Building a ham radio from scratch is far easier than what most people think. True; It would be far easier to build one if you were Tony Stark. However, you don’t really need to have vast knowledge on electrical circuits to get started.
The fastest way to build your ham radio from scratch would be by using ham radio kits.Essentially, ham radio kits are radios that require you to assemble them on your own. They were far more popular in the 1950s to the 1980s but continue to be widely used to date.
While it is cheaper to build a ham radio, cost savings aren’t usually the main reason people build ham radios. Rather, it is the building process that makes it all fun, and worthwhile. With that said, let’s dive in and find out what you’ll be needing to help you build the radio.
Main Components
To build a ham radio from scratch, you will need a few components. These include:
- A transceiver
- Antenna
- Antenna tuner
Transceiver
A transceiver is a combination of a transmitter and a receiver. The ham radio will use the transmitter to broadcast signals to the outside word. On the other hand, the receiver will convert broadcasted radio signal to audio.
While you can choose to buy a transmitter and a receiver separately, it would be far better if you bought both as one unit. Doing so can make troubleshooting the ham radio less cumbersome.
Antenna
Other than the transceiver, you will also need an antenna when building a ham radio. The antenna is a crucial component that helps in receiving and broadcasting signals. Thus, the better your antenna is, the better you will be able to broadcast and receive.
As there are two main types of antennas, you will need to choose between an omnidirectional antenna and a directional antenna. While most people would go for omnidirectional antennas since they can propagate signals to different directions, they tend to be a bit more expensive.
Antenna Tuner
Often, some hams will tell you that antenna tuners aren’t really necessary. However, they are great in helping your ham radio shack transmit and receive signals better. One neat feature about using an antenna tuner is that it allows for multi-band transmission. This lets you transmit signals in more than one frequency.
While a transceiver, an antenna, and an antenna tuner are the only thing you need to build a ham radio, you will also need an operating license if you will use the ham radio to broadcast signals.
There are three types of licenses you can get. They include:
- Entry-level license
- It restricts you to a few High Frequency (HF) bands and you cannot participate in long-distance communication.
- General class license
- You get more HF band privileges once you get this license. It requires you to successfully complete the entry-level license first.
- Advanced level license
- You get access to all the HF bands and the entire radio spectrum. It equally requires you to pass the general class exam first.
Tools You Will Need
You are going to need some tools if you intend to assemble the ham radio by yourself. Some of them will include:
- Testing equipment
- useful for checking if electric current is flowing in a component
- Screwdrivers
- Soldering iron
- Pliers
- Wire cutter
- Wire stripper
- Magnifying glass
- to make components larger and easier to see
- Ceramic screwdriver
- for tuning capacitors
- Fluorescent light
- to illuminate difficult-to-see components
Building the Circuit
If you are good at following instructions, building the circuit will be easier than you imagined. First off, you are supposed to read and understand the circuit diagrams and verify that you have all the required components.
Next, follow the instructions step by step while checking off each step you completed successfully. Remember to test a little while building as this can make troubleshooting the ham radio easier later on.
Testing the individual units before piecing them together will also give you confidence that you have been following the instructions correctly.
Here are a few tips to remember while building the circuit:
- Be careful not to interchange the terminals of electrical components when soldering them on the circuit.
- Ground yourself before handling the components to prevent damage to sensitive components like capacitors.
- Check your work before applying any voltage to prevent damage of sensitive components that were placed wrongly
- Know whether the kit will come with a cabinet and a power supply. Some kits don’t include the two.
- If you are a newbie, avoid kits with Surface Mount Tech (SMT) and instead for kits with pre-mounted SMTs.
- Consider having an elmer (a ham radio expert) as a mentor when building your ham radio. He/she can offer guidance in case you are stuck.
What You Should Know About Kits
As the complexity of your ham radio will depend on the kit you order, there are a few things about kits you need to know as well.
For starters, there are various kinds of kits. They can either be simple or complex. Depending on your level of knowledge, you can choose either of the two.
However, no matter how conversant you are with the kits, you will still need a little bit of patience and a strong will to troubleshoot. This is because the entire process may not always be smooth sailing.
It can get a bit complicated when the kit you bought has a manual that is unclear. In fact, this can make the entire process of building the ham radio from scratch almost impossible.
Conclusion
Overall, building a ham radio from scratch is a fun and rewarding process to any aspiring ham. We’ll be honest though. It will require a great deal of patience. However, this will mostly depend on the kit you had chosen initially. While there are significant cost savings when you build a ham radio from scratch, the real thrill still lies in the building process.