Any good DIY radio receiver/transmitter projects ?

[raspberrypi]

I'm looking for a simple project where I can send some data over VHF or UHF. Best would be a kit where you solder it together, then I can attach it to a home made antenna. I'm just looking for it to do something simple like send the temperature, nothing in particular, I just want to learn how to send data, then experiment with how far I can put it with as little transmitter power as possible. Or even just a beacon. I found some beacon projects but they are on Shortwave bands and I want something with a small antenna.

[vk3yedotcom]

It's not quite DIY but have you looked into those 433 MHz data modules?

[ptricks]

I don't know of any kits specifically, but have a look at the talking electronics site where he details on how to build such a thing.
http://www.talkingelectronics.com/projects/27MHz%20Transmitters/27MHzLinks-3.html