The Murania is a wonderful AM Reciever Kit that I recently had an opportunity to put together. Created by David Cripe (NMØS) and put out by the Four State QRP Group,

The design of the radio is technically surface mount, but it uses through hole components. Each component needs to be prepped with it’s lead bent upwards and then can be soldered to the board and trimmed.

The technique is called “Pittsburg” according to the site and part of the design includes a soldered pcb enclosure that helps shield the radio from interferrence from hand effects. The wonderful yellow color and logo design make it an especially attractive little kit.

I did add one additional step to the directions that I found very helpful, before beginning any component soldering to the board I tinned all the pads by adding a small amount of solder to each one.

I learned this trick from RC and Drone building, their control boards are often very small and surface mount as well pre-tinning all the pads is far easier with out any components in the way. It’s also easier to solder components to the board with the solder on the board already, just heat the pad and add the component with the other hand, no need to add extra solder!

Not the best job in the world but it works! I think this was the first antenna coil I’ve wound since I was a kid, and it looks about as good as them too.

This is a great kit and I would highly recommend it if you get and opportunity to pick it up. It offers a fun and slighlty unusual build technique that makes for a fun experience. The final product is a nice little radio that I’ve been finding myself listening to while in the kitchen or at my work bench.