Demise of Heathkit

[Domenic M. Mallozzi]

Hi gang

I think we have all had these discussions before.

Could Heath survive today. I don't know, but I would hope so. I still use
quite a few of the Heathkits I built over the past 30+ years. I still build
kits and from scratch but also own commercial equipment. Each has its place.

People all had there reasons for building Heathkits. I was 14 when I started
building. My reasons were simple I was saving for college and the cost of
anything else was out of reach. A hw16 was under $100 and with a couple of
crystals and you wer on the air with a real radio and it was fun. I also
learned to build more complicated stuff then I would have ever tried on my
own.

Also, test equpment was good and in my opinion a good buy. I worked for a
wholesale electronics distributor as a kid and I remember that a VTVM from
RCA et al was quite a bit more than I spent on my Heath (which is still on my
bench).

Also, in the value vein, I have heard the comments before on the quality,
design, cost etc. of Heath test equipment. Let's be realistic Heath IM series
counters were designed as a low cost (relatively) instrument that 'was'
designed to be built with minimum tools. To compare it to Hewlett Packard
5345 (available at the same time) or Tektronix gear is really unfair. A good
analogy is would you put a Ford Escort in a race with a Formula One race car,
who do you think would win.

I've worked 20 years with test equipment as an engineer. I did some design
for a few years and for the past 10 years I have support a large commercial
cal and maintenance shop. The construction techniques and material used in a
commercial piece of equipment (for the real test equipment companies) is well
out of reach of the majority of home builders . One scope made by a major
manufacturer in the 70's used a delay line made out of teflon insulated
silver plated coax. The stuff is about $2.50 a foot, and the delay line was
much more than a foot.. That delay line probably would be a major cost driver
in a Heath design where you were trying to marke a kit for under $500.

Well off my soapbox I come

Have gun gang

73's

Dom
N1DM

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