Actions
Forum Thread Details
  • Replies 17 replies
  • Subscribers 482 subscribers
  • Views 2082 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Related

Air Band Receiver High Sensitivity Aviation Radio 118-136MHz AM DIY Kit

scottiebabe

A 30 year-old electronics hobby kit still lives on to this day.

I came across a superhet airband receiver kit that peaked my interests. It’s based on a few venerable but not extinct radio ICs, namely the NE602 and the MC1350. I don’t know where the kit producer is sourcing these ICs, but for $20 it was worth taking a chance on it being more than a pack a of bubblegum. Fingers crossed I receive at least functional equivalent ICs, if not new/salvaged old stock.

image

 imageimage

You can find the kit at the usual places searching “Air Band Receiver High Sensitivity Aviation Radio 118-136MHz AM DIY Kit”

The schematic is to clean and logical to be a typical noname solder kit. After some digging around on the internet, I found the origin of the kit. This project was originally designed by Fred Blechman and published in the spring 1994 issue of "Electronics Hobbyist Handbook" by Gernsback Publications.

A pdf of the publication is available here:

image

https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Poptronics/Experimenters-Handbook/Electronic-Hobbyist-Handbook-1994-Spring.pdf (Page 82)

Tony van Roon also shares their experience and analysis of the project kit here:

https://www.learningelectronics.net/VA3AVR/circ/aviarx/aviarx.html

Parents

  • The front-end preselect filter is OK, it has some insertion loss and not a whole lot of rejection in the FM broadcast band. Could it be better, possibly, but it's not a showstopper.

    imageimage

    The local oscillator created with the NE602 is alive and well.

    image

    The tuning potentiometer varactor tunes the LO from 130.7MHZ to 145 MHz (left my SA in max hold while twiddling the tuning pot)

    image

    So far it would appear as though I got a real NE602 Slight smile

  • in reply to scottiebabe

    Hey,

    I've just received mine and I think that the NE602 is faulty because it does not oscillate.

    It's obvious it has been harvested from another board and it has some signs of abuse.
    However, before I throw away the IC and try to source another one, any suggestions on how I could prove that the IC is indeed the culprit?

    Regards,

    Dan

Reply
  • in reply to scottiebabe

    Hey,

    I've just received mine and I think that the NE602 is faulty because it does not oscillate.

    It's obvious it has been harvested from another board and it has some signs of abuse.
    However, before I throw away the IC and try to source another one, any suggestions on how I could prove that the IC is indeed the culprit?

    Regards,

    Dan

Children
No Data