HEATHkit cult

[Bob Grove]

Contrary to these experiences, my Heathkit building was always
rewarding--instructions were incredibly well documented, and the parts were
carefully packed and of the highest consumer quality! My DX-100 transmitter
worked right off the bat, providing me with years of successful DXing--I
still remember unwrapping the Miller RF chokes and admiring the shiny, red
layers of fine wire. My metal locator was delightfully productive on the
beach without failure; my 7800 receiver went with me to an astronomy
conclave where I monitored radio conditions during an eclipse; and I still
use my portable Geiger counter on a regular basis to detect uranium oxide
used as pigmentation in Vaseline glass and red-glaze pottery.

I also share the sadness as we witness the demise of the last bastion of
readily-available parts for the home experimenter and repair enthusiast.
With Radio Shack out of the parts business, the minimum-order wholesalers
will be about the only alternative.

Bob


----- Original Message -----
From: "j diefenbach" <jdief at tellink.net>
To: "Zuckier, Gerald" <ZuckierG at AETNA.COM>
Cc: "William Wyman" <kc2gnl at access4less.net>; "George Stringos"
<big-m at comcast.net>; "Gary Johnson" <mr.grj at netzero.net>; "Dick Wilborg"
<dwilborg at bit-net.com>; "Bob Grove" <bob at grove-ent.com>; "Bill Latimer"
<WA4DDH at cs.com>; "Heathkit Group" <HEATH at LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV>
Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2004 9:29 PM
Subject: Re: Re: HEATHkit cult


> Which reminds me....'speaking' of Radio Shack, in the most recent flyer
> thay
> announced R/S parts would be selling for up to 50% (or was it 60%) off. I
> believe this means the demise of R/S electronic parts, which many of us
> felt
> would happen in the not too distant future anyway.
>
> jd/K1TLV
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Zuckier, Gerald" <ZuckierG at AETNA.COM>
> To: <HEATH at LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV>
> Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2004 3:21 PM
> Subject: Re: HEATHkit cult
>
>
> I don't know about everybody else, but my impression of Heath parts
> quality is not great. I remember putting together one of their
> automotive ignition analyzers for the high school auto shop; had 3
> rectifier diodes in the power supply, and one of them looked like the
> band was on the wrong end of the bullet shape. Took out the ohmmeter and
> it was. So I checked the remaining two; one was correct, and the third
> one was open circuit in both directions.
>
> Flash forward many years to me trying to figure out why my Heathkit TV
> was staticy. While fooling around with the tuner sections, just happen
> to brush the carbon varistor used to protect from turn on surge.
> Immediate static. Home in on this little baby; it was one of the ones
> that look like a pencil lead with a crimped on cap on each end; the
> crimped on cap on one end was intermittent. Replaced it with a Radio
> Shack item. You know parts quality is not good when the Radio Shack
> parts are superior.
>
> This would not fly with the current amateur audio crowd.
> Which reminds me: build-it-yourself types ought to check out
> http://www.audioXpress.com. They currently put out two quarterly mags,
> one for speaker builders and one for generic audio amateur building,
> condensed from their former separate mags for tube-type audio, amateur
> audio, etc. Also run a little mail order parts service.
>
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Products bought, sold or traded here is the responsibility of the
parties involved.  This list and the City of Tempe are not responsible
for losses or misrepresentations of any kind.  Buyer beware!

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This list is a public service of the City of Tempe, Arizona
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