{"id":17463,"date":"2016-03-09T08:37:35","date_gmt":"2016-03-09T12:37:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=17463"},"modified":"2016-03-09T08:37:35","modified_gmt":"2016-03-09T12:37:35","slug":"james-adds-an-lm386-amplifier-kit-to-his-heathkit-gr-150","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/james-adds-an-lm386-amplifier-kit-to-his-heathkit-gr-150\/","title":{"rendered":"James adds an LM386 amplifier kit to his Heathkit GR-150"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Heathkit<\/a>Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, James Surprenant (AB1DQ), who shares this update to his review of\u00a0the\u00a0Heathkit Explorer Jr. TRF AM radio receiver kit<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

With regard\u00a0to the Heathkit TRF AM receiver kit,\u00a0I did indeed build my LM386 amplifier. <\/em><\/p>\n

I was planning on home-brewing it from scratch as the chip is pretty much all you need and there are various proven schematics for the circuit, but in the end I went with a small kit from Nightfire Electronics for $10 plus $5 shipping that I found on Amazon.com<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

It was a bit cheaper to buy it in kit form, of course, and then there was the convenience of having all the parts in one place.<\/em><\/p>\n

Here is a photo of the kit as advertised on Amazon<\/a>…<\/em><\/p>\n

\"kit\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And here is my build with the Heathkit…<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Heathkit<\/a><\/p>\n

I modified the kit to add a 3.5mm input jack, replacing the RCA jack that came with the kit, to make it easier to plug into the Heathkit radio.<\/em><\/p>\n

I deliberated whether to install the audio amp into the Heathkit cabinet drilling out a couple of holes for the pot shafts. It all would have fit and I could have easily mounted the 3″ 8 ohm speaker to the back panel of the Heathkit radio. In the end, I decided to keep the radio original and mounted the amplifier board on a small piece of wood I found at a hobby store and decided to leave it all exposed. It works well, all things considered.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

(Click here to view video on Facebook.<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

It worked well and per my original review on SWLing Post<\/a>, I feel Heathkit should have included such a little amp in the kit – it makes a big difference.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Many thanks for the update, James!<\/strong> That little\u00a0LM386 amp kit seems like an affordable addition for any receiver lacking an amplifier or adequate audio amplification.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, James Surprenant (AB1DQ), who shares this update to his review of\u00a0the\u00a0Heathkit Explorer Jr. TRF AM radio receiver kit: With regard\u00a0to the Heathkit TRF AM receiver kit,\u00a0I did indeed build my LM386 amplifier. I was planning on home-brewing it from scratch as the chip is pretty much all you need […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4199,373,3194,627,344,3,129],"tags":[4097,586,4296,4293,4295,4647,4646,4644,4095,4209,4099],"class_list":["post-17463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accessories","category-am","category-guest-posts","category-how-to","category-kits","category-news","category-reviews","tag-am","tag-heathkit","tag-heathkit-am-radio-kit","tag-heathkit-explorer-jr","tag-heathkit-explorer-jr-trf-am-radio-receiver-kit","tag-heathkit-explorer-jr-review","tag-heathkit-review","tag-james-surprenant-ab1dq","tag-kits","tag-make","tag-mediumwave"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-4xF","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16720,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/james-reviews-the-heathkit-explorer-jr-gr-150-trf-am-radio-receiver-kit\/","url_meta":{"origin":17463,"position":0},"title":"James reviews the Heathkit Explorer Jr. GR-150 TRF AM radio receiver kit","author":"Thomas","date":"January 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, James Surprenant (AB1DQ), who shares this review and photos of the new Heathkit Explorer Jr. TRF AM radio receiver kit: \u00a0Heathkit Explorer Jr. Review I received this Heathkit kit for Xmas from dear old Dad. The Explorer Jr. manual is very nicely done, spiral-bound,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"HeathkitExplorerJr","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/HeathkitExplorerJr.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15088,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/new-from-heathkit-the-explorer-jr-trf-am-radio-receiver-kit\/","url_meta":{"origin":17463,"position":1},"title":"New from Heathkit: the Explorer Jr TRF AM radio receiver kit","author":"Thomas","date":"October 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, the legendary\u00a0Heathkit company is back\u00a0and their first kit is a simple\u00a0Tuned Radio Frequency (TRF) AM\/mediumwave analog receiver: the Explorer Jr. I knew\u00a0Heathkit was back in business and under new management, but hadn't heard any updates as of late. Their president, Andy, just sent a message to the \"Heathkit Insiders\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"HeathkitExplorerJr","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/HeathkitExplorerJr.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1802,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2011\/09\/heathkit-is-back-in-business\/","url_meta":{"origin":17463,"position":2},"title":"Heathkit is back in business","author":"Thomas","date":"September 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Great news for kit builders! Legendary company Heathkit has started manufacturing kits again. Though their first line-up of products do not include radios, they are planning to cater to the amateur radio community as soon as next year. I would like to believe that the popularity of the Maker community\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/heathkit-logo-300x63.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26879,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/a-new-heathkit-precision-rf-meter-hm-1002\/","url_meta":{"origin":17463,"position":3},"title":"A new Heathkit: The Precision RF Meter – HM-1002","author":"Thomas","date":"July 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Heathkit recently sent the following link to their \"Insiders\" email list: Dear Heathkit Insider We have opened advance orders for our newest product, the HM-1002 Heathkit\u00ae Precision RF Meter\u2122, for our most loyal customers and fans. This is the first amateur radio accessory and the first test equipment kit Heathkit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Accessories"","block_context":{"text":"Accessories","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/accessories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Heathkit-Precision-Meter-1024x768.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Heathkit-Precision-Meter-1024x768.jpeg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Heathkit-Precision-Meter-1024x768.jpeg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17552,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/the-heathkit-gr-78-eds-basket-case-radio\/","url_meta":{"origin":17463,"position":4},"title":"The Heathkit GR-78: Ed’s “basket case” radio","author":"Thomas","date":"March 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Edward\u00a0Ganshirt, who writes: I picked up this Heathkit GR-78 at a estate\/moving sale. It was in a pile of \"e-waste\" (you know, old vcr's broken TVs, remote controllers, dead cell phones, etc.). I found a container and sorted through the stuff to retrieve all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Basketcase","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Basketcase-1024x681.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Basketcase-1024x681.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Basketcase-1024x681.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17771,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/stuart-sizer-heathkit-designer-dad-and-bon-vivant\/","url_meta":{"origin":17463,"position":5},"title":"Stuart Sizer: Heathkit designer, dad, and “bon vivant”","author":"Thomas","date":"March 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Two weeks ago,\u00a0through a radio preservation group,\u00a0I met the son of Heathkit product designer of the 1950s-70s, Stu Sizer\u2013\u2013\"stylist, artist, maker of models, bon vivant.\"\u00a0His son\u00a0described the\u00a0discovery of\u00a0a few vintage Heathkit brochures, photos, and illustrations his father kept in his family's basement shop, many of which had been scanned at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Heathkit-Drawings-2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Heathkit-Drawings-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Heathkit-Drawings-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Heathkit-Drawings-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17463\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}