What is a Heathkit - from a Newbee

[Shelley]

Wow.
Beautifually said, and taken very much to heart, Rich.
I agree very much (I only wish I had the way with words that you and others
on this list have)
Thank you.
I may have just picked up and used my first multimeter this week and I have
a very long way to go, but I know that in careful plodding but steady steps
I will get there and one day (just maybe not be a day this week! *grin*)
I too will most likely create a radio that I can point to and say "I built
that" - in due time.
Same for the code. I did take the code test on the day of the exam. I just
happened to have flubbed it (*blush*).
I knew my only one day's effort I'd been able to dedicate to it and my
measley 12 recognized letters would not be enough to pass but at least I
know what it is like to be tested for CW and I will be back after this too,
in slow plodding steps and several testing sessions if that's what it takes.
I first came to the Heathlist to find an inexpensive radio to get started
on. I stayed because of what I learn just watching the detailed technical
advice I see shared and exchanged here as well as the fierce loyalty to
Heath that I see here. Both aspects (helpfulness to others and loyalty to
something of value) I think demonstrate two ideals of HAM and are great
"lessons by example" that make this list an ideal spot for a beginner, IMHO.

Shelley, KC8KRN  (<---------isn't that about the most lovely thing you have
ever seen? Lemme write it just one more time..  KC8KRN oh yeah!)
:)

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Post <post at OUVAXA.CATS.OHIOU.EDU>
To: HEATH at LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV
Date: Friday, July 24, 1998 12:31 PM
Subject: What is a Heathkit - from a Newbee


>What is a Heathkit?  It's that first experience of turning parts into
>something you built yourself.
>Lots of folks vividly remember their first Heathkit.
>
>Mine was a Heathkit AR-3, a five tube communications receiver.  As an
>eighth grader in 1959,  I had gotten a Heath catalog through a coupon in
>Popular Electronics.  I had accumulated savings from odd jobs and a
>newspaper route.  A hard-earned $29.95 plus postage.  My parents saw all
>the little parts and pieces that came in the box the rural mailman
>delivered.  They told themselves that their kid, the only one in the family
>with an interest in electronics, would never be able to put it together.
>I'm glad they never told me until years later.  I followed the very clear
>step-by-step instructions to the letter.  Heath even taught me how to
>solder.  A couple of weeks later, the little radio was complete.  It didn't
>work well because it needed alignment.  I asked around and found a couple
>of hams who aligned the set and it has worked well ever since.  That
>Christmas, my parents gave me $5 with which to buy the optional cabinet.  I
>later bought the QF-1 Q-multiplier, at $9.95, to go with it.
>
>A Heathkit is the thrill and pride of having built it yourself, having a
>manual that explains how it works, having a level of confidence that you
>could probably fix-it-yourself if necessary, and knowing that you learned a
>great deal from the experience.
>
>As a ham, I'm a newbee.   I used the AR-3 for short-wave listening.   Then
>cars, girls, college, grad school, and a career interfered.  A few years
>ago, I got the bug again and got my NO-CODE TECH license.  It was easy
>enough, as I had earlier gotten a first-class FCC commercial license (now
>detuned to a GROL).  I put up with the No-Clue Tech wise cracks for a
>couple of years from those who had forgotten that they too were newbees at
>one time.  The code?  Try it. It won't hurt.  I passed the 5 wpm test a
>couple of months back so am now a Tech Plus.  Lots of hams grow in their
>knowledge, even us lowly No-Code Techs.  Bad form and lack of courtesy is
>not related to level of knowledge.  The Old Man was fighting this back in
>the days of Spark.
>
>So hang in there Shelley KC8KRN and WELCOME to amateur radio.
>
>73,
>
>Rich KB8TAD
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>================================================
>      Boatanchor Pix website - KB8TAD
> http://ouvaxa.cats.ohiou.edu/~post/PIX/BA.html
>
>visit the Museum of Radio and Technology website
>   http://ouvaxa.cats.ohiou.edu/~post/MRT/
>           mailto:rpost1 at ohiou.edu
>================================================
>
>--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --
>To subscribe: listserv at listserv.tempe.gov
>and in body: subscribe HEATH yourfirstname yourlastname
>To unsubscribe:  listserv at listserv.tempe.gov
>and in body: signoff HEATH
>Archives for HEATH: http://www.tempe.gov/archives
>--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --
To subscribe: listserv at listserv.tempe.gov
and in body: subscribe HEATH yourfirstname yourlastname
To unsubscribe:  listserv at listserv.tempe.gov
and in body: signoff HEATH
Archives for HEATH: http://www.tempe.gov/archives
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --