ICStation DIY FM Stereo Radio Kit Build & Review
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- Опубликовано: 13 сен 2024
- The ICStation's DIY FM Stereo Portable Radio Kit GY18043 is an awesome project that is fun and rewarding to build and operate. I was very impressed with the kit's quality and how little it cost. Get out that Soldering Iron and have a Blast building your own Stereo Radio! Good Times ahead :)
▶ The FM Radio Kit on Amazon: amzn.to/2BZFrAW
▶ The "Learn to Solder" Kit at Amazon: amzn.to/2uEfdQp
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Features I like about this FM Radio Kit:
The PCB is Clearly Marked as to where the Components go.
Great Practice for SMD soldering.
Very Small Design.
FM Stereo Works :)
Uses Two AAs for long Run Times.
Very Inexpensive.
Included Headphones are Decent.
Quality Materials.
Clear Instructions on their Website (and now in this video).
Adding the SMT IC could be a challenge for some, but easy with the right tools.
Features that could be added or improved on:
A small power LED indicator.
Volume is a bit loud on the lowest setting.
Overall, this kit is a blast to build and use! You can expect a real working, FM Stereo Headset radio when you are done. Fantastic! Low Cost and Easy to Assemble make this one a Winner.
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▶ The FM Radio Kit on Amazon: amzn.to/2BZFrAW
▶ The "Learn to Solder" Kit at Amazon: amzn.to/2uEfdQp
(paid links) As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. There are no additional costs to you.
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That looks like a fun little project! It gave me some flashbacks of the ham radio exam...
Fairly easy to build. Just a little challenge with the surface mount IC.
Looking forward to making this tomorrow morning. I love waking up and getting stuck into these kits. I'll have your video on hand as this will be my first foray into surface mount soldering. Thanks.
Just finished building this kit, Hardest part was the SMD chip but I used my new iron and it went together pretty good but difficult. I need to invest in a moist sponge or a souring pad in a small container so I can keep my tip clean. I've had to make some modifications to the kit and I used a different 3AA battery holder because the one that came with the kit is poor quality and the batteries just popped out but I used one from another project. The zip ties broke on mine so I just hot glued the board to the holder. I added an antenna wire to the ground as it seemed to come in better when I did that. Just waiting for the glue to cool but this kit sounds crystal clear with my earbuds and even better on my DIY headphone amp. I'm listening to it as I type this and it sounds awesome.
Nice video and perfect timing! I ordered several of these same kits, and they just arrived today. No instructions so it's nice to see this and know it actually works.
It works very well, loved listening to the little kit radio in Stereo :) Also being powered by two AAs is a plus.
Great fun video, thanks Todd. I just picked one up from AliE for 2.75 US bucks with free shipping. Cool....it is not often that things get cheaper a year or two later. Thanks.
looks fun and the chip is interesting. with i2c this thing could be connected to microcontrollers or a sbc like the raspberry pi.
BaGuS 👍👍 KeReN 👍👍
Very neat little FM radio. It would be cool if there was a case to go with it, to protect the circuit from the elements. Also, an tuning and power indicator LED would be good on that. Regardless, it's still great. Cheers!
Thanks Dwayne, I have a few more FM radios coming from them...keep watching.
In the schematic, it shows pin 6 of the RDA5807FP connected to the battery + (3V). In the datasheet for the IC, pin 6 goes to ground.
Is there anyway to improve the aerial??
Btw, that chip has a serial interface bus for controlling it.
Interesting.
anyone know where to add an antenna to this? I can only get 3-4 stations.
TKS ... from Brazil
I built this, and it works good. I want to put a channel display on it. Is this possible? What display to get? Anybody?
Comprei 5 peças para montar em pequenas caixas para presentear, Estou no Brasil qua o seu país? Ótimo vídeo, parabéns!
Hello. Does it matter which side to install the buttons? Thanks.
Hey dude, thanks for the great walkthrough. Mine is powering on, volume controls work, and I can flick between stations, but all I'm hearing is white noise. I think it might be the antenna? One hint is 0V across the resistor and the inductors (but it's still turning on) and 2.7V across the caps. Any pointers appreciated.
Sounds like a nice kit to build.
Wish there was a beginner kit with everything you need to learn simple soldering. With iron, Always wanted to make a crystal radio.
well you could get the Elenco learning kit: amzn.to/2uEfdQp and then look online for different plans on building a crystal radio.. they are fun and very simple.
todderbert cool thanks I saw a we make kit on Amazon too.
@@paulbainjr That is a good one as well, the learn to practice solder kit is really good at teaching different methods. I do recommend you purchase some 60/40 solder instead of the lead free. The 60/40 is much easier to work with.
I may look for this radio if it's on amazon because I have a pop up speaker that has a similar tuning style FM radio which I don't mind. I wish it had a power on LED but that's ok since it draws 19mA when on and you have 2800mAh batteries. I have a 3 watt amplifier from Adafruit that I may use for this or one I made from a Gameboy advance sound accessory that had an amp and I think a light.
What about adding an UNUN to the radio to allow it to interface to a long-wire antenna for increased signal reception.
well a 3' wire is plenty for this radio.
Nice job on soldering the I.C. Todd. My irons are a little inferior for that.
I think my little 25W Weller would have done the job just as well as the Hakko. It's all about tip selection.
@@todderbertGood point, thanks for the tips :-)
Nice thanks wishes from Lithuania :-)
My kit didn't come with headphones :(. I got gy18041
imagine there are still people who never heard Rick Astley, Edward Khil or The Living Tombstone. Thanks a lot for this.
I got a little radio the size of an mp3 player for my bday it only works with headphones or like you did plugging it into speakers but it pulls in good and is am and fm its my favorite it is just a fun little radio.
I plan to try mine in my car, with the aux. jack in the car stereo
I would also like to build a small amp, but haven’t come across one yet.
The main chip uses I2C to get instruction. I donot understand how this circuit is providing I2C instructions without a proper microcontroller. Please help me understand this.
I did near perfect soldering on this EXCEPT for the chip. I saw a video on the ali express page that showed him smug the whole thing with solder. I thought I should try it... and I created a smoking short...
I had tried to do it the way you did at first. I think I might have actually gotten it to work. I'll need to order another kit. I want to make this one work!
lots of flux, try to tack down to corners, and put a bit of solder on the tip of the iron and quickly drag the iron across the pads in one motion. check for bridges. If you get a bridge, dry the iron and put it on the bridge and drag the iron away to help pull the excess off.
@@todderbert Yeah. Flux is not something I ever used. I've been getting much, much better at soldering to the point that I make beautiful little plops of solder where the holes are. But those are in the 'normal' holes. This little IC is so tiny that I think I melted off the legs. Even if I didn't try to imitate the aliexpress video I would still have messed it up I think.
@@Hotshotter3000 The iron has to be around a 25W to work well, anything hotter could be an issue. Of course a small bladed type tip would be ideal.
@@todderbert Yeah I don't know what the wattage of my iron is. I got it as a cheap kit from aliexpress. The iron is fine. I did manage to make my first successful kit project (the hourglass LED) with it. My previous projects were failures because I had no idea what I was doing. Hopefully my next kits will be a success. I got two star-shaped LED flashers with ultra small points. This will be good for practicing this type of delicate soldering.
@@Hotshotter3000 There are also SMT practice kits out there as well.
cool!
Hi Todderbert....
Is there auto scan & save option in this FM radio kit?
just did this kit today (shame, it stays on the shelf for an year).. i dont think it can save, it just scan in < direction or >
@@danielgeorgiev5023 ThanQ....
Last month, I`ve purchased kit & tested.
Its not saving, as you said it only scans up or down...
i built this today before diner :). nice little project to kill half an hour. but mine is too loud, even on the minimum setting, if the signal is good, its almost too loud to listen with headphones(well, in home, in quiet room, guess outside where is noisy it will be ok). i was wondering if i can modify it to be not so loud..
Headphones with volume control is probably best. I'm not sure which capacitor you would change.
@@todderbert as headphones with volume control actually just have potentiometer (if thats the word in english), i guess i just can cut the trace to the phone jack and experiment with different smd ressistors.
And where is the box to keep radio ?
for around 6 bucks you have to get creative. I think I have some small project boxes from RadioShack in a box somewhere.
Does anyone know how to build something similar that constantly scans for stations? I want some type of radio that behaves as if you're just turning the receiver dial.
You can check the spirit box builders out there. they usually modify older radios though.
I've never heard of "Spirit Boxes". Found the "sBox" on Amazon; it's exactly what I'm looking for... but not for ghost-hunting. 😕Thanks!
I hate surface mounts.
Its been pure luck for me on the very few Ive done. Never did anything with more than 4 pins. 😮
Takes a ton of patience to do the drag method, then you have to be good at clearing any bridges. Practice makes perfect.
@@todderbert I was able to do as you suggested. It worked pretty good. Bridges are easy to clean up too. Lol
Is there a point to solder a wire for an antenna? .Can I solder it to ground?
@@HappyHermitt it might be on the headphone jack's ground. Something to check.
Nice
Is there a shortwave radio kit to build? That would be a neat project.
Yes there is, www.4sqrp.com/ozarkpatrol.php .
todderbert I’ll have to look into this.
@@RJDA.Dakota Crystal shortwave radio: Four turns of 26 AWG magnet wire close wound on a paper towel tube. Then wrap 14 more turns right behind this one. Connect a IN34A germanium diode, tuning capacitor and crystal earphone to second coil. Connect a 100-200 feet long wire antenna to four turn coil and a good ground.
BAN EVERYTHING! I’ve seen this one work! Crystal sets are great because they take no batteries.
@@RJDA.Dakota I forgot you need a 170 k resistor across earphone leads. This does something that I don`t understand that improves volume and gives it a nice tone. I discovered this when I shorted out the earphone leads with my finger and noticed the improved sound so I measured the resistance of my fingers and got a resistor that matched.
Did the kit sell out before you posted the review, or after. Is this the Todderbert effect? 😁
Links fixed! Enjoy :)
This kit is still available. Of course, Todderbert's video is great, it will bring a nice effect soon:)
@@todderbert I did find it on the site after I posted the comment. I ordered 2, but I don't know if you will get the affiliate credit...
@@mikevandebunt811 I may have if you used my link, and found it by searching.
@@todderbert that's what I did, so hopefully. (I have also bought radios through your Amazon links.)
hi, i have multimeter, it is good for soldering, I want to send you one free. 😁
Good video overall but a very strange review because after the build you only rate it fair and then you go on to say you got 17 stations and later on you say "it sounds great, this thing's awesome." So is it fair, great or awesome? lol.
Fair for receiveing FM Stations. It is specific to my Location, and its auto tuning system. The Audio is Amazing for the Stations it does receive, and the Kit is Cheap and Fun to Build.
@@todderbert Thanks for the quick reply. I guess the number of stations is never going to be anything the receiver can influence as it depends where people live. I just bought some online for $2.68 each. Unbeatable value and way better than the days of trimming IF transformers and trimmer capacitors in superhet transistor radios!
Its depressing how all the analog radio chips are discontinued.
They sell this for 1.17 on. I exspress.
Give me link
Yes Mr, if you can send me one i would surely appreciate it very well
i got one but my $4 radio was better and has built in speaker
True, but you have the satisfaction of building your own radio.