Radio electronics lab learning kit, does it or did it exist?

[neazoi]

Hi In this page I see lots of these electronics learning kits from the past.
[Link removed as it contained redirection to a fake BBC News web page]
But I have never seen one that relates to radio circuits.
Did any of these existed in the past or now?
Do you think that there is an interest nowadays for such a kit?
Thanks

 

[biff44]

there used to be such things.
I remember them in engineering labs....waveguide components, a simple gunn diode source, and some sort of measurement system (like power detectors or a standing wave indicator).

it was easier to make back then because the parts were huge. a waveguide component would be 3 x 2 x 5", and you would bolt them together with 4-40 screws and nuts.

today, everything is either surface mount, or wirebonded chips. Not something a student can easily put together, and not something that would survive abuse in a lab with neophytes.

I imagine you could put together a pretty good antenna test kit, with various types of antennas that have telescoping parts that a student could muck around with without breaking them, then do pattern testing, how received power drops off with distance, resonance, etc.

--- Updated Feb 3, 2021 ---

here is a microstrip training kit. No idea of the quality:

Dinesh Microwaves - Microwave Training Kits,Communication Training Kits,Microwave Training Kits India,Communication Training Kits India

 

[neazoi]

Well these are really expensive. I refer more to the hobbyist or young electronics enthusiast, like the kits I posted. 101 circuit experiments etc. That short of things.

 

[dick_freebird]

I had a Heathkit 100-in-1 (or some such) kit with
the spring clips for wiring, and enough components
to make several different AM radios (crystal detector,
one transistor, two transistor, woo-hoo!).

I remember seeing more modern versions (mine
was late '60s vintage as was my childhood) where
the variable inductor and fixed capacitors had been
traded for variable cap (standard radio type) and
fixed ferrite bar which I imagine also acted as a
minimal antenna.

Of course radios of industrial interest have moved
far along from what was possible here. But a look
at one kit's parts list would lead you directly to a
Digi-Key BOM that costs very little. The value was
all in the instructions (and, back in the day, a full
lack of consumer-facing electronics distributors;
maybe Jameco and Poly-Paks in the back of
Radio Electronics and Popular Electronics, send
for free catalog and wait some weeks for satisfaction).

Speaking of which, you might find better traction
by looking at back issues listings (way back, if you
like projects suited to primitive methods).

I would not focus on the "easy wiring" with spring
clips and all, that has trivial value (developing a
bit of soldering skill would be worth more in the
long run and make it less of a "color by numbers"
exercise). But you could, I'm sure, find spring loaded
test-point components that would do the same job.

 

[BradtheRad]

I was given a Radio Shack 300-in-one electronics lab kit (ca 1993). The book has nine projects which are AM radio circuits using wire-wound inductor and variable capacitor.

* Unpowered 'crystal' radio (poor selectivity, picks up one or two strong stations)

* Amplified AM radio (transistor, op amp)

* AM transmitter using same inductor and capacitor. Nearby radio picks up broadcast.

* Morse transmitter

Radio projects which specifically use frequency modulation are not in the book.

 

[neazoi]

Would it be nice if someone released such a kit, inspiring youngsters in transmitters and receivers and learning them the different simple building blocks?