Building Your Own Radio

Building your own radio is also an option. You can build inexpensive kits, especially for use on HF frequencies, but there are also kits available for the VHF and UHF bands. For most people, kits are a better choice than trying to "roll your own" from scratch. The nature of how electronic parts are sold makes it more cost effective to buy a pre-packaged kit containing all the parts than to try and buy all the parts you might need, individually. Kits are especially popular for "QRP" or low power radio operation. While 100 watt (or more) radios are popular for HF operation, you can have a lot of fun with a radio operating at the 1 to 10 watt level, and make contacts out to thousands of miles. Many inexpensive, low power HF radio kits are available.