanks for offering this opportunity!
When my now 18 year old daughter was about 3, I decided to build a fairly involved kit. The SSTRAN AMT3000 is a Part 15 AM Broadcast band transmitter. Trying to wrestle a kid and a soldering iron can be dangerous! Seriously, she wasn’t too much of a distraction and the kit made me more confident with kit building. I still have the working kit and enjoy sending Old Time Radio shows and Beatles at the BBC to my huge collection of transistor radios!
I don’t remember building any electronic kit. I remember building model aircraft. My uncle was inclined to building ships in bottles. I finally figured out how he did it. But his patience always impressed me.
I really enjoyed building the Four State Cyclone 40 back when it came out. I learned that torroids are absolutely not that hard to wind, and appreciated the low parts count. I think the PCB enclosure looks really nice and feels solid-enough in my hands. That first experience of hearing static coming through was a thrill.
First electronic kit experience was with two Radio Shack “P-Box” kits around 1972. I knew nothing about electronics before this.
Catalog number 28-103 “AM Wireless Mic” (1 transistor, 2 resistors, 2 capacitors, loop-stick coil, crystal microphone) for $ 4.95. After I tackled that , next was the 28-133 “WWV Reception Converter” kit for $ 5.95. This one was loaded with 3 transistors, many more resistors and capacitors and the same loop-stick coil. Circuit used a 10 MHz crystal so was very stable WWV reception on any AM (MW) radio.
When I was a kid of 13, I made my first HF amplifier on GU-50 lamp, and finally get my 50W on the air. It was not a kit, but 100% handmade rig, including the chassis.
OOh Good stuff MFJ 🙂 I was looking longingly at the kit ..
My first kit was a regenerative receiver back in the 1970’s I had sooooo much fun with it! getting it together & then using it.
My Favourite hit though, is impossible to say, I have made so many over the years from whole computers to nixie tube clocks
Tecsun 2P3 AM Radio Receiver Kit: easy instructions on a color poster; played the first time it was turned on with just a little tweaking needed; and the radio is quite sensitive and sounds good (loud and crisp). Tecsun uses high quality double-side, plated-through PCB with good flow-through soldering. With some patience, and reading hints on amazon, this was a very fun experience.
Oak Hills OHR 100 40 Meter.
It was fun because it worked perfect when I fired it up.
73, Dan KM6CQ
bonjour
je suis a la retraite et j’aimerais construire , hélas je suis en France !! donc je joue et j’aime bien le materiel FMJ
Favorite: a Big Briar Etherwave theremin, about 20 years ago. I still play it (albeit badly) from time to time.
Most recent: a Borden Picard crystal radio, last winter. Works like magic, only better.
I recently built an 8X8 LED cube kit. It was challenging because there were so many LEDs that had to be soldered and they all had to be checked for operation before attaching them to the board. 512 LEDs all total. It was a long but fun project. Very rewarding when it was all done and it lit with so many patterns.
I’m fairly new to the hobby – to both SWLing and ham radio, and this would be my first kit if were to win it.
Even if I don’t win it, I would like to buy one as I’ve always wanted to build an AM receiver. This also seems like a good first soldering project!
Thank you for the opportunity!
First of all – I have soldering iron. Even several ones. I work as sound engineer so this device is essential. Concerning kits building, so far I have built mainly sounds/hobby related kits. Just name a few: bat detectors, sound effects, electromagnetic listening devices. I have built radio as I was a kid – with some old soviet radio constructor.
As for shortwave – nowadays this hobby takes a lot of my free times. I have radios: analogue and sdr, but this kit, as I feel has something special, kind of magic:)
The best kit I ever built was the Oak Hills Research Two-Fer 20 meter QRP transmitter. Everything worked the first time i fired it up and my first QRP contact was with Italy! I then used the design and built a 40 meter QRP transmitter from scratch.
My first and favorite kit was a Graymark 506 2 band radio that I built in high school electrical shop about 1972. It was my first shortwave set and I enjoyed the glow of the tubes at night while listening. Later that year as a project for class, I added a magic eye tube for station tuning. Now there was more to look at while listening, a green eye tube and the orange tube filaments. I still use it once in a while to bring back those good days.
This brings back memories! My first and favorite radio kit I built was a crystal radio kit. It was also my introduction into my now life long passion of radio and electronics. I must have only been around 10 years of age at the time but the ability to pick up radio stations with no battery power was magic. Many a late night was had listening and falling asleep with the crystal earpiece in my ear.
My first kit build wasn’t really a kit. It was a super regenative SW receiver project published in the Australian magazine “Electronics Australia”. I found enough parts and put it together. What a learning experience in setting regeneration and tuning with hand capacitance. What fun to be able to relive the experience of building a better version.
I would love to start learning how to solder and more about the technical aspects of electronics! It would be a FABULOUS opportunity to learn!
Love kits! I’ve done lots of little things to play with from toy cars to Meyers. ?
Nice! Go MFJ and Swling! Another kit to build! Yeah!
My favorite kit was a spanish CarKit walkie talkie 27 mhz assembled in 1978.
My favourite, and only, kit that I’ve built was a crystal radio when I was a kid. I used to spend hours turning a knob to tune into AM radio stations. 20 years later, I’d love to have a go at building a MFJ-8100K and finding out what’s on the air.
My first kit build was a Pixie 2. I worked OK. I enjoy listening to shortwave ever since the 60’s with my Grandpa.
The MFJ 8100K will be my first radio kit. I have enjoyed before building an audio pre-amplifier with tone control from a kit.
On of my favorite kits was a multi-band TenTec shortwave receiver I built as a kid that my dad bought me shortly after I got my ham license.
My favorite kit was the Heathkit DX-60 transmitter that I assembled soon after getting my Novice amateur license in the 1970’s. It was special because while I had assembled other kits, including receivers, this was my first transmitter, and how cool it was to be transmitting for the first time. Also, I recall there were fewer and larger parts than in my receivers, and that helped me get an intuition for its operation that I didn’t have with more complicated devices. The optional VFO was outside my budget at the time but I made do with four crystals, filling all available crystal slots.
Edit for my posting:
I mistakenly called the MFJ 8100k a superhet. I mention Regenerative