By striving to meet the following critera, you too can assure that your homebuilt equipment looks shoddy and of generally poor quality.

• Don't plan - anything. Put the holes for mounting things "sorta where it's convenient". It doesn't matter that the power switch will now be on the bottom of the transmitter - that's where it was MEANT to be. By the same token, don't work in an orderly fashion when building kits - just put in the fun looking parts wherever you think they should go. If it doesn't fit, cut off some of the extra pins (or move them so that two go in the same hole).
• Don't measure when lining up mechanical aspects of construction.
• Always make your own enclosures. Used Pizza Cardboards are fine material choices. Under no circumstances should you use a straightedge or sharp blade to make clean folds and cuts. (Hmm... If you're following these instructions, you probably shouldn't have any sharp objects nearby, anyway)
• Be headstrong and work quickly, remembering always that a job not worth doing is not worth doing well.
• Printed circuit boards are a nuissance - exclusively use hot melt glue or RTV to hold parts in place, with point to point wiring connecting various leads as necessary. Never insulate connections, as this may make things work better, and it definitely makes subsequent revision more difficult.