I second this. My first foray into electronics in general and radio in particular came from the old Radio Shack / Science Fair "160 in one" and "200 in one" project kits. Prepare for a spaghetti-wire mess of jumpers between spring terminals, but it was a really great means for me to begin to understand, and it was a great way for someone of that age (I think I started toying with them around the age of 9) to experiment.
My favorite kit build, of course, was the AM Radio transmitter, which led to a lot of experimentation with different antennas to see how far around our neighborhood I could pick up my signal, trying to find "improvements" to the circuit, means of using speaker and line-level inputs instead of the microphone input so I could play music more easily, etc. etc. It turned out that, for reasons I didn't understand at the time, a 6-foot-long sheet of aluminum foil makes a pretty good broadcast band antenna for a toy kit, much better than just a wire :-) Eventually this led to a postal mail conversation with my uncle, who is a Ham, who in turn sent me a copy of "Tune in the World with Ham Radio" to help answer some questions I had about antennas. And then, upon doing the calculations, I was dismayed to learn that a proper vertical antenna for the frequency I was trying to use would need to be over 150 feet high, well beyond the allowed length for a Part 15 transmitter. Someone should have told me about loading coils... I bet I could have gotten a little more range out of that aluminum foil! Nick On 15 October 2017 at 09:20, GRANT YOUNGMAN <ghyoung...@gmail.com> wrote: > That’s a good question. Most kids’ grandpas, even it they’re hams, don’t > have a workbench filled with boat anchors torn down in some state of repair > or restoration, or aren’t into home brew of much more than getting a relay > to work, wiring a connector, or something similar. They may not even know > another ham that does any of that aside from screwing ‘mysterious' black > box radios together with preassembled cables, which is too bad in itself, > but not the same topic. > > Maybe something like this thing https://www.amazon.com/Elenco- > Electronic-Playground-Learning-Center/dp/B0035XSZDI/ > ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0035XSZDI&pd_rd_ > r=NGPKH7KZXG9W97CMB6TD&pd_rd_w=VORMc&pd_rd_wg=Gq7yR&psc=1& > refRID=NGPKH7KZXG9W97CMB6TD <https://www.amazon.com/ > Elenco-Electronic-Playground-Learning-Center/dp/B0035XSZDI/ > ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0035XSZDI&pd_rd_ > r=NGPKH7KZXG9W97CMB6TD&pd_rd_w=VORMc&pd_rd_wg=Gq7yR&psc=1& > refRID=NGPKH7KZXG9W97CMB6TD> > > Another option is a line of products called Snap Circuits (google it), > which are pretty slick. My 9 year old grand daughter has a couple of sets, > and has done some interesting stuff with them. Plus, they’re kind of fun … > :-) > > Grant NQ5T > K3 #2091, KX3 #8342 > > > On Oct 15, 2017, at 11:46 AM, Dauer, Edward <eda...@law.du.edu> wrote: > > > > Looking for suggestion about books or kits or whatever else that might > interest a ten year old to electronics and to amateur radio. He is adept > at mechanical things and pretty bright. What else could he be? He’s my > grandson. > > > > But his understanding of electronics is well insulated by contemporary > smart phones and games and the like, about the innards of which one can > learn nothing in the old way – the way we did it, by taking the family > radio apart and then having to learn how to put it back together. > > > > Any other grandpas or grandmas out there have experiences to share? > > > > Thanks in advance, > > > > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to n...@n6ol.us > -- *N6OL* Saying something doesn't make it true. Belief in something doesn't make it real. And if you have to lie to support a position, that position is not worth supporting. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
