Ham Radio Humor

Nothing really to speak of today, so I'll try injecting a little humor. Maybe this will brighten someone's day. 

I guess one can never have too many radios. Although some of us seem to benefit from those who do and feel the need to "cull the herd".

I did go on eBay yesterday, just to checkout the Heathkit offerings, as I haven't done that in a while. There were a number of unbuilt kits being offered - most continuing education stuff and some test gear. There was nothing much in the way of unbuilt radio kits.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Crazy or not?

This is something that two good friends brought to my attention - Bob W3BBO and Dave KD2FSI. This is near and dear to me as the Heathkit HR-1680 was my Novice Receiver, which I built back in 1978.

You look at that, and you might think, like I did "WOW! $911.00 for an unbuilt Heathkit? Really?" When Bob and I were talking about this over the weekend, I told him I thought it would end up selling for maybe a bit of change over $500 - I didn't think the bidding would go so high.

But as usual, Dave KD2FSI had a good perspective on this and I am going to quote what he posted on the SPARC Facebook page. So you know, Dave has a nice collection of choice Heathkit gear.

"This week I saw this unbuilt Heathkit HR-1680 ham radio receiver come up for auction on eBay. I already have a nice working near museum quality HR-1680 in my collection, so I didn’t have any interest in bidding on it, but I was interested in seeing what it would go for. The HR-1680 is a nicely styled and still useful receiver even to this day.

So, when the bidding closed, the hammer price was $911.00. I think this was well bought, especially when you consider that in 1976 a HR-1680 went for $199.95 or about $1100.00 in today’s dollars.

However, if this buyer decides to build this kit, I think the experience will be priceless! 

73, Dave KD2FSI"

When you think of it the way Dave states the case, I guess $911.00 isn't so crazy, after all. But there may be some hidden costs, if the buyer does indeed, decide to build it. I'm not sure how the unit was stored; but I'm wondering how well all the electrolytic capacitors have held up for close to 50 years. They may all have to be re-purchased for a successful build. But then again, maybe not. I have since purchased a used HR-1680 to replicate my Novice Station (I also have a Drake 2-NT) and it works just fine even after all these years.

But as Dave states so well, I can agree with him that the experience of building a Heathkit is priceless - way over the $911.00 paid for the hardware.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

An investment?

 First, the QRP Image of the Day

Brought to you by Anton Petkov Lz1XM (from Facebook) who certainly has the right idea! A cold 807 and QRP - perfect together, and can't get much better than this!

Bob W3BBO recently brought to my attention two items that he saw on eBay. The first was an unbuilt, in-the-box Heathkit HW-9. The auction ended on Monday and the winning bidder was given the opportunity to shell out $723 for a kit that originally sold for $249.

There is now a listing for a unbuilt HW-8 kit. It has a starting bid of $590 with a "Buy It Now" price of $995. Here's the description as it appears on eBay:

"Unbuilt, never unpacked, complete Heathkit HW-8 QRP Transceiver.  Ships in an outer carton for added protection of contents.  This HW-8 is unbuilt.  It must be built by following instructions in the included Heathkit assembly/instruction manual.  Tools are required for assembly, including a soldering station.  Assembly tools are not included."

This got me to thinking. If I had the money, which I definitely do not - would it be worth it to buy an Elecraft K2 kit and sock it away as an investment? Probably too late for me to see anything out of it, but maybe 20 or 30 years from now, one of my kids could probably walk away with a cool profit. 

It will be interesting to see how that HW-8 auction ends. It wouldn't surprise me to see it end up in the neighborhood of where the HW-9 auction ended. Not bad for a kit that only cost about $250 back in the day.     

Anyway, it's something to think about.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

One of the reasons that I like Elecraft

I'm an Elecraft fanboy. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I know that Elecraft is not everyone's cup of tea and I fully accept that. But here's one of the reasons, that I like them so much. They pay attention to their customers.

A new KX2 user has been having problems with his KX2 since he recently got it. He's spent time on the phone with Customer Service and at their request, he shipped the unit back. Needless to say, the shipping costs back to Elecraft came out of his own pocket.

He detailed his problems on the Elecraft io.group, hoping another KX2 user who might have had the same issues could lend some advice. He was answered by Wayne N6KR - ONE OF THE OWNERS OF THE COMPANY!

Wayne ordered the Customer Service department to bring the KX2 directly to him. To Wayne, it sounded like the problem was a firmware issue and he wrote the firmware, so he wants to take care of it - personally. In addition, he has ordered the Customer Service department to reimburse the user for the costs in shipping the KX2 back to the factory.

I've never gotten customer service like that from a photography company when I've had a problem! Never got it from Canon, Hasselblad or any other camera company that I've dealt with. When I was at Sinar Bron, as an industry leader, the concept of exceptional customer service was constantly drilled into us. Eventually it became like second nature and it was truly disappointing when it was not received in return,  The only company from which I've ever received service like that was the original Heathkit, as I outlined in my recent post about my SB-104A. Thankfully, I've never needed that kind of service from Elecraft, but it's comforting to know they stand behind their product, and would provide it.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Memories

I have no idea why this memory popped into my head while driving into work today. Maybe it was because I had the VHF/UHF on in the background and I was half listening to a Ham radio conversation.

As I was driving, my mind drifted back to all the trips I made to the Heathkit store back in the 80s. There was one on NJ State Route 35 down in the Eatontown area, about 25 miles or so from home. I would go there to get a "real life" look at all the stuff in the catalog. I spent a lot of time drooling there.

Eventually, I saved up enough money from my job to order a SB-104A transceiver I think what drew me to the rig most was that it had a feature, where at the push of a button, the power amplifier transistors were taken out of line and the unit became a 1 Watt transceiver. Shades of things to come, eh?

I spent a lot of hours building those circuit boards! After I got them done, I started inserting them, one by one, onto the main chassis as per the manual. When I got to about the third one, when I inserted it, the rig would go dead. It would just turn off. Take the board out, everything was fine.

I checked that board from ground to Heaven a million times. I couldn't detect any misplaced components, any solder bridges .......anything! I followed the troubleshooting procedures in the manual until I was blue in the face. I couldn't figure out what was wrong.

Back in those days, Heathkit's famous promise and tag line was "We will not let you fail!".  I admitted defeat, packed up everything into the shipping box and brought it down to the Heathkit store in Eatontown. I had built dozens of Heahtkits by this time with nary a problem. This was my first (and as it turned out, only) failure.  

I brought the box in, explained to the Tech what was going on. He gave me a receipt (back in those days, everything was still done on paper) and told me to call back in a few days. And so I did. He told me to come back the following week. I was working at the camera store at the time and I had to work Saturdays, so Monday was my day off - perfect day for another trip to Eatontown.

When I got there, of course my first question was, "So what did I do wrong?" and much to my surprise, the answer was "Nothing". The look on my face must have been one of astonishment, so the Tech explained to me that the fault was actually in one of the factory pre-built boards that were part of the kit - and that when I inserted my board in, the problem manifested itself.

Apparent to him, not to me!  This was before my deeper education into electronics that would come a few years down the road. My troubleshooting skills at the time were not up to snuff. I expected the Tech to bring out my box with the fixed board and all the rest, wish me good luck,  pat me on the back and send me off on the way back home. To my further surprise, he came out from the repair area with my SB-104A totally finished and aligned! He told me that since it was a factory fault, the least he could do was complete the assembly and alignment process - gratis!

Wow! Fast forward some 40 years, and I'm not sure if there are many companies that would stand behind their product like Heathkit used to. I went on to build many more kits, including some non-Amateur Radio ones, like their professional stereo system. When their Master Builder program began I had way more than enough kits under my belt to qualify.

A few years later, I think it was 1987, I had graduated from DeVry with a degree in digital electronics and was working at Sinar Bron doing electronics repairs on studio strobes. I wasn't getting paid what I thought my skills were worth, and I started looking for a better paying job. I found one at a DoD contractor, to build circuit boards for the guidance systems inside cruise missiles. 

After the interview, I had to undergo a "soldering test". I was given components and a schematic diagram and I had to sit down and assemble a circuit board under the watchful eye of an officer from the United States Navy.  After I finished, he looked at the circuit board and asked me, "Where did you learn to do work like this?" and of course, I answered (with a smile) "Heathkit!". 

I was offered the job on the spot, but there was a caveat. It was explained to me that since this was a DoD job, if there were any military budget cuts, as last one hired, I'd be the first to go. I was thinking that the Reagan years would not last forever, and add to that, the commute from home would be expensive and a traffic nightmare, and that ultimately, the job didn't offer that big of an increase in pay to make it worth my while to accept.

The bright side turned out to be that the HR person where I was working found out through the grapevine that I was looking for a better position. She went and told the boss, who in turn promoted me to Service Manager, along with the increase in pay to just around what I was hoping for. I would stay on at Sinar Bron for another 20 years.

Thank you, Heathkit!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Two friends of mine ......

 are planning some operating events. One on Sunday, the other in February. I'd appreciate if you'd keep an ear open for both of them.

Tomorrow - Mark NK8Q in his own words:

Due to the NAQP CW contest on Saturday from 1800Z through 0600Z on Sunday I've decided that Sunday would be a better day for me to get out for some SOTAdventure.  I think I want to try to hit a series of three or four summits that may have difficult access later when we get more snow/ice.  There is still some residual snow from piles from the 16 - 18" that we received on December 17th but I do not anticipate there to be access issues due to that.

Last year on a snowy (and later sleet) day I did these three which I'm planning for this Sunday again as well (order may change, we'll see):

W3/SV-026 (Shade Mtn) - Snyder County

W3/SV-024 (Spectacle Gap Mtn) Juniata County

W3/SV-030 (Raccoon Valley Mtn)  Juniata/Perry County Line

In the summer of 2019 when there were longer days I also did the same three but also added W3/SV-020 (Butler Knob) in Huntingdon County.  If I were to attempt a four summit winter activation I think instead I would add W3/SV-018 (Broad Mtn) in Huntingdon County.

Frequencies I would plan to operate would be the following (+/- for QRM), all CW:

5.332 MHz (5.348 as a backup)

7.032 MHz

10.117 MHz

14.062 MHz

3.535 MHz if needed

I've found that for in-state and near-state QSOs during the daytime 60m is pretty good and getting closer to sunset and later in the day that 80m may be required.

I'll put up my alerts on SOTAWatch once I figure out a schedule.  As there is presently no snow on the roads and the temperatures for daytime highs are in the upper 30s today through Sunday, I expect easy travel and in general short hikes away from the vehicle to the operating positions.  

I have another series of summits for another future weekend as well, so stay tuned!

Time to start collecting some winter bonus points!  Six pointers become worth nine and eight pointers are worth eleven!

As always, feel free to text message me if I have phone access (I think most of those sites did have good phone coverage) at 484-894-6948 and I'll see if I can accommodate.  Each activation will be brief in order to attempt to hit three and possibly four.  I'll be spending more time driving than operating, but so it goes!

72/73 & HNY,

Mark, NK8Q

February - Dave KD2FSI in his own words:

I am very pleased to announce that on February 7, 2021 from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm local time, that I’ll be operating a special event station using a variety of vintage Heathkits to commemorating the life and legacy of Howard E. Anthony; the person responsible for starting the Heathkit brand. There is some additional information in QST and on the ARRL website under special event stations.  I will also post the actual operating frequencies and modes in real time the day off. I hope all amateur radio operators with any type of equipment (new or old) will join me as we commemorate Mr. Anthony two days before what would be his 108th birthday. 

Planned Special Event QSL

Background:

The Heath Company was founded in 1911 by Edward Bayard Heath as an aircraft company and sold a kit airplane. Sadly, Heath would die in 1931 during a test flight. The company would change hands, but, fell into bankruptcy. It was in 1935, that Howard E. Anthony purchased what was left with the intentions of selling accessories for small aircraft. However, after WWII he bought a large stock of surplus wartime electronic parts and in 1947 introduced a kit built oscilloscope under the brand name Heathkit. The OL-1 oscilloscope was a huge success and Heathkit would grow to be the premier supplier of electronics in kit form. Tragically, fate would repeat itself and Anthony would also die in an airplane crash in 1954. But, Mr. Anthony’s legacy continues today with the millions who learned electronics from his kits and the Heathkit amateur radio stations that are still on the air.

73, Dave KD2FSI

Both of these fellows are great guys and good friends - I would be pleased if you would grace them with your RF. Nothing makes the operator of a Special Event or a SOTAteer happier than a wall of call signs coming at them.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Reminiscing

Last night, I installed the last of the capacitors onto the QCX 40 printed circuit board. I got those new magnifying glasses the other day and they really helped make things easier. I was able to read the capacitor nomenclature without resorting to the "microscope". The added light form the magnifying lamp helps tremendously.

A word to the wise (for what it's worth). I saw the magnifying headset in an ad on Facebook. Almost everything I view on Facebook is somehow Amateur Radio related outside of posts from friends, so the ads that pop up are mainly related to electronics. I liked them as soon as I saw the ad, but was not enamored with the price, so I did a search for the same type of headset on eBay. Got one for less than half of what the company on Facebook was charging. Moral of the story - always look around.

As I finished soldering in the last cap, i was hit with a wave of nostalgia. I got to thinking of my Heathkit "Glory Days" back in the 80s and early 90s. I built so many Heathkits, I was able to join their Master Builder Club which came into being very close to their demise. In no particular order, these are the Heathkits that I can remember building. There may have been a few more:

My very first Heathkit was one of their VTVMs.

Then came a flurry of Amateur Radio Kits:

The HR-1680 was my Novice receiver.

Who didn't have a Heathkit Cantenna Dummy Load (filled with toxic PCBs)?

The HW-8, my first QRP rig.

The Heathkit HD-1410 Keyer - VERY popular

My Amateur Radio coup de grace build. The SB-104A with macthing speaker/power supply and auxiliary VFO.

And there were also some non-Amateur Radio builds of neat stuff:

Had this alarm clock for many, many years.

The GR-70 scanner which had all the local repeaters programmed in.

And then, in my audiophile years - rack mounted stereo equipment:

Graphic equalizer

125 Watt per Channel Power Amplifier

Stereo Pre-amplifier

I spent a lot of money in those years - hey, I was working, single with no commitments at the time. I melted a lot of solder, got a lot of solder burns (along with the scars to prove it). But most of all, I had a blast building each and every kit.

There's a lot of great kits to be had today.  Some are questionable, some are downright excellent and come with instructions that actually outshine the Heathkit manuals - but there will never be an equal to what we knew as Heathkit.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Happy Anniversary

to me!

January 28th, 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of my very first QSO as a Novice, way back in the Stone Age. We tapped out messages on rocks, you know! Well. actually .... we only used rocks when it was too wet to send smoke signals, or the drum skins were broken.

Seriously ..... although I passed the test back in November of 1978 and got my license the last week of  December 1978, it took a while for me to put my station together. My transmitter was a used Drake 2NT from Burghardt Electronics that my parents gave to me for Christmas that year. I had to build my Heathkit HR-1680 receiver, put up my antenna (or what I called and insisted was an antenna), and figure out how the whole mish-mosh went together. After the licensing class that I took was completed, I had no Elmer. I was on my own and learned by trying things, making mistakes, fixing them or trying something else. Looking back at it, it's a wonder I didn't fry myself, or the house.

I was working at the North Brunswick Camera Center Annex store in New Brunswick, NJ at the time. Since I had to work on Saturdays, Monday was my day off. That was kind of neat because having Sundays and Mondays off, it always felt like a long weekend, even though it wasn't.  So when I made this first QSO on a Sunday afternoon, I had the whole rest of the day AND Monday to keep at it and make some more. Those were the days!

To be honest with you, I don't remember if that first QSO was a result of me calling CQ or me answering a CQ. All I remember was how nervous I was, making that first solo flight all by my lonesome.

I certainly don't remember the QSO lasting 20 minutes, but exchanging the basics at 5 WPM probably took that long! After getting that first contact under my belt, the following QSOs got easier and easier.

A couple of things:

I see KA9CIH states he was running 90 Watts. I guess that was Watts input, because of memory serves me correctly, Novices were limited to 75 Watts output back in those days.

Look at that 10 cent stamp! I think the price of a 1st Class stamp either just went up to 55 cents; or it will be very soon. Paper QSLing is becoming way too expensive!

Adam was 14, I was 21 at the time. I wish I had started out when I was his age. Better late than never, I guess.

Here was my QSL card at the time:

That was homebrewed by yours truly, as well. The poor attempt at drawing was mine (Apologies, Mr. Schulz!), but the typesetting was done with Letraset. Letraset was letters on transfer sheets. You would line up the letter on your work surface (what the commercial art world calls a "comp") and you would rub the back of the Letraset page with a stylus and the letter would adhere to the comp. After you got all the lettering done and the "comp" was finished, you would take it to a print shop, where a lithographic negative would be shot and that would be used to make an offset printing plate.

It seems so primitive now in the day and age of computers and desktop publishing - but that was the process 40 years ago.

I looked up Adam's name on QRZ and it would appear that he's no longer licensed. KA2DOH eventually became N2ELW and later W2LJ. Still going strong, 40 years later with no intention on quitting anytime soon!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Christmas in April

I'm so happy for my friend Bob W3BBO. He had a major score yesterday and was able to acquire something he's been wanting for a long, long time.

A little background ....... while I messed with QRP as early just a few years after I became licensed, I wasn't what you would call a "dedicated" QRPer. I had joined QRP-ARCI in the early 80s. and I had my HW8 and I even joined in and participated in the very early QRP Fox Hunts all the way when I was still N2ELW. But I still messed around at the 100 Watt level a lot. And don't get me wrong - there's nothing wrong with that.

It wasn't until one Piscataway Amateur Radio Club Field Day, when Bob brought along the K2 that he had finished building that I really became hooked. That coincided with the fact that my wife Marianne was pregnant with our son at the time, I had a wire antenna hanging from the house just outside a window of what would become Joey's room.  Knowing that there was going to be a baby monitor in there,  and knowing how completely those things are shielded against RF interference, I was concerned that my CW might start the thing buzzing and blaring at all hours of the night while our son was sleeping. That kind of calamity and headache I did NOT need! (YOU WOKE THE BABY!!!!!!!)

That was when I decided to go totally QRP. I just had a gut feeling that 5 Watts would not cause an apocalyptic reaction from a baby monitor, and I turned out to be right. I finished an OHR 40./20 that had been languishing since my single days and went from there. The rest is history. But if it weren't for Bob bringing his K2 to Field Day, and us actually using it when one of the generators conked out ....... things might have turned out differently. So Bob became my QRP mentor, just like he had served as my satellite mentor.

Over the past couple of years, during our weekly Echolink and then Skype talks, Bob would every now and then mention ho he would love to have a Heathkit HW9. He has a K2, a PFR3, various homebrew radios that he has built, but never an HW9. Yesterday his dream came true, when looking at the NAQCC Shop and Swap e-mail, he saw one for sale. it turned out that the party doing the selling didn't live too, too far way from Bob - over in NY State. So after some phone calls and some discussion, they agreed to meet at a halfway point which resulted in Bob taking ownership in these:

After bringing them home and doing some housekeeping, they now look like this:

As Bob said, "a little soap and elbow grease go a long way". And I'd have to agree!  Bob fired up the gear last night and make a QSO on 40 Meters, so all appears to be well.

It's always neat when a fried; or someone you know scores big in their personal goals in this hobby. You can't help but feeling great for them!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!

They ARE attempting a comeback, after all.

I'm sure many of you got the same email from Heathkit, either yesterday or early this morning. I had to admit that I thought it was going to be another one of those "We're still coming back!" emails, but this one had some substance.

It looks like the initial offerings are a table AM radio as well as some parts for already existing Heathkit products, namely the HW8, as well as their weather instruments.

Everything can be found here: https://shop.heathkit.com/shop

Obviously, it's a small fledgling offering, but every journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.  So before we make any harsh judgments, let's all take a deep breath, wish the new "Heathkit" well, and see how this all shakes out.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least !

Still M.I.A.

I still need these two QSL cards to complete the 13 Colonies special event for 2015.

Of course, it's kind of ironic that one of the two QSL cards that I need would be from the state that I live in - and that my original QSL request was sent to a town just two over from home. I guess I will have to re-send QSL requests to both New Jersey and Delaware.  However, instead of mailing the NJ one, I might just drop it off at the manager's mail box. He lives not far off the route I take to get back and forth from work every day. That way I'd be 1000% sure that he received it.

I've been e-mailing back and forth with my good friend Bob W3BBO. At a recent hamfest, he picked up these:

Yes, this is a Heathkit DX-60 and the accompanying HG-10 VFO. Well actually, he picked up the DX-60 at the hamfest. A friend supplied the HG-10 and advised Bob that it needed some TLC, and that if he could get it working, that he could purchase it at a super reasonable price. Bob has succeeded in getting it to work and he e-mailed me this morning that he is in the process of homebrewing a cable to get the output of the VFO into the DX-60.

That reminded me of a much earlier time, when I had these in my Novice station.

My Novice transmitter was a Drake 2-NT that I had purchased through Burghardt Electronics. I had purchased the Globe V-10 VFO from John Kakstys W2FNT who lived in Linden, NJ which was not too terribly far from East Brunswick, where I was living at the time.  My receiver was the Heathkit HR-1680, which was my very first Heathkit build. That it worked without a hitch the very first time, upon firing it up, still amazes me to this day.

Anyway, I had the transmitter and I had the VFO. What do I do with them? That was the quandary for me at the time. This was 1979, after all. There was no Internet, no Google. I had no Elmer with whom I could speak, other than the instructor who taught the license class I had attended (and I never got his home telephone number). So it was either get the information I needed from a book, QST or go with my gut and improvise.

I improvised.  There was a two conductor cable coming from the output of the VFO.  The 2-NT's crystal socket had two holes for where you would plug in a crystal. I figured that the output from the VFO had to go there - it just seemed reasonable to me. So I took a junk crystal, pried the bottom part off, which left me with a base and pins. Then I soldered the two wires coming from the VFO output to the crystal base pins. I plugged it in, hoping the 2-NT wouldn't know the difference between a crystal and a VFO.  I took a deep breath, muttered a prayer and turned everything on.  I half expected it to blow up, taking me along with it, or to somehow electrocute me.

It didn't.

I connected the 2-NT to a dummy load and adjusted it for the lowest output power I could (see, QRP even way back then, I just didn't know it yet!).  Then I turned on the HR-1680 and keyed the 2-NT to see if I could hear anything.

It worked!

I had successfully hooked up my VFO to my transmitter and did not harm myself or anyone else in the process. Much to my parent's delight, I didn't burn down the house, either!  I used that setup for a lot of QSOs and enjoyed the heck out of it.  After I upgraded to General and bought some equipment capable of doing SSB (silly boy), instead of selling off my Novice station, I donated it to the Handi-Hams, who were pretty much a new organization back then. I guess they must have been desperate for equipment donations at the time, as they gratefully accepted it - homebrewed VFO cable patch job and all.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Will the mighty Phoenix arise?

OK, by the time you read this, I guess this topic will be old news. The blogosphere and the Twitterverse have been abuzz with the news that “Heathkit is back!”

Channeling my inner Captain Picard, no one would like that "to be so", more than I. I loved Heathkit and cut my Novice teeth on building their kits. In addition to a ton of Amateur Radio gear, I also constructed various clocks, scanners and other pieces. My stereo system was just about entirely high-end Heathkit. The only parts that weren’t were the speakers and the turntable. And yes, knowing what the age of the average Ham is, I don’t want to see “What’s a turntable?” comments in the comments box! By the time Heathkit was coming to an end, I had qualified for, and was a member of their Master Builder’s Club. All told, I probably built about 25 or 30 pieces of Heathkit equipment for myself and for others.

But let’s not get all excited, running around at 100 MPH with our hair on fire. There’s a lot more to resurrecting the company other than an announcement on a Website and a new survey. This rumor has come up before, with a lot of anticipation and drooling, only to have our hopes dashed on the rocky shores of wishful thinking.

However,  I was always of the opinion that if Heathkit could have just held on until the age of the Internet – well ………..wow! Heathkit e-mail reflectors, Heathkit user groups, Heathkit forums. I know that these Internet groups exist in various iterations today; but not for an active Heathkit.  It would have been tremendous! (Elecraft squared?) If Heathkit does indeed make like a Phoenix and truly rises from the ashes this time, it will be in large part due to the Internet.

It's alive I tell you ....... it's ALIVE !!!!!!

On the other hand, if Heathkit hadn’t demised ……. Whither Elecraft, Sierra, Hendrick’s QRP Kits, Steve Weber, Small Wonder Labs and the myriad other fine kit companies and club kits that are or were out there? Would the “Maker Movement” be doing as well today? Was Heathkit’s demise part of the catalyst for the birth of these companies and the Maker Movement? I am guessing, that in the end, it will prove to be a symbiotic relationship. The aforementioned companies might not have come to see the light of day had Heathkit not gone out of business. On the other hand, Heathkit may owe its reincarnation due to exactly the success of those companies, whose efforts have revitalized the kit business. The “Circle of Life”, as it were.

Whatever happens, if Heathkit does come back as a force, don’t expect that “what was” will necessarily "be".  Heathkit has a lot of credibility and good will in its name, but that only goes so far. Hams are a peculiar breed with outrageous expectations, at times. However Heathkit comes back (if it does at all), it will find the marketplace to be a totally different landscape from when they first left us. They will have to compete and will have to have a good business model. Relying solely on their name alone is not an option.

The good news, is that from the questions on the survey (which I completed yesterday), I think they realize that, to some degree.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

100 years ago

Last night, I received an e-mail from Bob W3BBO about an item he saw in The County Hunter News.  The article was written by Bob Voss N4CD, and it concerned a book written 100 years ago, entitled  "Bert Wilson, Wireless Operator".  The book has been made available through Project Gutenberg.

The book was available in various formats, including kindle format.  Bob and I are both kindle owners and avid readers, especially (although not exclusively) when the topic is Amateur Radio.  I downloaded the book last night and began reading it today.  Even though the book is 100 years old, it is a fun and easy read. It's not terribly long, and I'm already a third of the way through.

You do have to keep in mind that this was written in 1913.  The author, J W Duffield makes an early mention of "the unfortunate accident and loss of life" that happened "last year". Of course, he's referring to the Titanic, without directly mentioning the ship by name.  The language is a bit different, with a lot of "By Jove"s, "Great Scott"s appearing throughout.  Friends are referred to as "fellows" and there's a lot of back slapping that occurs instead of the "high fives" that we have become so accustomed today.  Further examples - baseball teams are referred to as "nines" and ball fields as "diamonds", all fitting descriptions, but all very old-timey. There are also some very un-PC descriptions of things in there, so if you're offended by that kind of thing, please be aware. We are talking 1913, here.

But as I've mentioned before, it is a very entertaining little story. I can only imagine that the target audience back then was the same audience for which the Hardy Boys and Tom Swift books were written in my younger days.

In fact, if you go to Project Gutenburg and type in "wireless" into their search box, there are a couple dozen various books that you will be led to.  Some appear to be fiction, while others definitely are not.  But they are all free and readily available to be downloaded for your reading pleasure.

The other thing that I wanted to mention is that there's another unbuilt HW9 up for bid on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Unbuilt-Unassembled-Heathkit-HW-9-Deluxe-QRP-Transceiver-Kit-/321078183712?pt=US_Ham_Radio_Transceivers&hash=item4ac1c04720

A couple of weeks ago, John AE5X mentioned an auction for one of these.  That kit ended up selling for close to $2000.00.  This one is up to $305.00 with 5 days to go.  I am pretty certain that any unsuccessful bidders from the first auction learned a lesson about holding their cards closer to their vests.  I am predicting that bids will probably (and I mean probably, but I might be wrong) not move much until right before the end of the auction in an attempt to keep the winning bid lower than the $2000.00 neighborhood.  It will be interesting to see how much this unbuilt Heahtkit will end up selling for.

Almost makes me want to buy a K2 and just stash it away somewhere for my kids to sell in about 30 or 40 years.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

This stuff is so much fun!

Being a Ham for over 30 years, you would think that would be deeply ingrained in the old cranium.  I suppose that it is; but at the same time this hobby is something I take for granted.  I suppose all of us do to some extent or another.

But a good afternoon on the radio brings it all back.  In addition to working Russia this morning on 15 Meters, I also worked Martinique and Iceland on 17 Meters and had a couple of nice ragchews with Stateside "locals" on 40 Meters.  In fact, I just finished a nice one with Art K4TP who was using his old SB-102 for the evening.  It sounded great by the way - like any other piece of commercial gear out there.

Of course, the QSO ended up with us both being nostalgic for the "Boys from Benton Harbor" and all the wonderful products that were available from them.  Lord know, we never thought a) that they would go away and b) what the kits would be worth now!  If I was smart (and I emphasize the word "if") I think I would buy a couple of K2s and stash them away in the basement, unbuilt.  I might never see the return; but in some years from now, my kids might be able to get a nice return on them.

Because of Point A, that I made above, that we thought they would never go away - I could really kick myself for all the Heathkit gear that I built over the years that I subsequently sold and no longer have.  It is true what they say - hindsight is 20/20 !!!  But I learned my lesson well after the HW-8 incident.  I don't think I could ever bring myself to sell my K1, K2 or PFR-3A unless it was the direst of emergencies.  I know only too well how much I would regret it in years to come.

The QSO with Art ended too soon, when he reported hearing some loud static crashes.  Springtime brings thunderstorms; and when they come, the best thing to do is get off the air and ditch the antennas!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!