Gikfun FM Radio Kit Soldering Practice Kit DIY School Project FM 87-108MHz wi...

Apart from the instructions being unclear and diagrams so small I could hardly understand them even under magnification, the kit was so fun to put together and it works great!

A super fun and cute set! It works well as a radio and I totally recommend it for older kids and adults alike. Now, if it is for kids, I would say to do it only for those who already have experience soldering, or under adult supervision. We houghtbit for our son as an activity to do with his dad, but our son has done soldering in the past. So definitely a good buy BUT make sure the end user has some knowledge so they can enjoy it.

Having bought and assembled a lot of Chinese kits I was pleasantly surprised with this one , not only were there no parts missing but there were actually spares for some parts which are easily lost. Unlike most Chinese kits this one comes with a pictorial instruction sheet which although having quite small pictures and text I found to be useful, should the size bother you there is an online version accessed by scanning a Q.R code. I would suggest that unless you have young eyes a magnifier is almost essential for soldering the surface mount parts and I do not think that this would be a good first project because of the surface mount parts. Having said this the p.c.b is of excellent quality and providing you exercise patience it all solders together very well. Once assembled and in it's case the radio performs very well, the sound is a little tinny with the supplied speaker which is very small, but this is to be expected, when listening on headphones however the sound is really very good. The radio does seem to be sensitive to headphones resistance in that it worked fine with full sized headphones with a 60 ohm resistance but attempting to use 32 ohm earbuds caused it to malfunction. There is a problem with powering from batteries because it will only work for a short time before the voltage drops to a point where the unit malfunctions, this can be solved by using 1.5 volt re-chargeable lithium ion batteries as these contain an internal voltage regulator which maintains the output at 1.5 volts . Whilst looking into the battery issue I found a power saving feature which appears to be undocumented, if the volume up and down buttons are pressed simultaneously the display will show an H or an L alternately. While in H mode the display is always on whereas while in L mode the display will turn off after a few seconds thus saving power. All in all this is a very good kit and I can recommend it.

Carefully packaged, extremely well marked out circuit board, and quality clear perspex case box supplied. Spare components, in case you have a mishap. Prompt delivery, and clear step-by-step diagram instructions. This is not a criticism, as it is just the way a small unit is, but some of the components are very tiny and magnification might be useful for older eyes. Definitely needing a very fine soldering tip. Very well-priced and quality item. Great fun!

Excellent kit, j'ai eu beaucoup de plaisir à souder et assembler les composantes avec ma fille de 8 ans. Le kit a des composantes de qualité ce qui laisse place à l'erreur si vous les chauffer les composantes un peu plus que nécessaire, le kit à été assemblé avec de l'étain sans plomb et un peu de flux pour les composantes de surface. Les composantes sont variés et permettent d'apprendre plusieurs techniques de soudure.