A couple of months ago, a group of us were talking on the repeater, and the talk got around to building stuff. One of the guys said, “You can’t really build anything anymore.” I almost fell out of my chair. There are all kinds of kits out there that hams can build.

So, yesterday, I gave a presentation to our club on kits and kit building. After the short presentation–whichi I’ve included below–we had a show-and-tell of kits that were brought in by the members and were in various stages of completion. (Pictures coming soon!)

So, what are you going to build next?

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Beyond Heathkit: Ham radio kits are alive and well
  –and you can build them

Sources

• Elecraft—http://www.elecraft.com/
• TenTec—http://radio.tentec.com/kits
• MFJ (Vectronics)—http://www.vectronics.com/
• Ramsey—http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/
• Velleman—http://www.velleman.be/
• Small Wonder Labs—http://www.smallwonderlabs.com/
• Wilderness Radio—http://www.fix.net/~jparker/wild.html
  
• Milestone Technologies—http://www.mtechnologies.com/
• Almost All Digital Electronics—http://www.aade.com/index.html
• FAR Circuits—http://www.farcircuits.net/
• Jackson Harbor—http://jacksonharbor.home.att.net/ham.html
• QRPme—http://www.megalink.net/~w1rex/QRPme
• Linear Amp UK—http://www.linamp.co.uk/

Sources: QRP Clubs:

• American QRP Club—http://www.amqrp.org/
• Four State QRP Club—http://4sqrp.com/kits/kits.htm
• NORTEXT—http://www.kk5na.com/nortex.htm

Tools (from Electronic Construction from A to Z)

• Long nose (“needle nose”) pliers
• Cutting pliers—”flush cutting” rather than "diagonal
  cutting pliers."
• Screwdrivers
  • two large screwdrivers, one with a straight tip for slotted screws,
    the other with a Phillips head
  • Set of miniature screwdrivers, often called “jeweler’s screwdrivers.”
• Hobby knife
• Magnifier. I use magnifying glasses, but others prefer a light with a built-in
  magnifier
• Clip leads
• Sheet Metal Nibbling Tool
• Reamer
• Soldering tools:
  • Soldering iron.
  • Solder
  • Desoldering tool—solder sucker or solder wick
• Multimeter

Other Links

• Electronic Construction from A to Z—http://www.mtechnologies.com/building/atoz.htm
• The Art of Kit Building—http://ww2.netnitco.net/users/wt9w/kit%20building.html
• Crystal Sets to Sideband: A Guide to Building an Amateur Radio Station—http://www.qsl.net/k3pd/book.html
• Colorado QRP Club Links Page—http://www.cqc.org/kits.htm
• Manhattan Construction by K7QO—http://www.k7qo.net/manhattan.pdf
• W1WC’s Ham Kits Page