Being far from home and living in London is very interesting. As a hacker, maker,  and hobbyist from the US, a Radio Shack or an order from Mouser, Adafruit, etc is taken for granted. Things are different here.

There is not a Radio Shack nearby. The nearest equivalent is Maplin and these stores are everywhere. Every time I walk by one – I ‘pop in’ as they say here.

Last Saturday I ‘popped in’ to one and found a very interesting electronic kit. The Velleman Digitally Controlled FM Radio (MK194). Velleman is a Belgium based company that makes all kind of neat stuff. The kit was on sale for £12. How could I resist?

This kit is about as close as you can get to re-living the good-ole’ days of Heathkits. In the 60’s and 70’s Heathkits were all the rave among us geeks. I built a digital alarm clock that worked for more than 25 years. What is the big deal? Well, I was 14 years old when I built this clock. And it served as my alarm clock until I was 39. Every day – it was there. The power supply finally failed and its service ended.That my friends, is the definition of loyalty. Hand built and reliable.

Anyone that ever built a Heathkit remembers the yellow assembly manuals. They are legendary for their quality. Oh the joy of a Heathkit!

Heathkit Digital Clock

The radio kit took me about 90 minutes to assemble. The assembly instructions are on a single page and are clear enough to prevent mistakes. When I installed the battery and turned on the radio it fired right up.

Radio – Top

Radio – Bottom

The sound of the radio is surprisingly good. There are some tricky solder joints so this kit is probably not for beginner kit builders without a mentor.

I highly recommend this kit.

Sopwith