Speaking in Defense of Heath[via LSMTP - see www.lsoft.com]

[Ed Kotkiewicz]

"M. Kassay" wrote:

> Hi Heath Lovers....
>
> All I can say is,  Times Change.....  Im probably one of the younger guys on the group
> but here it goes !

EK> Hear, hear....  Right on target, Mike.  You said it all with "Times Change....."  One
thing that a lot of folks just don't seem to see is that many of the things from the past are
just that, things from the past.  As to the question as to why Heath bit the dust, a lot can
be thanked for progress.  My wife, a former ham at Heath was working at the plant when Zenith
took over.  Zenith had very little love for ham radio, or even test equipment, for that
matter.  I watched the line change during the Zenith ownership.  They wanted the computer
aspect to fly.  That was the way of the future in their eyes.  You could see the designs in
test equipment changing.  More and more solid state, even to the point of making a lot of the
equipment battery powered.  VTVM's and tube sig gens were fast becoming a thing of the past.
But all around us, other things were also changing.  We just weren't paying attention.  Soda
shops with long soda fountains were going away, hoppy shops were disappearing, 78's and 45's
were going by the side, Reel-to-reel tape decks, the list is endless.  When I first moved
into the St. Louis area in the late 70's, there were all sorts of tron' shops and the likes
to support "my" hobby.  Then they disappeared, one after another.  To get to a decent hobby
shop today, I must drive over 50 miles, one way.  A hamfest in this large metropolitan area
is a rarity.  The point that bothers many of us is that we enjoyed being able to maintain our
equipment, one shudders when they take the cover off of something today.  The expectations
today are totally different.  High reliability and "no maintenance". But when it does
fail.....look out. This is not to say that there aren't hobbyst out there, just that we are a
small minority as opposed to the norm of population.  This is why, in my humble opinion, we
all need to be a bit more tolerant to subject matter here on the reflector.  I am a true
believer in lessons learned.  If someone wants to vent their spleen on the hazards of
shipping woes, OK, bear with it and use your delete key if you are not interested.  But for
just about every note sent out recently against the recent subject, there was another talking
about learning something from it.  So come on folks, live and let live......

Ed

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