Proposed Heath WWW Reference Source

[Keith Rowland]

Chris Trask wrote:
>
> On Fri, 29 Aug 1997, Jim Lowman wrote:
>
> > Keith Rowland wrote:
> >
> > >      I have desperately needed such a reference many times since Heath
> > > turned its back on the ham fraternity.
> >
> > I don't think it's so much a case that Heath turned its back on the ham
> > fraternity.  As I recall, when Zenith bought Heath, the small business
> > mentality was replaced by the usual corporate greed.
> >
>         And at the same time, the interest in the amateur community in
> building equipment either from scratch or kits diminished, and then the
> appliances took over.  The result of this period is that we are now
> blessed with engineers who have little or no hands-on experience, and
> little inclination to acquire any.  These same individuals now look at
> people like me and declare that we're "over-qualified."
>
>         Go figure.
>
>                                           Regards,
>
>                                           Chris
>
>      ,----------------------.       Circuit Design for the
>     / If you understand it,  \            RF Impaired
>    /   then it's obsolete!   /
>    \  _______,--------------'        Chris Trask / N7ZWY
>   _ |/                               Principal Engineer
>  oo\                                 ATG Design Services
> (__)\       _                          P.O. Box 25240
>   \  \    .'  `.                  Tempe, Arizona 85285-5240
>    \  \  /      \
>     \  '"        \                     Technical Editor,
>      .       (  ) \                      QRP Quarterly
>       '-| )__| :.  \                     QRP ARCI 9464
>         | |  | | \  '.
>        c__; c__;  '-..'>.__      Email:  ctrask at primenet.com
>
>                     Graphics by Loek Frederiks


Chris, your sentiments echo my own.  I merely stated the result, while
you and Jim Lowman pointed out the reasons.  I have read the Heath
histories, which point out that when Zenith bought Heath, Heath was
cash-rich and Zenith was in trouble.  As with many other such
acquisitions, the result was inevitable.

Your comment on today's engineering environment is also to the point.  I
saw something of this sort comingback in the late sixties and early
seventies, when the solid-state revolution really got going, and the big
corporate grabs began, and gave up engineering as a profession.  I moved
fromthe engineering side of broadcasting to the sales and management
side, where the money (when there is any!) was, and was able to survive
there until the large group operators began buying up all the stations
they could, thereby driving the prices of purchasingbroadcast properties
up to the point that it has been impossible for an individual to afford
one any more---or to survive the big competition.

In any event, my comment was only an aside. I was merely providing a
list of what Heath gear I have in answer to a request from someone else,
and even this has elicited a comment from someone who seems to work for
Heath, who apparently was concerned that someone might cut in on their
photocopying business or something.

I'm new to the computer world, having successfully resisted it for all
this time, and I am not sure I want to stay in it...there seem to be
large numbers of people out there who seem to sit around and wait for
something to jump on, even to the point of stretching to do it.

Anyway, these exchanges probably shouldn't beon this net.

If I have offendedor otherwise stepped on anyone's toes, my apologies
are sincerely tendered.

73, Keith    P>S>  Love the dinosaur.