The spirit of Heathkits

[Thomas Beltran]

"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!"

"All I had to do was plug it in" - how ironic, particularly under the
subject "The spirit of Heathkits."   That statement is about as far as one
can get philosophically from the spirit of Heathkits.  There is much more to
Heathkits, Elecrafts, and other kits than mere price.   

I personally am glad that there are people, interested in attempting to do
business in the ham market.  Certainly, this must be a difficult time to
compete in the market, in part, because by my observation, we really get
much more for our buck than in the old days.  

But one can draw erroneous conclusions by inaccurate comparisons.  From what
I can tell, the Sienna is maybe closer to an Orion, 7800, or FTdx 9000, not
a typical $ 1,500.00 rig.   I've used the 2000 quite a bit, and to me, its
not worth even the reduced price it is now going for (and all you get to do
is plug it in - you can't even build it) - but each to his (or her) own.   

One thing about kits, is that one learns a lot about the radio, making
repairs much easier - the opposite motivation from the guy who proudly, only
had to plug-in his radio.  I had the same experience after doing the
Sherwood mods on my R-4C - I really can take apart and fix those radios.  

The kit price of my K2/100, with DSP, noise blanker, antenna tuner, etc,
exceeds the cost of many transceivers, but the resultant radio is quite
good.  If one looks at the reviews, there is a high sense of satisfaction
among K2 owners, and quite a bit of brand loyalty.  In fact, if the
speculation materializes, and Elecraft comes out with a full-size radio,
that might be the Sienna's biggest competition.  I suspect there won't be
much competition from the appliance operator who  gloats about how
inexpensive his new radio was, and further brags because all he had to do
was plug it in.   Let the spirit of Heathkits live on.  Tom W6EIJ

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