HX 108-2 am kit radio assembly alignment and test

[@stephenwilliams5201]

Hi I've been around radio sense 5 years old. At 70 this is a Saturday/Sunday night in the cold WINTER. Keeps me off the streets. Up to the judge calling me "senior delinquent". Ha ha I out lived him. You have a good thing. Building these radio. El kits, elco, allied®, radio shack©, and ten tec® equals a lot of very good radios. Thanks Fer letting me ride along. Good show. Ps Tulsa, Detroit, cleavland, Atlanta, texas, CKLW, wtam, cheep travel . On 6 bucks. Can't beat it . kv4li 73

[@martinda7446]

This is the brilliance of KZbin. A $5 radio kit from Banggood gets the Shango66 treatment. I would pay for this. Banggood see the genius.

[@keithwhisman]

I really loved my GE Super Radio because it had a huge ferrite bar antenna, I used to catch skips from Cleveland Ohio and routinely pick up LA and SF stations in Phoenix... this video has me thinking about building my own super AM receiver as I no longer have that radio, a friend begged and begged for it and I stupidly gave in, I guess I love my friends more than I should.

[@isleifoterogarcia4478]

I have one of those bought 15 years ago, I never thought that this radio was so good, last week I bought a 1962 AM 5 transistor portable on eBay also GE and it was nearly mint for $25 buying it now option and working wonderfully after all those years. The Super Radio is working well too and an appreciation for American technology and quality. My experience buying on eBay was good and it is possible to purchase another one if you wish for low price. Let's hope so for you.

[@quantumleap359]

Hi Shango, I own the Arvin model shown in the video. Got it as an Xmas gift in 1963, use it often, never had to do a thing to it in over 50 years except to clean the volume control and switch, and touch up the alignment. Uses all germanium transistors, and the big advantage over the others is that it has an RF amp stage. Very impressive little portable.

[@phs125]

I can't tell you HOW MUCH this video helped me build it. I got mine from bangood, and it's almost the exact same model. Has 3 cans instead of 4, has one transformer thingy instead of 2, and has a headphone jack. I built it almost 3 years ago, and I did it all by using Google translate, which ofcourse, changed the translation if I changed the camera angle. And I had no idea what test points are. Or that I have to bridge them. Without this video. I would've thought I got a broken model. And no other video on the internet explained aligning as well as this one. Even though it isn't really meant as a tutorial for alignment. Also helps if you know what all those cans do. Instead of blindly following instructions..

[@nor4277]

I want to thank you and anyone who has taken the time ,to do these videos ,because Chinese kit do not come with step by step directions.i been building kit for over forty years,and these videos done by someone like yourself has helped a lot of kit builder thanks

[@JerryEricsson]

I watched several videos on this kit, it looked like a fun build, so I ordered one. I got it a few days ago and had it assembled within an hour or two, it looks like it was done in a factory, but not a damn peep out of the speaker. That is where I screwed up, I thought, perhaps I had the two transformers in wrong, so I moved them, and probably killed one in the process. Still not a damn crackle out of the speaker, and the radio was pulling the juice out of my batteries at a tremendous rate. Well hours later, I decided to test the damn speaker! It was a dead short! So I found a 55 year old speaker out of my ancient JADE radio and replaced it. Now I get a pop when the switch is on, and the radio no longer drains the batteries when in the off mode. I pulled some of those little 223 caps, one out of the batch shows 34pf the rest show up as a resistor on my test gear. I guess I ended up with a 5 dollar plastic case and that's about it. Even the tuner is screwed up, it is very tight and difficult to turn. Now I learned to solder in 1970 at the South East Asia Signal School in Long Bien Viet Nam while in the Army, so I am fairly good at that chore. I have built more damn kits then Carter has pills so kit building is not the problem, in fact I have successfully built radio kits in the past, hell i even built a tiny wristwatch kit with all SMD parts, and it is still keeping time probably more accurate then Big Ben. Anyhow I did send an inquiry to the Hong Kong Seller

[@klafong1]

The motorboating sounds heard prior to the radio's IF being aligned to 465 kHz using a signal generator were due to the radio picking up its own IF leakage. You demonstrated very well that these transformers do NOT come pre-aligned from the factory. I wonder, how would novices who most likely do not have any kind of RF signal generator be expected to perform the alignment on this radio? The advice that I would be inclined to give would be to take a second radio and tune it to the expected local oscillator frequency for the station that you will be using for the alignment. For example, to receive 570 kHz, a local oscillator frequency of 1035 kHz is needed. Then do the following: 1) Turn the Banggood's tuning knob until the local oscillator is heard at 1035 kHz (don't touch the oscillator transformer yet). 2) Carefully turn the yellow, white, and black IF slugs for maximum sensitivity. 3) If the station currently being used for the alignment is strong enough that the AGC kicks in, find a weaker station, calculate its required local oscillator frequency, and repeat steps 1-3 (the IF slugs should only require a minor touch-up at this point). 4) Set the trimmer capacitors on the back of the tuning capacitor to about 1/2 mesh. 5) Turn the Banggood's tuning dial to the bottom of the dial (570~600 kHz). 6) Turn the red oscillator slug for maximum sensitivity. Weak stations or noise may pop out from silence when you do this. 7) Turn the Banggood's tuning dial to the very top of the band. 8) Adjust the oscillator trimmer to set the highest frequency that the dial will reach (the specs call for 1605 kHz, though in the USA, I would be inclined to go just above 1700 kHz to allow for reception of expanded band stations). 9) Set the Banggood's dial to a quiet spot near the top of the dial (1400~1600 kHz) and peak the antenna trimmer for maximum sensitivity. You might hear some weak stations or noise pop out from silence when you do this. 10) Optional--repeat steps 5-9 to ensure best overall performance.

[@user-xj8oh6fo2f]

Great instructions! In general we always use coils to tune at the bottom of the band and we use trimmer caps to tune at the top of the band. When peaking input circuit for maximum sensitivity at the lower part of the band we just slide the coil along the bar to get proper inductance.

[@eliashinolan2075]

Klafong1, Please put a tutorial video following your written procedures. It would be easy to follow for us beginners.

[@rsattahip]

After 2 hours of cursing I went out to my car radio and discovered there are no AM stations where I live in Thailand. All I picked up was the tone from my signal generator running in the house. My Homer Simpson moment, and I've been here 10 years.

[@Mike1614b]

Doh!

[@audiodood]

lol

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

Shouldn't you still be receiving any AM station at night from overseas? Here in Germany all of AM stations have been forcefully shut off a few years ago so now all i can hear are stations from UK, France, Romania, Hungary and some Russian stations too.

[@Dazzwidd]

that would be a fascinating place to get into AM DX radio. Make yourself a loop aerial and have some fun

[@skidwarfarebo2171]

😂😂😂 noooo!

[@Pyridox]

I've bought a lot of stuff from Banggood, buck converters, power supply modules, kits, etc. Thanks for the kit build tutorial.

[@JerryEricsson]

Just put mom in the nursing home last month, while going through her papers, I came across an old transistor radio that was mine when I was a teenager back in the late 1060's It's a Jade brand, made in Japan, says 10 transistors (that used to be the thing the more the transistors the better the set. She is beat up, and still has rubber tape glue on her where I had converted her to 6 volt lantern battery so I could draw in shortwave. I used to love listening to SW back then, and of course the good old Rock and Roll from KOMA in Oklahoma City man that was where all the latest rock and roll came to you in the night when the power was kicked up. Many a baby was conceived in the back seat of old Chevy's whilst the radio played the KOMA Good Guys.

[@janzimny1977]

When I was in college transistors were just becoming popular! We had to completely build a five tube AM FM radio on a metal chassis! Use to get shocks a lot by not recognizing grounds! Oh the fun old days!

[@terryfisher8872]

Thanks man! I waited 20 days for bang good shipping. Well worth the wait. This baby comes in way better than the elenco sets I have built, and I have not even adjusted the tuner or resistors yet. If it had not been for your test point advice, this never would have worked and I never would have figured that out on my own. Bad enough I had to translate the directions from Bangcockenese to modern English.

[@TheGuitologist]

It looks like the radio designer created the schematic probably from a test prototype and a few things were revised later, like that diode value changed, when it came time to assemble and sell the kit, probably for economics reasons. It's amazing it's as close as it is.

[@donh01965]

I enjoy your videos also....thanks for taking the time, I appreciate it!

[@bwc1976]

Thank you for the soldering demonstration, it looks a lot simpler than I expected.

[@terryfisher8872]

I was having difficulty receiving my home radio station, and getting short wave broadcasts. Kent Oviatt suggested your site for tuning and alignment of the HX108-2. You will be glad to know you were 100% correct in your procedure. I had to back off the IF to starting point, then go from there. When you pointed out and explained the antenna tuner and oscillator for balancing reception, the whole radio attenuation came together.

[@henkvanwinkoop196]

Hi shango066, I watched your video many times, I like the way you talk and investigate and explain what you discover. Many times I just use your video as backgroundmusic when I am doing my electronics experiments... I also bought me 2 pieces of the Hx 108-2 after seeing your video and build one of them up on a breadboard. Inspired by another youtube example I first build up the audio amplifier part resulting in horrible powersupply currents indicated by my powersupply. I did not scope the signal but I think it was due to some oscillation. I started to measure these 223 capacitors with the HoldPeak HP-39L I recently bought in China. The values are between 20nF and 50nF. I also measured the Ohms resistance. Half of them indicated 600 Ohms. I recently bought me a box of mixed capacitors and measured 7 pieces of 22nF. They all showed a value between 20pF and 25pF and a resistance of infinite Ohm. So I think you can draw your own conclusions. Thanks for the nice video! Regards, Henk

[@GuitarAudiologist]

I always enjoy your videos, but I'm especially thankful for this one. I like to watch your restore vids to try to learn about what is currently above my head. But with this one I can get the same kit and learn with you. I bought this kit to learn about tuning an IF, and really to learn about that circuit itself. Can't wait for it to arrive. Thank you man.

[@skycarl]

After seeing your vid on these I bought one and talked about it in a video of mine. I linked the other vid so anyone watching it and was interested could check it out. Saying that I hope they follow up and watch this one. Great detail on the build Shango. Thanks again for a great video.

[@nor4277]

See if a expert like your self has trouble.with these kits ,can you imagine how hard these kits can be with out step by step.instructions ,I love building kits on and off for over forty years ,I have decent work bench to work with.but your videos help ,makes a big difference to us hobbist.

[@martinda7446]

Shango, your mate was great. Entertaining, intelligent and fun. Very good - and he managed to pick up the Soviet Woodpecker.

[@ronb6182]

When I was in the ninth grade I built my first kit. It was a 2 band AM radio. At first I made a mistake in the B + circuit. The resistor between the two capacitors over heated. Couldn't find what a did probably shorted the B + to ground. I tore the radio apart and started over and after two days work I had the radio working. I did not mess with the IF coils until I used a RF signal generator the coils are to be adjusted to 455 KHZ then after that the RF coils were adjusted to their proper frequency. The short wave band was 4 Megahertz to 12 Megahertz and the broadcast band was 530 KHZ to 1620 KHZ.. I was Dyslexic at that age and probably reversed wires without knowing it. As for these kits I would not touch the IF coils because they are pre-tuned When you put a signal generator then you can fine tune the coils. Same with the RF coils. 73

[@arnesandness7554]

THANK YOU! This is the first decent video I've seen showing not only the build, but the tuning portion! Just what I need to finish this project. Thank you again.

[@teacfan1080]

Wow, a full feature movie release video! It was interesting all the way. The alignment was very interesting, want to learn how to do that so I'll be studying some of your other radio videos as well. Doesn't surprise me the Zenith radio brought in KNX better than the others, that old stuff was top notch, but the little red radio did remarkably well.

[@DriveInFreak]

Remember, kids: coils low, caps high.

[@ColettaHughes]

55:10 This is a cool lil build to learn the basics about radios. I realized it once you started doing the alignment work.

[@bigliftm]

i got one of these kits from a friend. trying to figure out the chinglish but shango you helped out great even after 4 years. thanks. will use a grid dip meter and my freqency counter and my amateur hf radio to try to align it as i dont have that fancy hp singnal generator.

[@PHILSWINGIT]

Maaaaaate! you just saved a life, mine, that photo you sent your friend with the circled bridging fixed my 3 day hair pulling thanks I had I thought done the bridging but I looked at that one and I did not think that one was a bridge in fact I thought all of them were just unused circuit as I have seen on other boards. But the up side is the tone it delivers I thought it would be squeaky because of my memory of 70s ones thank you Phil from AU

[@TheGuitologist]

This might be a cool project with my daughter. Thanks for the vid.

[@mohinderkaur6671]

Mine does not care about anything and destroys almost everything including laptops and more... typical Millenial

[@stephenwilliams5201]

I use WSM @ 650. FER MY CRUDE TUNE. Then move to a station on 14 20 for high end. Live near nunnley TN. In a valley and usually wait till later in the evening. Tks Fer gud show

[@edlocker6074]

Next time you align one, Adjust the oscillator transformer at 600kc and the oscillator trimmer on the variable capacitor at 1400kc .Also, peak the antenna trimmer at 1400kc. : )

[@shango066]

i did that, this doesnt exactly line up like a production radio

[@cltmuscledude66]

I agree on this one. Better yet, adjust the oscillator trimmer on the variable cap with 1605 KHz being supplied from the signal generator with the radio tuner dial set all the way up (1605), then set the generator to 600 KHz, find the signal on the radio dial and adjust the red osc coil core to bring the signal tuned with the radio dial closest to 600, then repeat back and forth a couple of times, as each adjustment affects each other. This, of course, after adjusting the IF transformers to peak at 465 KHz. Then, adjust the antenna trimmer for max volume at about 1400 to 1500 KHz. In addition, you could even adjust the positioning of the antenna coil on the ferrite core for best performance near the lower end of the dial, typically around 600 KHz. If this is done, the 1400-1500 KHz antenna trimmer will need to be readjusted and repeated with the ferrite antenna coil adjustment.

[@josephtaverna1287]

This Is for Edward Locker never in my wildest dreams did I think that would be someone to challenge wango Shango z Tango props to you buddy

[@cat-lw6kq]

@@cltmuscledude66 That's the right way for a commercial model but this is a $5 special from China.

[@cltmuscledude66]

@@cat-lw6kq True! Although, I have built this kit and aligned it, and it is amazing how well it works for a cheap set of parts from China, as you say.

[@fredfabris7187]

I like your recap comment. Not typical Shango66 style , maybe replace them with some 50 year old ones pulled from a desert dump find. Now that hat would kick ass.

[@ArlenMoulton2]

old ones wouldnt fit, caps have moved on a lot in the past half a century.

[@MattExzy]

Moulton, I think that's the joke ;)

[@ArlenMoulton2]

yup, me too.

[@carsonthorpe6696]

“Rush Limbaugh might still be cranking away in 50 years” …that aged like milk

[@Walczyk]

they just play replays, his hate-filled rants will be broadcasting out to the universe for decades to come

[@markrhine5809]

Dear shango 006, This is my 4th time viewing this video and each time I am learning something new. I am going to order 1 of these kits, you have been a great help in teaching me how to build one of these, nice job....

[@Ragitysdad]

I knew I would find the problem if I watched the video again. I left one of the test points open, It works now. Thanks for the videos!!!!

[@bones007able]

I built one was amazed at the sensitivity of it, only problem I had was tuning range was very compressed 790 comes in about 900 and will not adjust any lower no matter even if I set IF as close to 465 as possible

[@chetpomeroy1399]

Out on the desert, in a low-signal environment, you can use an induction coil (I forgot how many turns needed) hooked with a variable capacitor in parallel with a small ceramic cap, and you can *really* bring those signals in!

[@NJPurling]

The diagram gives the expected current drain for each stage so you would bridge the gap between the test pad with a meter on current. I found with another kit I had to change a resistor to get the current correct, so it is useful to check. I am surprised the IF and oscillator alignment was so far I was genuinely surprised at the 'extreme fringe' test performance of the HX108-2. You have a very good signal generator, which obviously helps a great deal in setting the oscillator. It doesn't alter the very 'tinny' audio response, even though the radio has a push-pull output stage. For $6 what do you expect? Just keep the volume low. If you intend keeping the radio i'd have the batteries in an outside box to avoid having to open the case.

[@eivindamundsen7090]

I bought a kit like this from eBay.. I found that all the ceramic 22NF (223) capacitors was "shorted" (they had a resistance between 100 to 500 ohm ). The 10NF/103 cap was fine.

[@mirceacraciun4091]

Exactly same at me!!! I replaced all !

[@eivindamundsen7090]

@@mirceacraciun4091 Crazy 😅 my caps started glowing when I powered em with 5V DC

[@markrhine5809]

Dear Shango066 i have also built the Tecsun 2P3 Kit and I used your method of during the alignment, works great...

[@ralphups7782]

Back in the old days I used to love getting baked for at least 20 minutes.😉

[@sincerelyyours7538]

Excellent video for the first time kit builder. Especially like the alignment sequences (and klafong1's comment about same) as those details are often left out of kits to make them "easier" to construct. Little do kit builders know that it is often difficult to impossible to get their kits to work without some kind of alignment, as this video demonstrates in detail. I wonder how many budding electronics buffs are turned off the hobby forever just because this one little detail is left off their first kit's instructions? PS: Lovely ghost town you have there. Looks like an abandoned test site or something, is it?

[@roynexus6]

Kudos on deciphering the chinese pictograms and the resistor orientation observation is genius.

[@ritmo1130]

I purchased one of those kits last year from Bangood, same model but I see that the board and some components are different, you got the full size IF cans (10mm) while I've got the skinny 7.5 mm cans, and some other differences, nevertheless they radio is the same. Had the bad luck that my oscillator can was wrong, a black one, probably for a short wave or long wave version, who knows, (wrote to Bangood and they said it should work but it didn't) but the result was a super wide range and a lot of whistles across the band. I just found a red can from a junked receiver and inspired by your outcome I will go out and try again, thanks for the great video!

[@stephenwilliams5201]

I like to build on a Sunday night. On cold winters. After getting a crude alinement. I set back in the corner, and Dx . Even with a couple of frends. I lend the others.(kit radios) And we collect. Calls, WABC, wwl, wtam, and wowo. All in fun. Tks good show.

[@martinda7446]

PS to anyone wondering about C1? Not sure what Shango was thinking...This represents a 'ganged' device where they both turn in proportion on the same shaft. Standard representation since ... well forever. This is so tuning and oscillator run together.

[@Christopher-re2hl]

It would be a lot better if it had pre aligned transformers and oscillator. All would be needed is station alignment. For people who don't have alignment equipment it would help. A known good AM radio can be used to align the red oscillator coil. Put the tuning capacitor at 550khz on the kit radio and put the known good radio at 955khz and place it near the kit radio and tune the red coil until you hear a dead spot on the known good radio. Next peak the IF on the kit radio with the lowest band station then move the coil on the bar antenna to peak it. Next tune to the highest station and peak the ant trimmer

[@jasonthejawman5442]

I remember you said in the prior video that every household should have a battery operated transistor radio, I have Sony AM FM radio that works on 4 double a batteries

[@mikemoyercell]

I’m gonna grab one of these. Fun little project. I’ll have to get myself a signal generator, it’s something I need anyway with all the old radios I have.

[@TananBaboo]

Awesome that the number of views almost equals the number of subscribers. We're a loyal bunch.

[@ronb6182]

An AM radio was not safe around the house. I used to tune the coils and the radio was picking up short wave only the strong local stations would be received. I never messed with the Atwater Kent radio because it had two Short Wave bands and the AM broadcast band picked up stations from all over the country. I heard classical music and Big band music from larger cities. That was a good radio even though it had paper capacitors. If I had the radio now I would recap it the only capacitor I changed was the b+ 73 capacitor.

[@bjtaudio]

103 Capacitor value the first 2 digits are the value, and the last digit is the multiplier 103 = 10 x 1000 (3 zeros) = 10,000pF or 10nF or 0.01uF the 223 is 0.022uF, eg:- 1uF is 105

[@maxhifi1232]

I built a very similar radio (the blue one in your first video), and aligned it the first way, by peaking the IF and then setting the oscillator so stations showed correct,. It performs like crap, totally dead. After watching this video, I'm tempted to revisit it with a signal generator.

[@rarbiart]

this feels so much 1970ies... i really have to get one of those. (even if there isn't hardly any AM left here) Just for the fun of calibration of all the coils. Thanks for the recommendation!

[@macgvrs]

Truly amazed these work as well as they do. This was a fun video. Be interesting to see how the AM FM kit radio works.

[@klafong1]

I'd been waiting to see how you identified which IF transformer should go into each stage of the radio. Using the resistor chart (to decipher the Chinese characters) was extremely clever!

[@markrhine5809]

Dear Shango006, This is about the 8th time I viewed this video, you are very, very talented in electronics, I have been watching all your videos with enjoyment on each one, just keep the good work up, have a very nice day, my friend. I have puchased 2 of the red radios, I am looking forward to building these.

[@isleifoterogarcia4478]

Great video chango066, I watched it through and several other of your videos on TV and radio repair and on this I have an idea on the fundamentals of build and testing/calibration of radio receivers. Thank you very much and this is a proof that you can find on KZbin very good contents for learning and understanding nearly everything.

[@7c3c72602f7054696b]

Absolutely nailed it, needs a recap. (Though no joke I have bought firecrackers for an old Altec I was fixing up. I mean they looked like capacitors...)

[@hamradio3716]

Excellent video. Was able to assemble the kit easily thanks to the video. Thank you.

[@bigsky1970]

CBM-223P is the variable tuning cap. I LOL'ed when you said the radio needs a total recap even before you soldered the first part on the board. LMAO

[@quantumleap359]

Why would ANYONE give this video a thumbs down? I guess there are dolts among us...

[@paulmeynell8866]

Quantum Leap I often wondered the same ,why would anybody give a video a thumbs down, unless it was dangerous or something. People put a lot of time and effort in making videos that people like me can follow and learn from.

[@chakathewolf]

CBM223P might be the part number for the tuning condenser.

[@chronobot2001]

I looked it up. it is the part number for the variable cap.

[@45AMT]

When I ordered this set a while back I got the HX 108-2+ which is totally different. It doesn't follow the standard IF can colors. "CBM223P" Is the tuning Capacitor

[@mrnmrn1]

shango066 , this was very entertaining and educational. Just a tip: the battery contacts might supposed to be installed the opposite way: solder lug towards the front of the case, if there is room for it. This way the lug won't be an obstacle during installing and removing the batteries. You haven't detailed what is your problem with the battery contacts, but I assume the positive contact is prone to fall of during battery replacement, because the battery catches the right angle solder lug. The jumper contact between the two batteries supposed to be glued in at the center, I think. Maybe better to glue in all the other battery contacts as well.

[@Christopher-re2hl]

Hi Shango I put together an Elinco 108 AM FM radio kit it was a circuit board only and it was fun. A little expensive though. The later version has an LM386 output I got the earlier version that has transistor outputs. I don't think I like ICs they're pre engineered and It's not as much as a challenge. The only audio output IC I like is the TDA7052 its a two watt IC and same size as the LM386 and can run on a 9 volt battery a long time unless you crank it

[@Dazzwidd]

that fella you sent the kit to, seems pretty intelligent. If he had considerable trouble getting it to work then that speaks volumes about the calibre of the kit- it should contain more easy to follow instructions. Still, you've got me curious to get one just to play around with it. I'd modify it to receive up the 160m amateur radio band

[@northhankspin]

Shango, you have amazing soldering skills. Just wow

[@josephpayne4012]

Thanks for this video! I purchased the HX 108-2 kit from Banggood.com and assembled it a couple of days ago. It worked with weak reception. I tried tuning the IF and the B5 transformer failed with an open primary winding. I emailed Banggood and they said I must send them a video to prove my claim. I sent the video this morning, we'll see what happens. Ill keep everyone posted.

[@josephpayne4012]

Banggood required video proof. I submitted a video of me Ohming the transformer primary. After some email negotiation, they agreed to send me a replacement kit.

[@ricardoelectronicsrepair]

amazing zenith portable transoceanic radio,

[@NJPurling]

I made up a HX-108 with 2N 3904's in the IF strip. Might be a good idea to use then in a HX-6B kit to give more IF gain. Use the supplied transistors, but add your own capacitors. I am sure this is why people have problems with the kits.

[@Christopher-re2hl]

I have a craig 212 tape recorder and the two capacitors that go from collector to base on the outputs to stop oscillations are 0.003 uf and will allow better high frequency response

[@jerrycarriera8648]

I'm amazed at how that radio can pick up KNX and beat the pants off the GE and Panasonic. No TRF stage!

[@mohinderkaur6671]

Lithium mod for this using AA 14500 cell works very well. just reconnect positive wire to center point. It will now accept a larger ferrite bar after removal of the top battery tab

[@olradguy]

CBM223p is the vari-tuning capacitor the dotted line signifies ganged together on one shaft. One section is the antenna tuning/with trimmer cap & the other is osc.tuning/with trimmer cap.

[@chronobot2001]

A great video. It answered a lot of questions. Now I am going to build mine. I'll probably buy another one and try using 2n3904's instead of the provided transistors just to see if it makes a difference.

[@ericmoeller3634]

When you started to sweep up and down on the signal generator my cat started going nuts and came straight over to me

[@robinsattahip2376]

That's about the only way to get a radio that's not just radio on a chip with a few supporting components.

[@wilkes85]

I ordered one of these on eBay several months ago but it never arrived. I might attempt to buy another one. Looks like there's some BS to work through, but this video would be helpful if I run into any problems. I can't believe it works that well! I was expecting it to get a powerful station across the *entire* band; most cheap chinese radios do that.

[@Radiowild]

Great video! Perfect for getting the newbies rolling!

[@scratchpad7954]

+shango066 The CBM223P is the variable tuning capacitor. Also, there is a typo with a duplicated C2; it should have read C3.

[@robertdixon6536]

Honest to gawd, this is the best video you have ever produced. Very entertaining 😊

[@JerryEricsson]

Well things have changed in a few years. I wanted to do another of these kits so went searching on Ebay. They are about twice that price now, depending on the seller 12 bucks to 24 bucks. Guess I am not going to get another, I have more pocket transistors then I will ever be able to listen to in my lifetime. My sister used to buy every one she found at rummage sales, when she died last year, her youngest found ten or twelve of them and brought them over. I went through each one and tinkered with them, replaced a couple of capacitors in the ones that didn't work right and now all but one work, that one was torn apart when I got pissed that the volume switch was always wide open, and accidently sort of bounced off the wall of my living room, where I was tinkering with it. So I threw the thing in the garbage, well the parts of it, it really came apart, apparently don't know my own strength when I am frustrated.

[@antraciet]

I buy lots of those kits from Banggood. Never bought a radio kit, but seeing this video, i will buy one, they have sevaral types.

[@1956kirk]

Great video shango, I'm suprised at how well it stacked up dx-ing. For the price it's a interesting kit. I can think of several radios that were new in the box have anything close to the sensitivity that it has.

[@josephtaverna1287]

This is for dick fitzwell it cost China a dollar fifty to make that radio that radio is pure garbage

[@1956kirk]

@@josephtaverna1287 Yeah, already aware of all that. Tell me something I don't know. Never the less it still done well in the DX tests and made an interesting video.

[@henkvanwinkoop196]

Hi shango066, I forgot to tell that the audio amplifier now works fine consuming 22mA with no input signal and 90mA with a 1000Hz sine signal with an amplitude of 10mV. I now will continue implementing the RF part.

[@michaelturner4457]

Thanks to this video, I just ordered 2 of them.

[@paulgalea4718]

I love watching your video’s thanks , from Geelong Australia

[@stridermt2k]

I just bought this stupid kit for S&Ks because of you... :D

[@stridermt2k]

Yeah ordered two more based on what have seen.

[@michaelrobertson575]

That arrangement used here with a Transistor having it's Base and Collector shorted together for the "Detector Diode" is called a Superdiode.It would be interesting to see if a Germanium Transistor would work any better but it would need to be one that could operate at Radio frequencies as unlike Silicon small signal Transistors some of these could only manage Audio frequencies.

[@2509498788]

I enjoyed you schooling me .. I'd like to get one of these.. thanks Shango

[@randyc8171]

I bought five different transistor radio kits from Bangood and three had all one kind of transistors so I have to order the correct ones from USA suppliers which triples the total cost for the kits.

[@Klutech]

It's kinda odd that the output stage uses two transformers. One for the phase inversion because of the two NPN transistors, and the other for the speaker. They could have just used a PNP to invert the phase, and a DC blocking capacitor to decouple the speaker. Would have been cheaper and more compact.

[@Elfnetdesigns]

Not to bad, I order mostly outdoor LED lights from Banggood, I just ordered a pair of Baofeng BF-T1's from there earlier today that I will be reviewing soon after I get them in. I may go back and order some of those radio kits too, My oldest daughter got her ham license 2 weeks ago and I got her a baofeng UV-82 so these kits may be a fun project for her to do. I'm thinking the AM / FM one and Ham QRP transceiver kit.

[@MrBugsier5]

the dotted line on the turning cap is not a wire but means mecanicly connected.....

[@Dazzwidd]

Yea "ganged"

[@8Ugri8]

Anyone seen a fm all transistor kit for sale somewhere? All fm kits in Ebay include IC or two. No AM stations in estonia.

[@MsCori76]

It would be great if the instructions were in English. It would be easier to understand, specially if you are a beginner at these projects like me.

[@martinda7446]

Learn Chinese! What's the matter with you?

[@MsCori76]

Martin D A LMFAO I'm Aussie, that's what the problem is! Hahahaha

[@martinda7446]

I often think of you in the dusty outback with all those marsupials. X

[@MsCori76]

Martin D A Oh your so sweet thinking about me here with all the Aussie wildlife. I actually prefer the beach to the dusty dry country side.

[@martinda7446]

Your reply made my day, was nice. Thanks Roberta...I'll think of you in future surfing at Bondi.

[@mikedrz]

I just finished mine. It's really loud. Anything passed min is blaringly loud. Not sure if it's because it's so sensitive. It's a dx'ing machine. I got a lot of stations i've never heard before.

[@nor4277]

AlI express sells that kit as low as 4.95.,not 24.99 on the web site from your video ,I was going to buy one to follow along with your video ,nice video

[@gerardjurgens2670]

In the 80ies I soldered stentorkits making fm transmitters