Unbuilt Heath's

[Dave Edwards]

I don't think Brian is "full of it"
I agree with him that kit building today is a step down from years past.
The Elecraft 'looks' like a kit, and I believe it is somewhat low power.
I was interested in TenTec's 2Mfm transceiver kit, but looking at it at
Dayton, it felt kind of cheap. The rest of TenTec's kit line reminds me of
MFJ.
Heath may have been in business because most hams couldn't afford Collins,
Drake, Swan, but they were successful because many of there kits WERE
competitive. The SB102 was not as solid as a KWM2A, but it was close, and
had a CW filter. It certainly held its' own against the Swan lineup. And the
SB303 receiver has a lot of things over a 75A4 (which hardly outperforms 95
% of todays gear)
In addition, while you can try your kitbuilding skills with today's QRP
rigs, and regenerative receivers, and transverters, gone are the quality 1
and 2 kw amps, legal limit antenna tuners, monitor scopes, keyers etc.
Combine that with the whole lineup of hifi kits, and I do understand what
Brian sees as missing.
-----Original Message-----
From: Carl Hyde <cshyde at YAHOO.COM>
To: HEATH at LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV <HEATH at LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV>
Date: Friday, October 22, 1999 10:35 AM
Subject: Re: Unbuilt Heath's


>Brian your full of it. There are many kits made and
>available today that are far better than anything
>Heath made then. Look at Ten Tecs kits and especially
>look at the Elecraft K2 which is one of the best
>radios available kit or no kit. Heathkit provided a
>means to get a radio by having no production line.
>Therfore if you assembled it yourself they didn't have
>to pay someone to do it for you. Don't get me wrong
>Heath had many innovations and generally good
>engineering but so did Allied and the other kit makers
>of the time. Your mixing apples and oranges. Heath was
>in business because most hams couldn't afford a
>Collins or Drake Or Swan or Hallicrafters. Many Hams
>also wanted the convenience of having all the parts
>and instruction supplied to them rather than having to
>go out and find a lot of parts to home brew a radio.
>Sure their stuff was good but even in their day
>Collind and Drake were far better. The Collind 75A-4
>receiver 50 years later still outperforms 95% of the
>receivers on the market today. The Drake R4C receiver
>with the Sherwood mods is  as close to a laboratory
>standard as you can get for less than $10,000. Heath
>never built a receiver that even comes close. If you
>don't believe it go to Sherwood Engineerings web site
>and look at a laboratory comparison of all the major
>receivers on the market then and now. Not many Heaths
>listed. And the old saying still holds true "If you
>can't Hear em you can't work em"
>
>If you want to build a great radio today there are
>many more kits available than there were in Heaths
>day. From QRP on up we have many to choose from and
>they are fun and perform well. So you can be
>passionate about Heath but you can't compare Heath
>radios of yesteryear to any kits available today. If
>Heath were still selling kits today it would be a
>different story. Just my three cents thanks for the
>bandwidth.
>
>--- Doug Huggard <dhuggard at CTS.COM> wrote:
>> In article
>> <008401bf1b6a$9662bd80$21b92e9c at Pbeijconrad>,
>> Brian Conrad <beijconrad at GDINET.COM> wrote:
>> >Common  Guys and Girls,
>> >    So what how much it costs.  One simple reality
>> - there are NO
>> >electronic Kits any where near as good as the
>> Heath's from the 70's and
>> >80's.  And I love building them  -  and look for
>> any lame excuse to
>> >rationalize why.  it' a hobby I love  -  and I have
>> alot of equipment I
>> >can use.
>> >
>> >Brian J Conrad
>>
>> Brian,
>>
>> You may be right about the 70's and 80's but there
>> are some absolutely
>> wonderful ham kits available today. Having built
>> *numerous* Heathkits
>> I can say that there are kits available today that
>> exceed Heathkit in
>> construction (no wires to strip/solder) with
>> documentation every bit
>> as good.
>>
>> So, for those of you who like to build, take heart -
>> the kits are out
>> are out there.
>>
>>
>> 73s,
>>
>> Doug - WB6AJX
>>
>> Sponsored by the City of Tempe
>>
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>
>
>=====
>Carl S.HYDE
>W2CSH
>cshyde at yahoo.com
>Eagles May Soar, But Weasles Never Get Sucked Into Jet Engines!
>
>Politics: From the Greek word Poli, meaning many and
>the word tics, meaning blood sucking parasites.
>__________________________________________________
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