JetKing DIY Radio Kits

[Winter Green]

Hey Guys,

Saw this post today and it brought back a lot of enjoying radio (pre-FM period in India :-D). I still love radio and listen to every day, but mostly FM.

Back in 2007, I believe, I bought a DIY radio kit in SP road and assembled it. It worked great and a friend of mine who also loved radios took it from me (just took it when he left without asking :-D. Close friend of course)

I then got another KIT from SP Road from 'OM Electronics'. Started assembling... soldered all the resistors when my soldering iron failed. I got busy with my job, and finally, forgot about it. It was in its original box, with all the supplied components, manual etc. I just found it and took it out.

I plan to assemble it and make it work. Here is photo (upper part - first and last page of the assembly manual, lower part the front and rear of the radio case. All parts are inside, of course, none lost.

 

[reubensm]

great stuff, love the hype statement - for girls and boys who don't like toys

 

[Subbu68]

Jetking MW kit was the first PCB soldering experience for me. It cost then Rs.60 I think. Had a dark grey cabinet and bought from Components and Devices in Ernakulam (Cochin). Prior to that the opener of Sri Krishna Radio Company in Ernakulam gave me a manual of Jetking and made me drool over it till my dad got his bonus to buy me one. Dad also had a collection of books by Janakiraman that started with a crystal set and progresses to a 6 transistor radio. I also assembled Jetking's two band radio after some time.

Unfortunately, the urge to tinker around to get better clarity, more stations etc. without understanding the limitations broke them.

 

[analogadikt]

Even if anyone is able to get hold of a kit, it would just be a decoration article in the home. AIR is discontinuing medium wave transmission by the end of this year.

Regards,

 

[Subbu68]

Jerking also had a couple of amplifier kits too if I remember right.

 

[reubensm]

Even if anyone is able to get hold of a kit, it would just be a decoration article in the home. AIR is discontinuing medium wave transmission by the end of this year.

Regards,

The national MW service was shut down on 31 Dec 2021 but there haven't been any other press releases although AIR has said that they are upgrading. In Kerala there was an attempt to shut down the Alleppey MW station but the order was put on hold due to some local politics. Also about 4 years ago, the MW transmission tower of AIR Trivandrum fell down in a storm and it was duely replaced with a new one. I think it costs about 40 lakh in monthly electricity costs, for running the AIR MW stations in Kerala (that almost nobody listens to).

for those who are not familiar, an older model tube AM broadcast transmitter looks like this and is extremely power hungry
its so much easier to just stream over the internet for users to listen on their phones with a suitable app

 

[Jolly 7]

I am currently attempting to reconstruct the Jetking Guru circuit after almost 40 years. I do not have any of the original parts or PCB. Therefore I have made a temporary PCB and used parts obtained from a variety of sources and Toko coils for the IFTs. I have not used any old problematic lockfit-style transistors, but chose TO92 package transistors instead. For the RF section I have replaced BF194B with BF594B; BF195C with BF495C and BF195D with BF495D. In relation to the voltage readings provided by Jetking for these transistors in their booklet, I was able to obtain identical voltages except for the base voltage for BF594B. I am reading around 1.4 volts on mine and this would appear to be correct, as the transistor is oscillating at this frequency. I have not built the AF section yet but am using an alternative temporary setup. Currently I cannot hear any stations but the antenna coil is responsive to touch and generates beat frequencies on an adjacent MW radio. If I am successful in getting this circuit to work as it should, I will post further updates.

 

[Jolly 7]

Hey Guys,

Saw this post today and it brought back a lot of enjoying radio (pre-FM period in India :-D). I still love radio and listen to every day, but mostly FM.

Back in 2007, I believe, I bought a DIY radio kit in SP road and assembled it. It worked great and a friend of mine who also loved radios took it from me (just took it when he left without asking :-D. Close friend of course)

I then got another KIT from SP Road from 'OM Electronics'. Started assembling... soldered all the resistors when my soldering iron failed. I got busy with my job, and finally, forgot about it. It was in its original box, with all the supplied components, manual etc. I just found it and took it out.

I plan to assemble it and make it work. Here is photo (upper part - first and last page of the assembly manual, lower part the front and rear of the radio case. All parts are inside, of course, none lost.
View attachment 71484

It's brilliant to still have an unbuilt kit like this after such a long time. Please share the circuit diagram and PCB component layout if you are able to. Thanks.

 

[Subbu68]

It's brilliant to still have an unbuilt kit like this after such a long time. Please share the circuit diagram and PCB component layout if you are able to. Thanks.

See post #5. It is there.

 

[Jolly 7]

See post #5. It is there.

Yes, I am aware of post #5 and the Jetking Guru diagrams from there were the guide and basis of my reconstruction.
What I have requested for now is the circuit diagram and PCB details of the Jetking two-band radio in Wintergreen's post #21. This is a different radio from the Jetking Guru radio.
Kind regards.

 

[Subbu68]

Yes, I am aware of post #5 and the Jetking Guru diagrams from there were the guide and basis of my reconstruction.
What I have requested for now is the circuit diagram and PCB details of the Jetking two-band radio in Wintergreen's post #21. This is a different radio from the Jetking Guru radio.
Kind regards.

Sorry Jolly, I thought it was for Guru.

 

[reubensm]

these videos should answer a few of your troubleshooting questions

also, check out this interesting build

 

[Jolly 7]

these videos should answer a few of your troubleshooting questions

also, check out this interesting build

Thank you for the YouTube links. I will go through them. I successfully constructed the Chinese HX108-2 kit MW pocket radio kit recently with some modifications. The radio still works very well. However, it differs from the Jetking Guru in a number of respects. The Guru used to sound much better too. The single split phase 3 volt audio transformer for Germanium transistors used in the Guru is very difficult to source nowadays but the other components or near equivalents can still be obtained. However, the plastic encased AC128 transistors may not be the best substitute for the original metal cased ones.
Thanks once again for sharing the detailed information from your EFY magazine.

 

[santaji]

Hey Guys,

Saw this post today and it brought back a lot of enjoying radio (pre-FM period in India :-D). I still love radio and listen to every day, but mostly FM.

Back in 2007, I believe, I bought a DIY radio kit in SP road and assembled it. It worked great and a friend of mine who also loved radios took it from me (just took it when he left without asking :-D. Close friend of course)

I then got another KIT from SP Road from 'OM Electronics'. Started assembling... soldered all the resistors when my soldering iron failed. I got busy with my job, and finally, forgot about it. It was in its original box, with all the supplied components, manual etc. I just found it and took it out.

I plan to assemble it and make it work. Here is photo (upper part - first and last page of the assembly manual, lower part the front and rear of the radio case. All parts are inside, of course, none lost.

Wow! Thanks for sharing the pictures. You must be owning one of the last kits made. Do you have the contact details for OM Electronics. Maybe there is a slight chance that they have one kit remaining still.

Even if anyone is able to get hold of a kit, it would just be a decoration article in the home. AIR is discontinuing medium wave transmission by the end of this year.

Regards,

Sad if true, for all the vintage radio fans. I have been experimenting with AM transmitter circuits but unfortunately the results have not been great so far. There is something beautiful about the simplicity of old-fashioned AM receivers that future generations of electronics tinkerers will miss out on.

Thank you for the YouTube links. I will go through them. I successfully constructed the Chinese HX108-2 kit MW pocket radio kit recently with some modifications. The radio still works very well. However, it differs from the Jetking Guru in a number of respects. The Guru used to sound much better too. The single split phase 3 volt audio transformer for Germanium transistors used in the Guru is very difficult to source nowadays but the other components or near equivalents can still be obtained. However, the plastic encased AC128 transistors may not be the best substitute for the original metal cased ones.
Thanks once again for sharing the detailed information from your EFY magazine.

Here is a schematic of a JetKing 3-band kit from the excellent book "Basic Radio and Television" by S.P. Sharma (first edition). How this helps. The HX-108 is a great kit also, but I would love to build a multiband SW MW kit like the JetKing.



And here are some assorted JetKing print ads from old publications. I am actually on the lookout for any old electronics magazines and books from the '60s, '70s, and '80s. If anybody has any leads, please let me know.

 

[Subbu68]

This thread reignited my first steps into electronics. I had assembled two Jetkings - Guru and Two Band. Sadly did not preserve them.

Now, after 40 yrs or so, got my daughter assemble her radio Elenco AM kit a couple of months back. She left it in her room when she went back to hostel. Took it out today and managed to retune it.


And after playing with it took out my Tivoli Model One a superb wood radio with AM / FM and BT / Aux in ..excellent sounding radio. And Sony ICF 7600GR to catch a couple of stations from India and another from a city 300kms from Abu Dhabi both on MW.

 

[Subbu68]

View attachment 72259

Thank you for sharing these ads..my two kit builds are in this. Jewel 1 band and Skylab 2 band. You made me literally cry... Again why didn't I preserve them?

 

[Jolly 7]

This thread reignited my first steps into electronics. I had assembled two Jetkings - Guru and Two Band. Sadly did not preserve them.

Now, after 40 yrs or so, got my daughter assemble her radio Elenco AM kit a couple of months back. She left it in her room when she went back to hostel. Took it out today and managed to retune it.

View attachment 72262
And after playing with it took out my Tivoli Model One a superb wood radio with AM / FM and BT / Aux in ..excellent sounding radio. And Sony ICF 7600GR to catch a couple of stations from India and another from a city 300kms from Abu Dhabi both on MW.
View attachment 72263

@Subbu68: Thanks for sharing. I am familiar with the Elenco AM radio kit from the internet but have never seen one for real. Here is the link to the manual for it: https://www.elenco.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/AM-550CK_REV-A.pdf
You are fortunate with your location in being able to receive long-distance MW stations in this day and age, with so much electrical interference around from computers, routers, modems, plasma TVs, CFL bulbs etc.

 

[Thirumalkumaran]

OT: Guys! I thought I was old at 40 in this hobby. Now come to know that I'm so young, that this thread is the best motivation for me!

 

[Subbu68]

@Subbu68: Thanks for sharing. I am familiar with the Elenco AM radio kit from the internet but have never seen one for real. Here is the link to the manual for it: https://www.elenco.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/AM-550CK_REV-A.pdf
You are fortunate with your location in being able to receive long-distance MW stations in this day and age, with so much electrical interference around from computers, routers, modems, plasma TVs, CFL bulbs etc.

I have to place these radios near the window to catch the distant stations. Also in my house most of the lamps are kept off when not required. so interferences are relatively less.

I am looking at a Dxing antenna https://www.amazon.ae/gp/product/B00BLW627G/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2QUTRSO1ZHRN9&psc=1

 

[Subbu68]

@Subbu68: Thanks for sharing. I am familiar with the Elenco AM radio kit from the internet but have never seen one for real. Here is the link to the manual for it: https://www.elenco.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/AM-550CK_REV-A.pdf
You are fortunate with your location in being able to receive long-distance MW stations in this day and age, with so much electrical interference around from computers, routers, modems, plasma TVs, CFL bulbs etc.

Since you are in the UK, I think you should be able to snag a Elenco kit. There may be others too there?