[Heath] SB-610 Monitor Scope

[Glen Zook]

Yes, there were factory built Heathkits.  A lot of the display models at the Heathkit stores were factory built and, believe it or not, Heath built test equipment that were "private branded".  An example of this is the Heath IO-10 oscilloscope which was sold, by Motorola C&E (the old two-way radio division), to Motorola Service Stations.  These oscilloscopes had die-cast Motorola logos on the sides of the cabinet and the green overlay, for the cathode ray tube, had calibration for +/- 15 kHz and 5 kHz deviation as well as "normal" divisions.

The reason for the deviation calibration was that oscilloscopes could be used, with various other pieces of test equipment, to read the deviation of FM transmitters.  I have one of these oscilloscopes that I obtained when I established, and then managed, the first Motorola factory pager / portable repair facility away from the Schamburg, Illinois, plant.  This was my senior year at Georgia Tech and the facility was in Forest Park, Georgia.  The "parts department" handled sales of test equipment to the service stations and when there was something wrong with an item, very seldom was it returned to the vendor.  Instead, these were given to Motorola employees!  My oscilloscope had a "ding" in the side of the cabinet.  I also got a Bird Model 6154 dummy-load wattmeter.  It had a bad calibration diode.  However, there was a spare diode inside the meter housing.

There were also factory assembled items supplied to schools, universities, and so forth.  I was "born and bred" 35-miles from the Heath factory on Hilltop Road in St. Joseph, Michigan.  The mailing address was Benton Harbor but the actual plant was on the south side in St. Joseph.  After getting my driver's license, I used to drive up to the Heath plant to "drool over" the latest kits.  There was a showroom just to the left after entering the building where all of the in production kits were displayed.  One could purchase a kit and immediately take it home.
 Glen, K9STH 
Website: http://k9sth.net

      From: Mike Fitzgerald <MLF42 at Q.com>
 To: heath at puck.nether.net 
 Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2018 12:19 PM
 Subject: [Heath] SB-610 Monitor Scope
   
 I have acquired an SB-610 Monitor Scope with the series number 940-3719..This is the best built Heathkit I have ever seen...And I've seen many!  It's so good it may have been factory built...Were any of these scopes built by the factory? If so,  for what purpose? 
   
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