Signal Generator Kit, XR2206 Precise Function Signal Generator Frequency Module DIY Kit Sine Triangle Square Output Adjustable 1Hz-1MHz, 9-12V Direct Current Input(1 Piece)

This is a great cheap little kit considering it includes a case and knobs.Tips:1. Check online for all sorts of tips2. Make sure all parts are soldered tight onto the board since the case holds the board in place by everything just fitting tightly. Example is IC socket as well as variable resistors.3. Two of the tall capacitors fit better if you lay them down on the board or else they can push on the case.4. I needed to just slightly file one of the case tabs so I did not need to force it in.5. If you have not build one of these inexpensive kits and their plexi case. Just be patient and enjoy the process. Example pealing paper of of the plexi does take time but will work.6. The 4 short screws are for alignment and spacing to the case bottom. You may need to slide them a little in their board holes, just loosen and re-tighten them, to get them to align with the holes in the case bottom.7. After soldering you need to trim all the parts such as caps and resistors but ALSO other parts such as the power connector. Put the bottom part of the case on, after inserting the 4 short screws and nuts, to see what all should be trimmed.PROS1. Cheap2. Works fine when built3. You get a nice little case and knobs4. Fun little projectCONS1. No real instructions at all. Just a faded circuit diagram and parts list. The diagram is correct and the circuit board is stenciled well so you can work this out without any help.2. Zero instructions on the case. As mentioned above the 4 small screws are attached to the circuit board via the 4 nuts and are use to align the board to the case and the nuts act as spacers. The long screws hold the case together without nuts, they just screw into holes in the case and work fine as such. Be careful since I same some builds online that skipped the 4 small screws.

As others have noted, the assembly instructions for this kit leave more than a little bit to be desired, which warrants a single star. On the other hand, I did get it assembled (first try!) and it's a terrific little device for very little money which warrants 5 stars.I'm a hobbyist and not looking for great precision. I suspect that for other users the accuracy level of this device is insufficient.Now, to the problems with the instructions. The instructions packaged with the product were unreadable. It looks like what you get after a copy is made, then another copy from the first, then a third copy from the second, etc. My copy looks like its about the 50th copy and was unreadable with much of the text partially to completely faded out.But I found two other sellers of this same product on Amazon, and one of them had fairly decent photos of the instructions in their Amazon listing, so I downloaded those images and printed them.Even then, there were issues with gibberish and some totally incorrect information.Right of the bat you are told "The components are welding the front board ..." It's pretty easy to figure out that by "welding" they mean "soldered", but a novice to soldering devices onto boards would thing that the soldering must be done from the front.Another example, mounting instructions for the electrolytic capacitors say "The positive short feet negative long feet." The first problem is that this comes close to aforementioned gibberish, but the more significant problem is that the best interpretation would be that the short lead is the positive lead and that the long lead is the negative. Unfortunately, that is completely incorrect. The standard for these capacitors is the opposite - the short lead is the negative lead. Fortunately, these capacitors also had markings on them indicating which lead was the negative, confirming for me that the short lead was the negative.There is more negative/positive confusion. For the power supply there is the statement "inside outside is negative polarity". This was in the instructions I found online. That part of the instructions turned out to be legible in the instructions that came with the product and said unambiguously "center positive/barrel negative." So that's what I went with.There are many things left unsaid in the instructions, so for someone who has no experience with electronic components and soldering they are completely insufficient. For example, while you are warned that the IC must be properly inserted but they don't bother to mention that you do that by matching up the notch in the IC with the notch in the socket. Instead here is what the instructions say (I kid you not): "Pay attention to the direction of the IC, insert the might damage the chip!" and "check the IC whether against, such as anti please timely correction." Now that last bit of gibberish is completely undecipherable to me!The four screws that were in the kit for mounting the circuit board onto the bottom of the case were too short. I had to use my own M3 x 12 mm which worked perfectly. It also took a lot of fiddling to fit the top onto the case while getting each of the four sides to fit into their slots. Eventually it all came together, but it was a very frustrating 15 minutes.Then I powered it up and connected it to my scope and it was working perfectly! Got nice sine, square and triangular wave forms at varying frequencies. So that's left me with a nice feeling of accomplishment.Other reviews have said this as well. If you have some experience with electronic components and soldering, and don't need calibration level accuracy, this will probably work well for you. Otherwise, stay away.

I am always putting things together to make my own things I need and this was perfect for me since I like to make things anyway this was a fun project for me to do. It was easy for me to put together bc I have knowledge about all this stuff bc this is my job, but with saying that this wouldn't be suitable for someone who has never put something like this together before. It was a little difficult with the instructions bc they were a bit out of order and seemed to not make sense to me in some spots but overall if this is the type of thing you like to do then I suggest getting this. People who don't put together stuff like this I wouldn't suggest this. I gave it a 5 bc it was easy for me and it worked great after I put it together. I hope this helps.

There were no building instructions, but the parts list helped map components to the board. Assembly was uneventful, except...This project has three major issues:1. I was missing a capacitor. On the replacement, it was also missing a (thankfully) different capacitor. If 2 of 2 units have missing parts, that's a poor experience for anyone.2. One of the capacitors is slightly too tall for the case, and it won't seat cleanly.3. The square, sine and triangle waves produced by this device are terrible quality with excessive ripple and demodulation.