10 Buck Test Bench - AM FM Radio Kit Fail ?? Kinda.

Produced with CyberLink PowerDirector 14

[@raymatton7564]

I am one of your Young players at 63 years old 🤣 and so far I have assembled 7 of these kits . It took watching your detailed video to learn that I was screwing up big time. I was soldering the red LED right down flush to the pcb , not realizing there was a spot in the front case for that led to sit in to . haha. The kit works but the entire front panel glows red instead of having the red led in its right spot. My AM has not worked for 3 kits now and I dont know why. I found the Ferrite rod to be a very tight fit to slide into the tube with the copper wires wrapped around it. Could be my placement of the wires and the position of the coil. Like the idea of the Hot glue I will use this. Also that 220 micro farad Cap that sits right above the speaker would interfere so I swapped it out for a shorter and fatter cap with the same values and it solved my problem. Thanks for showing the wiring management much appreciated.

[@theradiomechanic9625]

Hello Ray, Thank you for watching and the nice feedback. I built that kit a long time ago and do not remember all the details. I am presently in Thailand and do not have access to the schematic. I wonder if you have checked if the AM local oscillator is running in the sets that do not work. This can be easily checked by placing the antenna next to a working radios antenna and tuning the suspect set. You should hear the local oscillator "Detune" the working set. Try this with two working radios first so you know what to listen for. I have actually done a few videos on how to troubleshoot without test equipment. This was covered in one of them. One area that can cause issues is the phasing of the oscillator coil portion of the antenna. There are two windings on the coil and the small one is the oscillator section. Sometimes there are four wires, sometimes three as the coil is simply center tapped. Typically the center tap is ground. If the antenna coil is not wired properly the oscillator will not run. (usually) If the oscillator is running it may simply be way out of alignment. I'm going to be 73 in May and still learning. Have fun.

[@jimhumphrey]

I put a Crown kit together in 1958. It led to my life work and in fact I'm still working at 70 as a computer tech. No doubt these little kits ( and your video) will help some kid do the same. Good job Mr. Henry N1CKX

[@theradiomechanic9625]

Hi Jim, thanks for the kind note. I have several small kits on order to test and review. From the feedback I think this might be a popular series. If I manage to get one or two kids interested enough to leave the video games alone it will be worth it.

[@harrystevens3885]

I bought one of these at Christmas for my little cousin to get introduced into electronics I saw him a couple of weeks later and asked how he got on with his radio kit and he slapped me.:)

[@theradiomechanic9625]

Grin......

[@ingeborgsvensson4896]

Fun fact: the reason Chinese transistor radio's traditionally had tv channels is that in the past not everyone could afford a television so they could watch outside an electronics store or their neighbour's window and listen to the audio on their transistor radio. Nowadays most range from 88 - 108 Mhz like the rest of the western world.

[@theradiomechanic9625]

Excellent information......

[@yoduro]

The panasonic reference had me in tears..😂🤣😂🤣

[@somanathsankar]

Good one. I am going to try building this one today. Thanks for posting this video.

[@theradiomechanic9625]

Thanks Dennis, that is incentive to get more kits and keep this going.

[@orlandoinveste4983]

amazing ...love your work to show us the deep pleasure building the radio

[@60gregma]

The FM tracking can be dialed in quite easy. Tune a known station at the high end of the band and adjust the slug in the tuning cap (the one furthest from the edge of the board) until the station locks. Then tune a station at the lower end of the band and "fan out" (stretch) the 8T5 coil next to the tuning cap until that station locks. You might need to go back a couple of times to get tracking just so. FM tuning is not bad at all after this little trick.

[@Hotshotter3000]

I got this kit. You are a lucky man to have received the resistors you did. the ones I did had the colors so faded that I could barely make out what they were. I am sure I got the wrong resistors in the wrong places!

[@JerryEricsson]

This was the first radio kit I assembled several years ago. Not very useful other then the fun of assembling it. I can truthfully say that it did work OK after assembly but it was pretty much crap when it came to tuning in anything.

[@RICKYDENNIS49]

Thank you so much for your efforts, I would have really struggled without this video, all the very best, cheers

[@theradiomechanic9625]

Thanks for watching and the nice comment. I did another video on a kit that worked much better. "10 Buck Test Bench - 7 transistor Superhet WIn" It is not perfect ( audio quality is crap ) but does work. I am in the process of building the same radio on a breadboard and will be doing experiments on it to see what improvements can be made and to cover some light theory for the young players. Again, thanks.

[@gaiamaedeprometeu]

The worst step is soldering the IC with no holes to help you to fit it. You also may consider the great possibility of short circuiting pins when soldering or destroying the IC due to high temperature from the iron. I just gave up.....

[@Ron-jd4th]

Hi "R.M!" Am just getting around to assembling one of these which I bought sometime ago, and find that the two 4.7 Ohm Resistors in my kit, are quite a bit out of spec. According to my multi-meter, instead of reading 4.7 Ohms, they both produce a reading of 5.6 Ohms. This reading also tends to fluctuate, and even goes to "0.00" Ohms. Thus, I have 3 questions for you. 1). Does this mean that these Resistors are basically, going "Open???" 2). If not, then would 5.6 Ohms be far enough out of spec. to worry about?? 3). I have contacted a few stores in my area and they want to know if these Resistors are .25 Watts, or .50 Watts?? I am fairly new at this, & thus I am unsure of the correct Wattage. So, if you will, could you please let me know, what their correct wattage is ? I look forward to hearing from you! Thanks So Much! Ron Abilene, TX.

[@hamradio3716]

Did you have any problem getting the FM band to calibrate? It tried opening the small oscillator coil but no joy - Radio band 100 MHz reading actually is about 85 MHz. Did not bother to spend more time on this issue as the FM Radio is total junk. Used a solder log to mount antenna wire to antenna. Any new builders out there - clean PCB with alcohol before soldering and use flux on the IC pads tacking each corner of the IC and then run iron with chisel tip along the pins - works like a charm. See KZbin videos on how to solder SMTs

[@theradiomechanic9625]

The fiberglass " Pen Brush" that Mike uses is a great way to clean up the pads. But I am trying to find units with enough quality out of the box so as to not frustrate the young kids. They don't have much experience and using all my bag of tricks won't help them much. I have the fiberglass pens, but don't use them at the bench as they drop lots of tiny invisible shards of fiberglass. Then if you lean on the bench it feels like you have been crawling around in the attic full of fiberglass insulation. NOT to mention what happens when it gets brushed off into your lap. I use mine out in the garage over a barrel. But they work great.

[@michaelturner4457]

I've now just assembled one of these, couple of things I had with it. One was that some of the disc ceramics didn't have any numbers on them, so had to use capacitor range on multimeter to determine what they were. And other was mounting the rod antenna, I melted some candle wax on it, which was how they always did it on cheap Hong Kong transistor radios.

[@theradiomechanic9625]

Candle wax or bees wax is fine, I usually have a hot snot gun within reach. Mike at Mikes radio repair uses bees wax. Sorry to hear about the caps. What a pain. Thanks for watching.

[@miguelduarte1569]

Loved you're video Man,just SUBSCRIBED

[@stephenwilliams5201]

Old tv band? Some what. There's some part of the six meter band in there. I used a walkie talkie to prove that. Least it sounded. Off a six walkie.

[@andywalwyn]

I altered the preset on FM and it made a big difference, from no usable signal to five clear channels, I suppose it just depends where you are. The routing of the AM leads across the PCB also makes a big difference .

[@theradiomechanic9625]

Hi Andy. Good job. I can hear one station when I take the set outside. And my signal generator shows that it does work. Building another set soon that is likely to be a much better performer.

[@maverick50616]

Maybe not ideal but I usually rub the contact areas of the board with 0000 steel wool and clean with rubbing alcohol prior to soldering. I hate those tiny contact points too.

[@theradiomechanic9625]

Hi Shawn, I used to use 0000 also, but it always ends up leaving "hair" on anything steel or even slightly magnetized. Speakers and meter movements have magnets that love to grab the stuff. I now use a small "Pencil" that has a fiberglass brush in it. Works like a mechanical pencil and the brush comes out the end. I advise doing this away from the bench as the glass fibers seem to get everywhere ( like fiberglass insulation ) but it at least does not destroy meters and speakers as it will not stick to magnets. Thanks for watching.

[@martinda7446]

Yes, absolutely keep little wire hairs as far from your treasured electronics as possible. It WILL go bang. I was repairing a 70s receiver many moons ago and spotted a little wire worm 5mm long and the radius of blue light sitting on the lid, I went to remove it and it slipped through the cooling vents and ... BANG. Can't remember the damage but whatever it was it was extra annoyance and time.

[@karlfell3768]

Great idea for a series of vdeos. I think we all have started out using the cheap chinese component checkers before moving on to pro gear. some are a lot more usable than I care to admit to. I have been suprised on many occasions by what just a few bucks/pounds can get you. Keep the videos coming... Karl

[@theradiomechanic9625]

HI Karl, Thanks for watching and the nice comment. Yes, we have all used that gear at some time or another. And today they are packing a lot more into less for less. Want the young player to feel some of the excitement I felt "way back when".

[@santherstat]

these kits aren't great, but for the price point, they're a fun little buy

[@garynewton2106]

Well, seems to me like someone is eating an awful big portion of humble pie. Lol Great video and not just for the younger generation, but us (me) oldies may get soldering soon. Can't wait for the next video, once you've finished your pie that is..

[@theradiomechanic9625]

Hi Gary, I love pie :-) The new kit is here and I started on it but have been distracted by other projects. Once a couple of things get cleaned up I will get the videos out. New Kit has F.M. as well. Also have picked up a stereo generator so I can do some videos on how that works. Thanks for watching.

[@stephenwilliams5201]

Hoping to tell you that coil should slide. to get the best tune. then wax the coil.

[@olivierdeschamps1743]

I would have started soldering the smd ic (the hardest issue)

[@user-fy5bk2pt4w]

Just put one of these together. It was fun to put together but the results are terrible. No FM at all and AM only grabs a couple of stations.

[@barrywebb101]

Well just got mine done but only works on am no fm any ideas?

[@mikesradiorepair]

You will find soldering much easier if you clean the traces first. Have done lord knows how many cheap board kits like this and they have always been tarnished/oxidized. Give them a rub down with a fiberglass burnishing brush and you will find soldering much easier.

[@theradiomechanic9625]

There was some kind of coating on the copper that went "POP" when the iron hit it. Smelled of model airplane cement. Tried a solvent with no effect.

[@mikesradiorepair]

+The Radio Mechanic Trust me, the fiberglass burnishing brush easily rubs it off.

[@Dennis-mq6or]

I use a very fine sandpaper or a dish washing style scouring pad on the entire board to clean up all the copper at once. With a follow up cleaning with a rag dampened with Isopropyl Alcohol. It makes the surface prep quick and easy. When done soldering; I apply a coat of clear nail polish to keep the connections or any exposed copper from Oxidizing....

[@cat-lw6kq]

I wash them with an SOS pad, lightly rub it under running water.

[@briang.7206]

I always scrub the board with a SOS pad.

[@pleasecho2]

This is the third video Ive seen on this thing and it's unanimous that FM is definitely not a strong point

[@jago5300]

How about five of these. 3 or failures on the IC chip in the back, screwed up the traces. Fourth one work out fine used 0.03 mm solder instead of the 8 millimeter. But Power took the LED light still doesn't come on I got nothing. Power to the radio. But nothing. I wish I knew what I'm doing wrong.

[@cat-lw6kq]

I put together a tube radio too bad kids can't do that today. These little kits not so easy for beginners.

[@danielrine3103]

Hi, Great video, I have seen these radio kit around on KZbin and have mixed reactions to them, I am going to purchase the Tecsun 2P3 and give that a try. I do have a question? On your channel is there a video you have made about direct conversion radios? You have a way of explaining electronics that I can understand... Have a nice day!!!

[@Dennis-mq6or]

This 10 Buck Test Bench is a great Idea! I have linked this video to two Facebook groups such as 'Electronics Class' and recommended that they watch it. Then they will make their own decisions about subscribing... Dennis O. #12

[@Markinpuff]

Very interesting little kit, I think in the long run it will certainly help improve patience which is an absolute requirement with electronics. I particularly like the way you prioritized component installation. I remember running into that problem with one of the kits I built years ago, very helpful tip. I was wondering if you took the time to test simple component, like the caps and resistors

[@theradiomechanic9625]

I did not test the components before beginning the build. Odd, since when I am repairing customer items I often do. But was looking at this from the standpoint of beginner builders. Most "young players" won't have much in the way of test gear yet. The "10 buck" series I am starting is aimed at the young beginner who can't afford much yet. I hope find useful but inexpensive ( under 10 dollars ) test gear and kits for them to build. Most won't have much more than a VOM and a soldering iron. I suppose they could test the resistors. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@gaiamaedeprometeu]

No FI Transformer? No output sound transformer needed for the speaker? 🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@cat-lw6kq]

FYI I scrub the board with an SOS pad.

[@bradleyhatchen4786]

I build this radio am works but fm does not work a dead carrier in fm mode no station come on it at all

[@irobotroomba2483]

Hi! I bought this kits a few weeks now and im still waiting for it. My only concern is, Where does the AM antenna wires goes? Where do they go on the board? Does the instructions says where they mount? Your video is awesome by the way! Tank you

[@theradiomechanic9625]

The information supplied with the kit does tell you where to put them. The AM radio we built in another video ( 7 transistor kit ) is a much better performer. And there is another series starting on a nice well made breadboard AM/FM set from a US supplier. Thanks for watching.

[@irobotroomba2483]

The Radio Mechanic Your Welcome

[@AgentOffice]

how's it tune both

[@nor4277]

Smd is diffenly a skill ,on that smd chip I saw another you tube video after you anchor it you can drag solder ,or use solder paste and a rework station,heater blower,with my eyes and a magnifier,I might get done,great video ,when I ever get to put mine one together I am useing your video,but first I have a elenco to put together

[@theradiomechanic9625]

Many ways to skin a cat.

[@radiorob007]

nice video! Do not think you can complain! Only the price is already ridiculous. You seem to have a lot of interference in your Shack. friendly greetings from The Netherlands! Rob.

[@theradiomechanic9625]

Hi Rob. Lots of RF in the Shack. Such is modern life.

[@michaelturner4457]

This radio kit is about $2 in China..LOL. I've just ordered one, should arrive next week.

[@theradiomechanic9625]

This kit isn't as good as the other one. The one I built on breadboard with a larger speaker works quite well.

[@andreastriwinarto4422]

@@theradiomechanic9625 what is the other kit which better ?

[@wireworks616]

always start with ic first.

[@theradiomechanic9625]

Shortest to tallest.....works like a charm..

[@tonywright8294]

It’s SOLDER not soder ! All Americans say soder!

[@joserivas2992]

I bought the same radio and is missing one capacitor ,no.202 and one resistor the 330 Ohms, also bring a couple screws extra. is very funny putting together without clear instructions, just Chinese.

[@theradiomechanic9625]

Google translate can usually help.

[@JamesP6084]

Good Job, Thank you

[@theradiomechanic9625]

Your welcome James. Thanks for watching.

[@chrystina5604]

Mine didn't work either!!!!

[@cat-lw6kq]

I clean the boards with a SOS pad

[@AgentOffice]

bullet iron