They don't own the original HERO line anymore. That was sold off to Mobile Ed Productions during the old Heathkit days before this new Heathkit was setup. Several years back I bought all the remaining HERO robot parts and rights to them from Mobile Ed. I've been supporting the HERO's for years. Original parts, reproduction parts, documentation, and new upgrades for each of them..... If you saw the article I had in the #19 issue of Make magazine there are pictures that show many of the original parts.
First RadioShack, now HeathKit. Wow! This could be good news, or Heath may just be another overpriced Pitsco Lego Dacta, designed to relieve school districts of their hard-won funding. We'll see, as their pricing structure becomes more apparent. (I was rather hoping to see some ham radio kits, but I guess that was too much to ask for.)
According to their homepage, it appears they are doing something similar if not identical to Chris Savage's Garage Parking Assistant that he made for Nuts and Volts as their first kit. I'm curious to see what this brings.
I have a HERO-2000 with all the trimmings. Arm, mem expansion, 5-1/4 floppy, auto docking (bleh!). Every few months I get the itch to replace the 5 MCU arm controller board with a single Propeller. The thing that always stops me is that I've never been able to find the source code for the MCUs.
I have to admit, I was a little underwhelmed when I went to their website and saw "Garage Parking Assistant" as their foremost focus.
If I was them, I would have said less than that, and let the happy memories of halcyon heathkit days let our imaginations run wild.
Speaking of which, I had a kind of block experimenter kit, made by heathkit but with lego style blocks for resistors, transistors etc. I remember thinking the Whetstone bridge wasn't good for much, how wrong I was...
It would be more interesting if they revived there original VOM kits. They were a very good VOM and the assembly really taught the builder about how precision electronics is a combination of good design and good components.
They used to have a complete color TV kit as well - a tube version. Would they dare to have a HDTV kit these days? If not, they might do a lot better if they go 'retro' with audio tube amps and preamps.
Heathkit rocked the homebuilt segment many moons ago. I am the proud owner of all the original Hero robots: Hero 1, Hero Jr, and Hero 2000 (with all the trimmings). Awesome for their time.
Isn't the latest HeRo-Bot just a rebadged 914-PC bot? Which was Tom Burick's robot, bought out by Whitebox, bought out by someone now calling themselves Heathkit? Whitebox overpromised, overcharged, and underdelivered. Strung people along on waiting lists, collected deposits, then slowly trickled out the bad news. Hardly a model way to do business. I think the Heathkit re-badge was an attempt to distance the robot from those hopeful but hostile "early adopters".
The problem with the Whitebox approach has always been they wanted to sell the concept of a PC on wheels. That may have caught the fancy of some, but it's just not a compelling story to mainstream. The fact that tablets now outsell laptops says people want small and personal. My tower desktop PC on wheels just isn't a picture that comes into focus for me.
It's the right form factor for higher ed and research, but too expensive. I think Madeusa is the better platform, and much cheaper. Willow Garage should replace the iRobot Create (fine base, but not a lot of HP) on their Turtlebot with the Madeusa. That thing is strong enough to cart a full grown man, HDPE and all. It could haul around my Sony Vaio, but I'd opt for a laptop. Funnily enough, this is actually a chapter in my next book! It's been fun putting the beast, which I call Big Brutus, together.
The kind of kits that put Heathkit on the map just aren't economically feasible today. It's far cheaper to buy a new TV than to make one. That wasn't the case in the 60s, when it wasn't unusual to walk into a living room and see a Heathkit televsion set. I'd be interested in how Heathkit kits are differentiated from the other kits out there. A lot of people have come in to absorb the DIY business. IOW, I think they may be their own tough act to follow. However, best of luck to them. The higher ed market always needs good material.
I keep looking for deals on vintage ham radio equipment. I need a HW-9 and an SB-104A to complete my collection. People always snipe at the last minute.
@Martin Hodge: What's so wrong with the auto docking adapter (bleh!)? I have most of the parts, but never hooked everything up. I assumed it worked...
Of course, Heathkit assumed Hero Jr would drive in a straight line...
Yes, people want personal, but I am not sure about small. I didn't buy a laptop and waited for the EEEpc because it was small enough to fit in my motor scooter storage and it weighed only 1 kilo.
But later I found out that a lot people got laptops in the larger format to use at home BECAUSE they didn't like being tied to a desk and a rather large mess of wires.
It is hard to say where people are going to end up with new formats. The manufacturers hope to get a lock on a winner and just keep morphing. But the user really wants the right ergonomics. Personally, I think touch screens may be a passing fad as you get finger prints all over your viewing area.
The Asus EEEpad Transformer is about the best form factor I have seen recently. It is a iPad equivalent when you need that, but has a keyboard for tasks that require productivity.
Meanwhile.
Heathkit's revival seems to be a brand recognition play - similar to the revival of Abercromie & Fitch. Today's products are likely to very like to do with what Heathkit made in the 'good old days'. (BTW, I really enjoyed the old Abercromie & Fitch - it was as much a museum as a department store.)
@Martin Hodge: What's so wrong with the auto docking adapter (bleh!)?
It just never worked right. Bad design. Under perfect conditions the robot would occasionally dock after about 10 minutes of complex triangulation. Though usually the battery would run out first.
Who is going to make the tubes? Obscure Eastern European factories that still have the technology (if they exist). Of course, a second choice is for China to revive tube manufacturer. After all, they seem willing and able to make anything.
Who is going to make the tubes? Obscure Eastern European factories that still have the technology (if they exist). Of course, a second choice is for China to revive tube manufacturer. After all, they seem willing and able to make anything.
They may be willing to make it but can they make it so it works for a reasonable length of time.
With four days to go, that would not surprise me. Funny thing is, it will probably always be worth more in its present condition than if one were to assemble it.
I keep looking for deals on vintage ham radio equipment. I need a HW-9 and an SB-104A to complete my collection. People always snipe at the last minute.
)
Hallicrafters is my particular addiction. I have:
S 38 Rcvr
S 120 Rcvr
SX 110 Rcvr
SX 140 Rcvr
HT 40 Xmtr
HT 7 Freq. Std.
HA1 Keyer
Some odd crystals and spare tubes
Yes, at this point it would not be wise to build it. So it's just an investment, but I'm sure it will outperform the stock market for a long time.
I found an NIB unassembled Intel SDK-85 on ebay a few years back, I put it away for a rainy day. A year or so later I got it out and assembled it, the trip back in time was worth far more than any loss in monetary value.
Franklin
Posts: 4,747
Comments
Bill
Robert
-Phil
I'm not sure if they got the memo.
They have a HE-RObot (that's they way they write it).
I think Japan sells some SHE-RObots.
Duane
http://www.heathkit.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=34&Itemid=141
DEMO: http://www.heathkit.com/flash/robot_demo.swf
If I was them, I would have said less than that, and let the happy memories of halcyon heathkit days let our imaginations run wild.
Speaking of which, I had a kind of block experimenter kit, made by heathkit but with lego style blocks for resistors, transistors etc. I remember thinking the Whetstone bridge wasn't good for much, how wrong I was...
They used to have a complete color TV kit as well - a tube version. Would they dare to have a HDTV kit these days? If not, they might do a lot better if they go 'retro' with audio tube amps and preamps.
Isn't the latest HeRo-Bot just a rebadged 914-PC bot? Which was Tom Burick's robot, bought out by Whitebox, bought out by someone now calling themselves Heathkit? Whitebox overpromised, overcharged, and underdelivered. Strung people along on waiting lists, collected deposits, then slowly trickled out the bad news. Hardly a model way to do business. I think the Heathkit re-badge was an attempt to distance the robot from those hopeful but hostile "early adopters".
http://whiteboxrobotics.com/ http://www.914pcbots.com/community/
It's the right form factor for higher ed and research, but too expensive. I think Madeusa is the better platform, and much cheaper. Willow Garage should replace the iRobot Create (fine base, but not a lot of HP) on their Turtlebot with the Madeusa. That thing is strong enough to cart a full grown man, HDPE and all. It could haul around my Sony Vaio, but I'd opt for a laptop. Funnily enough, this is actually a chapter in my next book! It's been fun putting the beast, which I call Big Brutus, together.
The kind of kits that put Heathkit on the map just aren't economically feasible today. It's far cheaper to buy a new TV than to make one. That wasn't the case in the 60s, when it wasn't unusual to walk into a living room and see a Heathkit televsion set. I'd be interested in how Heathkit kits are differentiated from the other kits out there. A lot of people have come in to absorb the DIY business. IOW, I think they may be their own tough act to follow. However, best of luck to them. The higher ed market always needs good material.
-- Gordon
I keep looking for deals on vintage ham radio equipment. I need a HW-9 and an SB-104A to complete my collection. People always snipe at the last minute.
@Martin Hodge: What's so wrong with the auto docking adapter (bleh!)? I have most of the parts, but never hooked everything up. I assumed it worked...
Of course, Heathkit assumed Hero Jr would drive in a straight line...
But later I found out that a lot people got laptops in the larger format to use at home BECAUSE they didn't like being tied to a desk and a rather large mess of wires.
It is hard to say where people are going to end up with new formats. The manufacturers hope to get a lock on a winner and just keep morphing. But the user really wants the right ergonomics. Personally, I think touch screens may be a passing fad as you get finger prints all over your viewing area.
The Asus EEEpad Transformer is about the best form factor I have seen recently. It is a iPad equivalent when you need that, but has a keyboard for tasks that require productivity.
Meanwhile.
Heathkit's revival seems to be a brand recognition play - similar to the revival of Abercromie & Fitch. Today's products are likely to very like to do with what Heathkit made in the 'good old days'. (BTW, I really enjoyed the old Abercromie & Fitch - it was as much a museum as a department store.)
It just never worked right. Bad design. Under perfect conditions the robot would occasionally dock after about 10 minutes of complex triangulation. Though usually the battery would run out first.
'
Who's gonna make the tubes?
I, too, lust after one of those HW-9s. There's one on eBay now. But, wow, do they command a premium!
-Phil
They may be willing to make it but can they make it so it works for a reasonable length of time.
I already bought the WARC band add-on kit in antici-
pation. I'm ready to pounce when I find a nice clean HW-9 for $150. I'm dreaming...
Over $400 shipped. Yikes! I may never own one to complete my collection. My HW-7 and HW-8 may have to do!
EDIT: Final price, $575 shipped. Yikes, these are going up faster than gold is.
I'm betting this will hit $600-700 easily.
Are you going to bid on it?
-Phil
Yes, at this point it would not be wise to build it. So it's just an investment, but I'm sure it will outperform the stock market for a long time.
Hallicrafters is my particular addiction. I have:
S 38 Rcvr
S 120 Rcvr
SX 110 Rcvr
SX 140 Rcvr
HT 40 Xmtr
HT 7 Freq. Std.
HA1 Keyer
Some odd crystals and spare tubes
I found an NIB unassembled Intel SDK-85 on ebay a few years back, I put it away for a rainy day. A year or so later I got it out and assembled it, the trip back in time was worth far more than any loss in monetary value.
C.W.
I wouldn't mind having that one.
Paul
Shall we start a pool?
Or a raffle? All interested parties chip in $100 for a community bid, then we draw a name...