Step 1

I carefully removed all all the parts from the bag and checked to make sure they were all there.  Overall, the kit is well designed but it does leave room for improvement.  The board is single-sided and NOT plated through hole so you need to be careful not to lift the pads while soldering.  The LM386 did NOT come on a piece of conductive foam to prevent it from being damaged by static.  It was simply thrown in the plastic bag with the other parts.

I decided I wanted to be able to switch the crystal out if I wanted to change frequency.  Well, if I'm going to socket the crystal I need to socket L3 as well to change bands.  As long as I'm adding sockets I went ahead and put them in for the two transistors (Q1 and Q2) and the LM386 IC as well.  I actually thought about socketing ALL the parts but decided against it for now.  

I mounted all the parts starting from left to right on the board.  The spacing between C10 and U1 is a bit too close but I managed to get the LM386 in it's sockets.  I also had an "extra" .1uF capacitor left over when I was done.  

Overall, the assembly was pretty easy but the instructions are lacking in detail.  I found myself referring to the schematic on more than one occasion.  The parts layout diagram could be much better if it had traces drawn between the parts.  As it is... you have to guess a little.  Just line up the parts or better yet... look at the image to the right.  Since I used a scanner to take the photo you can see the traces through the board.

40 meters uses a 1.2uH Inductor
80 meters uses a 2.2uH inductor

I decided to build my own case for it instead of putting it in an Altoids tin like so many others have done.  I did find a "Penguin Caffeinated Peppermints" tin that I'm saving for another project.  Probably a tiny power amp to boost a QRPp rig way up to 800mW or something like that.  You know... caffeine POWER!

Anyway, I decided to use copper clad PC board for the chassis.  It's relatively easy to work with... if you have a 230 watt soldering gun and a way to cut the pieces!  Obviously it's not completed yet.  

Here you see all the parts in the case.  How's that for a tight fit!  I still need to finish/paint the case and then wire it all up... but it's getting close.

Yes, I made the case a bit too small.  All I can say is, "Thank You Dremel!"  Obviously I couldn't make the case any bigger... so I made the stuff that goes in it a little smaller.  Actually, by cleaning out some excess solder from the sides of the case, sanding down the PC board just a bit, and then using an old side lead version 9-volt clip I was able to CRAM it all in there.

Next time I will make the case a bit larger so I have more room for error... I mean parts. 

After quite a lot of work I managed to CRAM everything back into the case.  Obviously, the wiring needs done with the board removed so I had to guess at the wire lengths.  All the wiring except the red power supply lead is shielded cable.  The chassis is common ground.  The headphone/speaker jack is a 1/8" stereo jack (lower right of photo). 

It is such a tight fit inside the case... when turned upside down the battery doesn't fall out!

Here you see the painted case.  I decided to paint the case black and polish the copper face plate.

At this point, I decided it might be a good idea to TEST the radio.  So, I hooked up an antenna, key, and headphones and guess what... IT WORKS!!!  No contacts have been made yet but that's only a matter of time.

Now I need to figure out a way to do the lettering.  I had planned to iron on the lettering like I do when I print a circuit board... but I built the case first and now there isn't a way to do that.  Hmmm....