The spirit of Heathkits

[BMW]

Jerry wrote:

Hardly in the spirit of Heathkits.  Amen!
I didn't spend nearly that much for my Kenwood TS-2000 back when they first
came out.  And all I had to do was plug it in, NOT BUILD IT!

73 de Jerry, KØEJF
E.J.(Jerry) Forwood

-- "Stu Lyon" <w6cux at earthlink.net> wrote:

Brian's first posting said $6,000. He has now revised it to be option-driven
and to start at $3,000. Hardly in the spirt of Heathkits.

73, Stu W6CUX
Winnetka, CA
w6cux at earthlink.net

--------------------------------------

By saying "hardly in the spirit of Heathkits", are you are thinking
"Heathkits were cheap"? I couldn't afford them any more than a Collins back
in 1968. An SB-101 with AC supply, speaker, auxiliary LMO (only way to get
RIT back then), HD-10 keyer, and an HM-15 SWR meter was almost $600. That's
a lot of bussing tables at $25/week for a teenager. And that's roughly
equivalent to about $3300 today (for a KIT) according to the Inflation
Calculator (http://www.westegg.com/inflation/). As for options, when you add
in the available accessories (SB-610, 620, 630), you could easily be in the
$850 price range, or over $4K today. Of course you could have bought a
Hallicrafters SR-400 Cyclone or a Drake TR-4 or a Swan 350 for not too much
more than an SB-101 and not have to build it. But you didn't. Why not?
Perhaps because you liked the satisfaction of building it yourself. How much
is that worth?

The Sienna runs circles around the SB-101 at an equivalent price point.

Methinks we've been spoiled by Japanese government subsidized electronics
companies that bought the U.S. electronics market and put many U.S.
manufacturers out of business with their illegal dumping, something that
started in the Carter administration.

Heathkit offered a Collins-like radio with some unique features for half the
price. The Sienna offers things you can't get at ANY price from any
commercial rig, and it is half the price of other high-end rigs. It also
offers a kit-building experience much more like that of a Heathkit than most
other simple kits of today. That makes it very much in the spirit of
Heathkits in my mind.

Of course if you think of it as just a "radio", well, then, I suppose you
can be happy with a $1500 model. But if you want to have some FUN again,
then just try doing it at that price.

73,

Brian, W0DZ

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