AM/FM Radio Kit | Soldering Project DIY Kit for Practicing Teaching Electronics | Stereo | Great STEM Project and Gift | Upgraded Version VT-16

The parts and instructions are pretty well laid out. Good English and photos. It is not for complete beginners. Some of the mechanical things will take a little thinking. I'd recommend it as a second or third kit if you have no soldering experience. Start with something simple, with fewer things to solder before you can see if it works. Note the little white rubber rings under the speaker-mount-clip screws, which are essential to protect the PCB from scratches. The nice, large, AM antenna rod was a bit difficult on mine, as the left end had heat shrink that made it a little difficult to get into the plastic clip. I'd do that (right) end first, then install both clips, then rotate rod down and work it into the left clip. Some connections may take a longer time than others to heat up and solder - those are the ground (battery negative) connections. Be patient soldering those. The long AM antenna is an important feature of this radio. It will be more sensitive than the average radio. If you listen to AM. FM is good on almost any DSP radio. I wish there was a place to put a paper sticker to write in frequencies. It's pretty cramped around the tuning dial. I used one of my own red LEDs for the tuning light, it comes with a small red one. I also used better quality wire for the speakers, though it should not make a difference. If you want much better sound, the speakers can be upgraded. I have seen speaker modules, sealed black plastic enclosures, that might fit and would give much better bass. A (protected) lithium-ion battery would be a nice upgrade, too, though rechargeable AAs work fine and are safer. I did have a problem with my kit not working. The company support email representative was very helpful, and quick to reply. I would ding a star; but, I trust, from reviews here and in review/instruction videos elsewhere, that this brand is high quality and can be expected to be trouble-free. Minus one's own assembly errors, as it is a kit.

As long as you are carful and have a least a bit of experience, this will be a very fun project for you to make. I got a defective radio that did not work, and I emailed customer service and they were so nice in helping me to get a replacement. The instructions were very easy to understand and the reason it good quality.

All these reviews say the directions for putting this together are detailed and easy to follow. I feel like I’m missing something. The directions I got are not detailed at all. They just start out saying solder all these things: am I supposed to solder them together or solder them to the board or both. It reads like I’m supposed to know all this already. I got this to learn from starting principles. However, it seems as if it’s more of an intermediate level thing.

Very spacious board! Beginner project for gaining experience. If you've put anything at all together successfully then your way beyond this kit. Buy something different (intermediate kit). If this is your first build or are just beginning in the hobby, then this AM/FM radio is a great place to start. If you can wait 2 weeks you can order tons of DIY Electronics kits between 1.99 and 29.00

This item works fine. Now I need a plastic case for it. Any recommendation? Thanks

Some of the speaker brackets could short out the circuit board. If you put a non conductive material between the brackets and the circuit board you should be ok. Otherwise it is a very nice kit.

I love the idea, and I totally disappointed when it was not working at all first. I bend it over a little bit and took the chip on an off a couple of times, and started making some noise. Only if I bended a little bit the whole board away from the speakers.AM does not work at all in my area. One of the speakers is not working either. It could be my unit. I loved the idea, and spent almost an hour and follow a guy in youtube step by step, but still is flimsical, and not reliable unfortunately. I am not sure if this is what it is, or it should work a different way. Bad luck I guess.

This kit will provide an enjoyable couple of afternoons to complete. Assembly mostly straight forward (yes, a couple of minor head scratchers) but the pcb is well laid out making for easy soldering. Most importantly, it works... unlike some other lower quality AM/FM kits. Study the pictures for component placement clues if you are unsure. Not a lot of volume, but with only 3 AA batteries for power, expectations were not high anyway. Still, the signals were clear and readable without strain from many stations.