Heathkit cult

[MIKE BRYCE]

heathkit's time has come and gone...

I just wonder how many two meter transceiver kits Ten Tec sells each month
at $265 a pop in kit form? ($200 for the five watt basic radio +$65 for the
10 watt internal amp)

that's bare bone, 10 watt output radio

you can get a Icom with 75+watts output, zillions of memories and computer
control for $170...

Another example?

Sure, the Elecraft K2. Great transceiver.... but by the time you option it
out to a useable radio, you're talking in excess of $1500...for a kit

the K1, will set you back nearly $450 for a complete rig..that does two
bands.

get a Icom 703 for $399 from HRO...

Ok, let's talk on a smaller scale, no microprocessor controlled rigs and so
on. Even simple qrp transceivers would be a hard sell. Can you imagine the
price one would have to have to duplicate the HW-8?

As much as I enjoy my green radios, clearly the time of large scale complex
kits are just for wide eyed dreamers..

for not only do you have to pay to kit up the pieces parts, you must also
maintain a repair shop to fix the stuff some goof messed up. talk to anyone
whom worked in the heathkit repair department the time and energy it took to
maintain that part of the company.

It's a hassle when selling kits of any sort. I know. Been there. Done that.

there's nothing like getting a call at 7pm on a sunday evening and having to
tell the guy on the other end  that diodes must be place with the banded end
of the diode matching the banded end on the silk screen on the pcb.

Mike Bryce, WB8VGE
SunLight Energy Systems

http://www.seslogic.com
http://www.theheathkitshop.com


>
> A simple way for Heath to see if there is interest would be to design and
> private label something from an established kitter such as Vectronics,
> Elecraft or Ten-Tec.  That would reduce startup, inventory and tooling
> costs.
>
> If there was a Heathkit (or 'Heathkit by TecTec,' etc.) linear amp kit out
> there and the quality was there, I'd buy one.
>
> Mark
> KD8RG
>

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