Silent Witness was “doing my head in”, so I thought I’d build this Haynes Amplifier Kit.
I bought it at 75% discount, but hey, it’s Haynes, so it must be ok?
Hmm..
Turns out it’s made under license by a German firm.
Took about an hour, but that’s only because I had wire cutters/strippers. Without them it would have been TWO hours.
Issues:
- The board is too big for the space between the speaker and the volume control. I had to install it upside down and skewed.
- You need wire strippers/cutters. Not made clear.
- The volume control is wonky unless you install the washer underneath instead of outside.
- The wires on the speaker, volume control, and aux jack are too long. You need to bend them so the case will shut.
- Same applies to the resistors and capacitors, you need to bend them to clear the case. Or cut them. See 2, above.
- There’s no way to secure the battery. I pritt-sticked it in place, but that will not last.. poor!
- You need a really small flat screwdriver to attach the volume knob. Not mentioned anywhere.
On a positive note, it worked first time. More by luck than judgement. I need to look at increasing the gain by swapping resistors..
The list price for this item is around £20.. I reckon £10 would be a fairer price.
The instructions are rubbish, printed way too small and in grey rather than black, on white. I needed a magnifier with an led lamp..
Next up will be the Haynes Retro Radio Kit. I have the Advent Calendar version where you get the components day-by-day over 24 days..
Finally, can I point out that this post was NOT sponsored in any way: I bought this kit with my own money.
