What even stranger, there is a survey on the page... If you right click and view page source you will see "heathkit-survey.html" it's malformed and won't work from the original html ... but that's easy enough to fix ... just click below ...
I suspect that the original Heathkit business plan just won't work any longer... so it is really a brand name revival, without the original product.
A. Heathkit required a big market in expensive electronic devices that could be supplied comparatively cheaper in kit form to those willing to to DIY assembly. Today, it is often cheaper to just buy something that is complete.
B. It had the background of a lot of good educational material on fundamentals of electronics. Someone has to publish this stuff in a high quality form in order for the DIY to be inspired to learn.
The internet seems to have fragmented that and has lots of poor writers pretending to be good writers of authority. Plus, the search engines now divert you to who pays for your inquiry.
C. Component size had to be reasonably small for mail-order shipping.
But these days, component size has gotten so small that one needs optical devices and machine assisted assembly to get consistently good results.
D. Electrical theory was directly related to componetns - resistors, capacitors, coils, switches and tubes...
But today we have LSI and these present themselves to new learners as a form of 'black box' electronics.
E. Creating kits is a technical art in and of itself.
Nobody seems to really want to have to count out 1 of these, 4 of those, and so on. It is a huge inventory and sourcing everything makes it difficult to develop a consistent product to fill thousands of orders.
F. People would rather do something else that bother with kits.
Perceptions of toxic or hazardous materials may put off some, others fear small children with swallow parts, and many just worry that they might loose one or two items and have to spend weeks waiting for replacements to come in the mail... even if this were a free support from the kit maker.
It always amazed me how people who had assembled a Heathkit would, with assumed authority, state that "I put it together so I know how it works". I often marveled at how much wisdom and intelligence they garnered from "Connect a 3 inch red wire from terminal strip 4 position 2 to switch B contact 1'. Yeah, that always made it perfectly clear.
If the Heathkit brand really wants to revive, I suspect they should make rapid deployment geodisc dome kits for permanent shelter of victims of earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, typhoons, and hurricanes.
There is a huge global demand for a shelter that will get you through high winds, severe ground movements, harsh winters, and harsh sun that can be erected in a few days by local labor.
But that certainly would not feed nostalgia.
BTW, I don't know how many people recall Darkie Toothpaste or Hang Ten clothing from the 1950s and 1960s, but both brands are alive and doing well in Taiwan. There is a market for brand revival, just look at what Abercrombie & Fitch is today. (Certainly not what it once was, but it is doing well.)
I once had an Abercrombie & Fitch ratan fishing creel and one of their safari jackets. That was way back when they sold shotguns, fishing rods, African safaris, and much more. It was the penultimate outdoor store for British gentry and anglophiles.
It always amazed me how people who had assembled a Heathkit would, with assumed authority, state that "I put it together so I know how it works". I often marveled at how much wisdom and intelligence they garnered from "Connect a 3 inch red wire from terminal strip 4 position 2 to switch B contact 1'. Yeah, that always made it perfectly clear.
But it makes slightly more sense than the people who've never done anything getting it in their heads that the place to start should be "building an H-Bridge from scratch."
The news of Heathkit's resurrection are greatly exaggerated - again.
But it makes slightly more sense than the people who've never done anything getting it in their heads that the place to start should be "building an H-Bridge from scratch."
Agreed, wholeheartedly. People these days search Google and jump in anywhere, but rarely at the beginning.
Honestly, I'd really rather see it put to bed then see the brand name resurrected under another kit company. Did anyone completely full out the survey to see if you got an email response back?
It always amazed me how people who had assembled a Heathkit would, with assumed authority, state that "I put it together so I know how it works". I often marveled at how much wisdom and intelligence they garnered from "Connect a 3 inch red wire from terminal strip 4 position 2 to switch B contact 1'. Yeah, that always made it perfectly clear.
To be fair, the manual for every Heathkit I built (and I built quite a few) had a section which explained the circuit operation. For example, here is a bit from the 'Circuit Description' section of the manual for Model IG-4244 Precision Oscilloscope Calibrator:
A 20 MHz and a 100 MHz oscillator supplies the Time section frequencies. The 20 MHz oscillator consists of IC U106 and crystal Y102 and is turned on and off by the Time/Sine/Volts switch SW1 through pins 1 and 5 of IC U106. The 100 MHz oscillator consists of U101, crystal Y101, capacitor C101, and coil L101. It also is turned on and off by SW1 through IC's U101 and U103.
When pin 12 of IC U104 and pin 6 of IC U103 are high, the outputs of the IC's at pins 15 and 3 repectively are at a low state. The low on these pins sends a high to pin 9 of IC U103 which causes pins 12 and pin 15 of IC U101 to go high. This high connects to pin 2 of IC U101 and prevents the 100 MHz oscillator from running. The oscillator only runs when the output of Range switch SW101 pulls either pin 6 of IC U103 or 12 of IC U104 low through resistors R116 or R117. The 100 MHz signal is divided in half by flip-flop IC U102.
So, I think if one were interested, they could indeed understand how the piece they just built is designed. Of course, if you just want to build it, that's OK by me, too.
I took the survey when this thread was started. They sent me a link to FAQ page today. It seems to me to be a company named "Heath Company" that has purchased all of the Heathkit rights. http://www.heathkit.com/heathkit-faq.html
I took the survey when this thread was started. They sent me a link to FAQ page today. It seems to me to be a company named "Heath Company" that has purchased all of the Heathkit rights. http://www.heathkit.com/heathkit-faq.html
It also seems that the Heath company is the original that made Heathkits according to this Wikipedia link that came up after Googleing heath company. It seems to match what they are saying in the FAQ page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathkit
The trademark is from the original Heath company, but I doubt that the current owners are the original ones. I suspect the current owners bought the rights to the Heathkit name from the bank that owned it after the previous owners file for bankruptcy. There were a number of edits made to the Heathkit wiki page on May 29. You can look at the edit history and see other wiki pages that were edited from the same IP address. The person that made the initial change on May 29 also made changes to the "Maker culture" wiki entry. He also edited the "Money Hungry" wikipedia entry, which has something to do with a weight loss reality show. So the new owner is into making things and weight loss?
Oldbitcollector (Jeff)
Posts: 8,091
Comments
Meh.
Who needs an unbuilt HW-9?
www.heathkit.com/heathkit-survey.html
A. Heathkit required a big market in expensive electronic devices that could be supplied comparatively cheaper in kit form to those willing to to DIY assembly. Today, it is often cheaper to just buy something that is complete.
B. It had the background of a lot of good educational material on fundamentals of electronics. Someone has to publish this stuff in a high quality form in order for the DIY to be inspired to learn.
The internet seems to have fragmented that and has lots of poor writers pretending to be good writers of authority. Plus, the search engines now divert you to who pays for your inquiry.
C. Component size had to be reasonably small for mail-order shipping.
But these days, component size has gotten so small that one needs optical devices and machine assisted assembly to get consistently good results.
D. Electrical theory was directly related to componetns - resistors, capacitors, coils, switches and tubes...
But today we have LSI and these present themselves to new learners as a form of 'black box' electronics.
E. Creating kits is a technical art in and of itself.
Nobody seems to really want to have to count out 1 of these, 4 of those, and so on. It is a huge inventory and sourcing everything makes it difficult to develop a consistent product to fill thousands of orders.
F. People would rather do something else that bother with kits.
Perceptions of toxic or hazardous materials may put off some, others fear small children with swallow parts, and many just worry that they might loose one or two items and have to spend weeks waiting for replacements to come in the mail... even if this were a free support from the kit maker.
There is a huge global demand for a shelter that will get you through high winds, severe ground movements, harsh winters, and harsh sun that can be erected in a few days by local labor.
But that certainly would not feed nostalgia.
BTW, I don't know how many people recall Darkie Toothpaste or Hang Ten clothing from the 1950s and 1960s, but both brands are alive and doing well in Taiwan. There is a market for brand revival, just look at what Abercrombie & Fitch is today. (Certainly not what it once was, but it is doing well.)
I once had an Abercrombie & Fitch ratan fishing creel and one of their safari jackets. That was way back when they sold shotguns, fishing rods, African safaris, and much more. It was the penultimate outdoor store for British gentry and anglophiles.
If someone is interested in trying to revive it they might be able to buy the trademark from the bank that currently owns it.
But it makes slightly more sense than the people who've never done anything getting it in their heads that the place to start should be "building an H-Bridge from scratch."
Agreed, wholeheartedly. People these days search Google and jump in anywhere, but rarely at the beginning.
Kits give a process for getting good results..
http://www.trade-a-plane.com/search?s-type=aircraft&s-np=make&special=homebuilt&s-seq=3&s-lvl=1
Of course, you might be building things to prepare for a certification exam, like an FAA certification.
http://heathkit-museum.com/
Honestly, I'd really rather see it put to bed then see the brand name resurrected under another kit company. Did anyone completely full out the survey to see if you got an email response back?
Jeff
To be fair, the manual for every Heathkit I built (and I built quite a few) had a section which explained the circuit operation. For example, here is a bit from the 'Circuit Description' section of the manual for Model IG-4244 Precision Oscilloscope Calibrator:
A 20 MHz and a 100 MHz oscillator supplies the Time section frequencies. The 20 MHz oscillator consists of IC U106 and crystal Y102 and is turned on and off by the Time/Sine/Volts switch SW1 through pins 1 and 5 of IC U106. The 100 MHz oscillator consists of U101, crystal Y101, capacitor C101, and coil L101. It also is turned on and off by SW1 through IC's U101 and U103.
When pin 12 of IC U104 and pin 6 of IC U103 are high, the outputs of the IC's at pins 15 and 3 repectively are at a low state. The low on these pins sends a high to pin 9 of IC U103 which causes pins 12 and pin 15 of IC U101 to go high. This high connects to pin 2 of IC U101 and prevents the 100 MHz oscillator from running. The oscillator only runs when the output of Range switch SW101 pulls either pin 6 of IC U103 or 12 of IC U104 low through resistors R116 or R117. The 100 MHz signal is divided in half by flip-flop IC U102.
So, I think if one were interested, they could indeed understand how the piece they just built is designed. Of course, if you just want to build it, that's OK by me, too.
And I feel the same way about Parallax. Without good written support, sales just drift away.
Search "unbuilt heathkit" on Ebay to see the hits go down and the prices go up.
Link does not work.
Congrats on 1000 posts!
C.W.