ZERO BIAS: A CQ Editorial

More and more hams are building stuff again, and that’s wonderful. Many kits are easy for the less-experienced builder to construct, with excellent instructions, pre-mounted surface-mount components and, in some cases, pre-wound toroids. Plus, the state of microprocessor technology today is such that, once completed, these are extremely capable transceivers with many features previously found only on much more expensive, commercially built radios. And that’s wonderful.

But here’s a problem, as any experienced builder will tell you (and it’s not so wonderful): When you build something from a kit (or from scratch), it doesn’t always work! Most often, it’s due to a ways, and they all revolve around our wonderful ham radio community.