The AM Forum

I saw in latest QST that the latest incarnation of Heath plans to start offering kits again.  They'll start with little utility control type stuff but gto so much feedback from hams that they want to offer some ham kits too.  Plan to start out with a wattmeter, tuner, small stuff and work up.

I guess WWII components will be few and far between in these new kits. ;D

Thread here started back in August 2011: http://amfone.net/Amforum/index.php?topic=28538.0

Yeah, all that's shown up so far is this...

http://www.heathkit.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=121&Itemid=245

$130 for a small kit for a job that a tennis ball hanging from the garage ceiling does better!

Yeah, certainly not something I'd spend my Guinness money on but, once upon a time, Heathkit was one of the great ones and I'm glad to see them getting back into the kit business. Hopefully they'll eventually get into some manly ham kits, like an ol' buzzard rated legal limit (plus a reasonable safety factor  ;D) tuner and such. Being a shooter and reloader, I'd build a chronograph kit if the price was decent. It'd be nice if they'd consult this group for ideas and designs. Lotta talent here.

Pete,  yeah after I wrote the topic I vaguely remembered it had be discussed.
anyway QST finally picked it up.

...and gentlemen, I don't have as much fun stringing a tennis ball as soldering something and Heath may start making some decent ham stuff again.
 
We can hope,- for nostalgia if nothing else.

Oh and come to think of it my Tarus has a backup beeper in it.  Decreasing distance makes it chirp faster. When the tone becomes steady I'm two feet from the garage refrigator, urk.  ;D    Bet I paid more than the Heath for that beastie feature.

" $130 for a small kit for a job that a tennis ball hanging from the garage ceiling does better! "


Yeah, but the blind would prefer the GreafKit.


klc

Good point.

Blind drivers can solder a electronics circuit board based kit to help them know when to stop as they drive into their garage.

I think blind drivers, however, are a limited market.
 ;D

My mother had a 4x4 board across the floor.  When the front tires hit the board she stopped.  This was an improvement over the old system which was stopping when she hit the wall.

She'll be ninety this week, she no longer drives.  Although, she can still drive, my brother and I decided that it's better that she doesn't.

Fred

" Although, she can still drive, my brother and I decided that it's better that she doesn't. "

My auntie stoped last spring. She said that she was woried that her reflexes weren't 'up to par'...  She was born before the Great War.

We took the keys away from 'my old man' in 2010. He was only 94.

klc

Geeze look at that price!?  I wonder what a DX-100 kit would cost today.

So I wonder if is this still the same outfit that made all the Heathkit BAMA stuff disappear?

No

I am not a business type and could never understand how the original Heath Kit, Daystrom, or who ever they were, could ever make any profit. But it was certainly a wonderful way for anyone interested in electronics to get their feet wet building some neat stuff.
What would the "born-again" Heath have to offer??? Through-hole technology? Outdated hard-to-find components? Or SMT kits?
I doubt they would bring back any "RETRO" DX100's or Marauder types of Ham equipment.
Fred