Unass'bl'd Heathkit Transistor Tester on Ebay

[Jim Thompson]

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 16:44:45 GMT, Joerg
<notthisjoergsch@removethispacbell.net> wrote:

Hello Jim,

Heathkit's downfall was an ill-advised policy that "We will not let you
fail". You could send a kit that didn't work when you got through with it
and for a fixed fee (10% of the price of the kit, as I vaguely recall) they
would fix the kit, no matter how bad you screwed it up. That is absolute
insanity.

I am not so sure. Knowing Schlumberger a bit I doubt their accountants
would have let a loss leader service policy fly if it would have meant
lots of red ink. Also, many people felt way too embarrassed to take them
up on that offer. It was a matter of pride I guess. I resurrected a lot
of "suboptimal" Heathkit assemblies for friends and learned a lot along
the way. It really hones your debug skills. No, there wasn't any pay
except for the occasional booze but they sure were glad that word about
them getting stuck didn't spread.

What turned me off after lots of Heathkit builds was that the stuff
became too flimsy. The last was a FET meter, IM17 I believe. Poorly
engineered IMHO but that could have been fixed by temp coupling some
transistors in there. It wasn't worth it though because the cheesy
plastic housing began to fall apart within a short time.

However, my Heathkit dip meter is still alive and kicking. The plastic
case fell apart but the dip meter housing is aluminum. The best was a
HW100 (HW101's grandpa). I bought it used and heavily banged up from
riding along in someone's Jeep. Then it served me another 15 years or so
without a glitch. Those things were virtually indestructible. The only
change from the original was a custom VFO for a bit more stability
although the original wasn't bad at all.

I wish there still was a Heathkit company. It brought lots of folks into
an EE career, including myself. Nowadays it seems that many newly minted
engineers have never held a soldering iron and that shows.

I still chuckle when thinking back about Heathkit's instructions for a
static-free staging area: Cut-up egg cartons. Nowadays the lawyers would
be all over them, looking for potential salmonella cases ;-)

Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com

My first kit was an EICO VTVM.

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

 

[Terry Given]

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Spehro Pefhany wrote:

On Sun, 14 Aug 2005 23:29:13 GMT, the renowned "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:


They didn't like my suggestion of using a digital camera on a stand
to take good color photos of each step and use an old PC to let the
operator hit page up or down to scroll through each page as needed to
place parts or verify their work. It would have helped the techs and QC
as well, but they complained it would cost too much to implement.

That's an excellent idea, Michael.

An old PC, maybe a new 17" LCD display and ACDSee would be all you'd
need. Probably $300 total. You can hardly buy a good soldering iron
for that.



Don't forget a decent two way foot switch so the operator doesn't have
to let go of their tweezers or other tools to change images. Today you
can buy a $ 29 US DVD player that will display JPEGs on a TV or
composite monitor


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany



We had a 10' * 10' room half full of 100 Mhz or faster pentiums and
17" or large monitors they finally threw away. They had a Sony digital
camera with a decent macro capability and a stand that would work. On
the other hand, they had an even bigger case of N.I.H. in the M.E.
office. No matter what the problem was, they wouldn't listen to anyone
about anything, until they were forced into a corner. Their standard
answer was, "That's ok for your little shop at home, but it won't work
here".


Like the day the pressure sensor froze on the air compressor and they
almost lost a 5 HP 3 phase motor. I had had a similar failure on my
compressor so I suggested a modification that let them use a quick
disconnect on the air line and a plug to disconnect the wiring so it
could be repaired in a couple minutes, rather than wait three days for
someone to arrive and repair it. I also added a second sensor to my
compressor set 10 PSI higher to sound an alarm if the first failed, and
remove power from the contactor and controls. As usual, I got the
standard answer, and we lost the rest of the day for production, that
weekend's overtime and part of Monday waiting for the tech to arrive for
15 minutes work. They would lose $1000 from extra labor and material
costs instead of spending a few dollars to fix a problem.

I managed to get them to switch from Alpha solder to Ersin by getting
a sample roll of .015" SMD rework solder sent to engineering. I gave a
couple feet to each of the assembly and rework people. Two days later
that had a whole line of people demanding a roll of "That good solder!"
They figured out where it came from and threatened to fire me, but it
was too late. Everyone who soldered SMD parts wanted a half pound roll
for their bench so the M.E.s had to order 100 spools while I continued
to give out small amounts.

Hi Michael,

sadly that sort of brain-dead behaviour is all too common. Its a great
pity one cannot beat stupid people with a large stick. It must have
driven you bonkers.....

Cheers
Terry

 

[Terry Given]

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Robert Baer wrote:

Mistake!
Never tell a boss how to do anything better.
Cannot change anything, it has *always* been done this way.
Do not confuse me with the facts.



Not always true. I made a lot of changes there in a little over four
years, to the point that some of the test techs could write an updated
test procedure and engineering had 72 hours to either approve it, or
come to a compromise. If they didn't, we shut down production on the
related parts or systems while management fought it out. They told me
that as a tech I couldn't have a soldering iron on my bench or do my own
rework. I had three Edsyn "Loner" irons on my bench when I left the
company. I also had a stereo microscope on my bench which were
supposedly only allowed in the assembly area. I was allowed to design
and build new test fixtures, write test software and do a lot of other
things that weren't allowed the day I was hired.

On the other hand, I was banned from engineering for a month or so
because I don't take "NO" for an answer, and sometimes I call people a
liar when they say yes but I know they don't mean it. If I found a
design problem I found what was needed to fix the problem, then I
checked to see if we already stocked the right parts before limping into
design with a stack of papers. It was funny because a couple times
someone must have called them from the production floor because they
were all running out the other end of the department as I limped into
the room.

They soon realized that all they had to do was review the changes,
put it on the proper forms and sign it off, because all the design work
as already done. I worked on a number of products that had no one in
design who was familiar with, and the techs on the floor knew those
products better than the current engineers. In fact, there was one
circuit using the old MC1496 that was designed by one of the founders of
the company and I had to talk to him to get it changed, because I was
the only full time employee who understood the circuit and what needed
to be done. It was used as a diversity combiner for a dual receiver
telemetry system and it could track within .01 dB across the entire
linear 0 to 5 VDC AGC range after the changes were made.

BTW: The M.E. that had the bad N.I.H. attitude is working part time
at a local hardware store now that the plant is closed. The second M.E.
is working for the county's technical division, and the third just
retired when the plant closed.

The last change was in the way a couple people acted in the plant.
We had a 300 pound bully that thought it was funny to sneak up behind
someone and slap them hard on the back while they were working,
including an old man who worked on 1500 VDC power supplies. I saw him
coming one day and warned him that it wasn't a good idea to try it on
me, or any of the other veterans, because he would probably find himself
laying in the floor, bleeding. He turned to our boss and said I was
threatening him. The boss shrugged and said, No, it sounds like he gave
you good advice. I pointed to my HP 331 distortion analyzer and then to
the heavy bench stool and reminded him that either would make a good
weapon if assaulted, and that there were six or seven other vets that
might do the same thing so he stopped his sneak attacks.

I'd have fired his ass on the spot, for dangerous behaviour around high
voltage stuff, he could easily have killed the OM working with high
voltage. why the hell didnt they?

Personally I think your warning should have been demonstrated rather
than vocalised.

Cheers
Terry

 

[Terry Given]

Hi Joerg,

Joerg wrote:

Hello Jim,

Heathkit's downfall was an ill-advised policy that "We will not let
you fail". You could send a kit that didn't work when you got through
with it and for a fixed fee (10% of the price of the kit, as I vaguely
recall) they would fix the kit, no matter how bad you screwed it up.
That is absolute insanity.


I am not so sure. Knowing Schlumberger a bit I doubt their accountants
would have let a loss leader service policy fly if it would have meant
lots of red ink. Also, many people felt way too embarrassed to take them
up on that offer. It was a matter of pride I guess. I resurrected a lot
of "suboptimal" Heathkit assemblies for friends and learned a lot along
the way. It really hones your debug skills. No, there wasn't any pay
except for the occasional booze but they sure were glad that word about
them getting stuck didn't spread.

What turned me off after lots of Heathkit builds was that the stuff
became too flimsy. The last was a FET meter, IM17 I believe. Poorly
engineered IMHO but that could have been fixed by temp coupling some
transistors in there. It wasn't worth it though because the cheesy
plastic housing began to fall apart within a short time.

However, my Heathkit dip meter is still alive and kicking. The plastic
case fell apart but the dip meter housing is aluminum. The best was a
HW100 (HW101's grandpa). I bought it used and heavily banged up from
riding along in someone's Jeep. Then it served me another 15 years or so
without a glitch. Those things were virtually indestructible. The only
change from the original was a custom VFO for a bit more stability
although the original wasn't bad at all.

I wish there still was a Heathkit company. It brought lots of folks into
an EE career, including myself. Nowadays it seems that many newly minted
engineers have never held a soldering iron and that shows.

what do you need a soldering iron for? just simulate....

I still chuckle when thinking back about Heathkit's instructions for a
static-free staging area: Cut-up egg cartons. Nowadays the lawyers would
be all over them, looking for potential salmonella cases ;-)

Regards, Joerg

Cheers
Terry

 

[John Fields]

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 09:56:17 -0700, Jim Thompson
<thegreatone@example.com> wrote:

My first kit was an EICO VTVM.

---
Mine was the EICO 710 Grid Dipper. I remember having to work on the
dial drum mechanicals, a little, in order to get the action really
smooth and the fiducial to line up right, but other than that it was
a piece of cake.

Its sensitivity wasn't anywhere near what a Measurements Corp's
model 59 was, but then that's what the bux got ya...

Also, as a cheap signal generator, (AKA rogue transmitter) it was
hard to beat for the price.

My original was stolen, and in a fit of nostalgia I bought one on
ebay, which works just like my old one except for the dial drum
mechanical mods. I'll need to get on that soon...

--
John Fields
Professional Circuit Designer

 

[Jim Thompson]

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 16:29:45 -0500, John Fields
<jfields@austininstruments.com> wrote:

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 09:56:17 -0700, Jim Thompson
thegreatone@example.com> wrote:


My first kit was an EICO VTVM.

---
Mine was the EICO 710 Grid Dipper. I remember having to work on the
dial drum mechanicals, a little, in order to get the action really
smooth and the fiducial to line up right, but other than that it was
a piece of cake.

Its sensitivity wasn't anywhere near what a Measurements Corp's
model 59 was, but then that's what the bux got ya...

Also, as a cheap signal generator, (AKA rogue transmitter) it was
hard to beat for the price.

My original was stolen, and in a fit of nostalgia I bought one on
ebay, which works just like my old one except for the dial drum
mechanical mods. I'll need to get on that soon...

I've got a grid-dip meter also, but I can't remember whether it's EICO
or Heathkit, 'cause I can't remember where I put it ;-)

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

 

[RST Engineering (jw)]

"Jim Thompson" <thegreatone@example.com> wrote in message
news5i1g19bcfi647afif28r6jc8kn6cpmcni@4ax.com...

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 16:44:45 GMT, Joerg
notthisjoergsch@removethispacbell.net> wrote:


I am not so sure. Knowing Schlumberger a bit I doubt their accountants
would have let a loss leader service policy fly if it would have meant
lots of red ink.

That policy was established well before Schlumberger bought them; as I
vaguely recall, that's what put them in a poor cash position requiring sale.

My first kit was an EICO VTVM.

...Jim Thompson

So was mine. It has since been converted to use one of the sub-volt opamps
and totally powered by the single Ohms D-cell inside. I still keep the EICO
324 signal generator on the bench to use when I need something cheap and
dirty.

Jim

 

[John Fields]

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 15:05:45 -0700, Jim Thompson
<thegreatone@example.com> wrote:

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 16:29:45 -0500, John Fields
jfields@austininstruments.com> wrote:

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 09:56:17 -0700, Jim Thompson
thegreatone@example.com> wrote:


My first kit was an EICO VTVM.

---
Mine was the EICO 710 Grid Dipper. I remember having to work on the
dial drum mechanicals, a little, in order to get the action really
smooth and the fiducial to line up right, but other than that it was
a piece of cake.

Its sensitivity wasn't anywhere near what a Measurements Corp's
model 59 was, but then that's what the bux got ya...

Also, as a cheap signal generator, (AKA rogue transmitter) it was
hard to beat for the price.

My original was stolen, and in a fit of nostalgia I bought one on
ebay, which works just like my old one except for the dial drum
mechanical mods. I'll need to get on that soon...

I've got a grid-dip meter also, but I can't remember whether it's EICO
or Heathkit, 'cause I can't remember where I put it ;-)

---
Getting old's a bitch, ain't it? I know exactly where mine is, even
though I don't use it any more, and I've graduated to using a
spectrum analyzer for emission testing. And you?

--
John Fields
Professional Circuit Designer

 

[Jim Thompson]

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 17:20:06 -0500, John Fields
<jfields@austininstruments.com> wrote:

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 15:05:45 -0700, Jim Thompson
thegreatone@example.com> wrote:

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 16:29:45 -0500, John Fields
jfields@austininstruments.com> wrote:

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 09:56:17 -0700, Jim Thompson
thegreatone@example.com> wrote:


My first kit was an EICO VTVM.

---
Mine was the EICO 710 Grid Dipper. I remember having to work on the
dial drum mechanicals, a little, in order to get the action really
smooth and the fiducial to line up right, but other than that it was
a piece of cake.

Its sensitivity wasn't anywhere near what a Measurements Corp's
model 59 was, but then that's what the bux got ya...

Also, as a cheap signal generator, (AKA rogue transmitter) it was
hard to beat for the price.

My original was stolen, and in a fit of nostalgia I bought one on
ebay, which works just like my old one except for the dial drum
mechanical mods. I'll need to get on that soon...

I've got a grid-dip meter also, but I can't remember whether it's EICO
or Heathkit, 'cause I can't remember where I put it ;-)

---
Getting old's a bitch, ain't it? I know exactly where mine is, even
though I don't use it any more, and I've graduated to using a
spectrum analyzer for emission testing. And you?

The only "lab" work I do now is for my own tinkering enjoyment.

I design with PSpice and hand off to a foundry. Sometimes I go
on-site to supervise testing, but not very often... my batting average
is rather high ;-)

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

 

[Chuck Harris]

RST Engineering (jw) wrote:

I am not so sure. Knowing Schlumberger a bit I doubt their accountants
would have let a loss leader service policy fly if it would have meant
lots of red ink.


That policy was established well before Schlumberger bought them; as I
vaguely recall, that's what put them in a poor cash position requiring sale.

Nope! The sales of the company were quite a bit more complicated than that,
The original Heath was an airplane company, and went bankrupt in 1931 when
its owner Edward Heath crashed in a prototype. The assets got bought on
auction by Howard Anthony in 1935. He too died in an airplane crash( in 1954),
and his wife ran the company until she got tired of it, and sold to Daystrom in 1958.

Schlumberger entered the frey when they needed an instrumentation company
to help them out with their oil business, and decided Weston (another Daystrom
company) was just the ticket. They bought out Daystrom, and ended up owning
Heathkit. Schlumberger kept Heath because it was a little money engine.

Schlumberger wanted to buy a semiconductor manufacturer to round out its
"portfolio", so it noticed that Heath was buying 90% of Fairchild's production,
and got the idea to buy Fairchild. The FTC decided that this was an antitrust
violation (vertical monopoly), and ordered Schlumberger to do something about
it, so they sold Heath to Zenith.

The demise of Heath came when Zenith started getting cash strapped due to the
failure of its TV business, and sold to Group Bull. Group Bull was only interested
in the Zenith computer business, so they sold the Heath division to themselves,
but left them with virtually nothing but the name and the old kit stock.

Bye bye Heath!

-Chuck Harris

Much of this is paraphrased from:

"Heathkit, A Guide to the Amateur Radio Products", by Chuck Penson.

 

[John Fields]

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 15:24:07 -0700, Jim Thompson
<thegreatone@example.com> wrote:

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 17:20:06 -0500, John Fields
jfields@austininstruments.com> wrote:

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 15:05:45 -0700, Jim Thompson
thegreatone@example.com> wrote:

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 16:29:45 -0500, John Fields
jfields@austininstruments.com> wrote:

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 09:56:17 -0700, Jim Thompson
thegreatone@example.com> wrote:


My first kit was an EICO VTVM.

---
Mine was the EICO 710 Grid Dipper. I remember having to work on the
dial drum mechanicals, a little, in order to get the action really
smooth and the fiducial to line up right, but other than that it was
a piece of cake.

Its sensitivity wasn't anywhere near what a Measurements Corp's
model 59 was, but then that's what the bux got ya...

Also, as a cheap signal generator, (AKA rogue transmitter) it was
hard to beat for the price.

My original was stolen, and in a fit of nostalgia I bought one on
ebay, which works just like my old one except for the dial drum
mechanical mods. I'll need to get on that soon...

I've got a grid-dip meter also, but I can't remember whether it's EICO
or Heathkit, 'cause I can't remember where I put it ;-)

---
Getting old's a bitch, ain't it? I know exactly where mine is, even
though I don't use it any more, and I've graduated to using a
spectrum analyzer for emission testing. And you?

The only "lab" work I do now is for my own tinkering enjoyment.

I design with PSpice and hand off to a foundry. Sometimes I go
on-site to supervise testing, but not very often... my batting average
is rather high ;-)

---
My batting average, when I take a job and turn it around, is 1.0, so
maybe we're kindred spirits?

Not likely.

You've got an attitude which excludes everyone but you as being an
authority, which means that you've turned off the learning faucet.

'bye.

--
John Fields
Professional Circuit Designer

 

[Jim Thompson]

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 17:50:00 -0500, John Fields
<jfields@austininstruments.com> wrote:

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 15:24:07 -0700, Jim Thompson
thegreatone@example.com> wrote:

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 17:20:06 -0500, John Fields
jfields@austininstruments.com> wrote:

[snip]

My original was stolen, and in a fit of nostalgia I bought one on
ebay, which works just like my old one except for the dial drum
mechanical mods. I'll need to get on that soon...

I've got a grid-dip meter also, but I can't remember whether it's EICO
or Heathkit, 'cause I can't remember where I put it ;-)

---
Getting old's a bitch, ain't it? I know exactly where mine is, even
though I don't use it any more, and I've graduated to using a
spectrum analyzer for emission testing. And you?

The only "lab" work I do now is for my own tinkering enjoyment.

I design with PSpice and hand off to a foundry. Sometimes I go
on-site to supervise testing, but not very often... my batting average
is rather high ;-)

---
My batting average, when I take a job and turn it around, is 1.0, so
maybe we're kindred spirits?

Not likely.

You've got an attitude which excludes everyone but you as being an
authority, which means that you've turned off the learning faucet.

'bye.

Damn! John! You've got to knock off drinking so early! I have not
turned off the "learning faucet", and I certainly don't consider
myself the only authority! Where'd you get that idea?

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

 

[John Fields]

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 16:05:51 -0700, Jim Thompson
<thegreatone@example.com> wrote:

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

--
John Fields
Professional Circuit Designer

 

[Joerg]

Hello Jim,

My first kit was an EICO VTVM.

I still have mine. Got it from a friend and didn't even know they used
to be kits. The needle pulverized itself about 15 years ago, just fell
off and became a pile of aluminum oxyde dust. So I cut a slice off a
straw and now it has a blue needle. Much faster reaction time, too.

Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com

 

[Joerg]

Hello John,

Getting old's a bitch, ain't it? I know exactly where mine is, even
though I don't use it any more, and I've graduated to using a
spectrum analyzer for emission testing. And you?

But the spectrum analyzer gets old when adjusting a notch filter while
dangling on the side of a tower.

If you know where your Heath dip meter is make sure the 9V battery is
removed. I forgot it for several years and cleaning that mess was a
bear. I wish they had designed it for a couple AA cells.

Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com

 

[Joerg]

Hello Jim,

I am not so sure. Knowing Schlumberger a bit I doubt their accountants
would have let a loss leader service policy fly if it would have meant
lots of red ink.

That policy was established well before Schlumberger bought them; as I
vaguely recall, that's what put them in a poor cash position requiring sale.

Interesting. I didn't know the reasons for the sale, but why did they

buy them then? Just because it was a bargain? When I was at a
Schlumberger oil exploration facility they ran a pretty tight ship, very
cost efficient.

Anyway, as a teenager I knew lots of people who bought and built
Heatkits. Not one of them had ever raised the white flag and sent it
back to Heathkit. The embarrassment would have been too hard to stomach.
So they asked their friends to help out and to please, please not talk
about it if at all possible. At least not around town.

My first kit was an EICO VTVM.

...Jim Thompson

So was mine. It has since been converted to use one of the sub-volt opamps
and totally powered by the single Ohms D-cell inside. ...

How could you? That's like putting a Volvo transmission into a Model-A
(somebody really did that...).

Mine still uses the toob.

Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com

 

[Joerg]

Hello Terry,

I wish there still was a Heathkit company. It brought lots of folks
into an EE career, including myself. Nowadays it seems that many newly
minted engineers have never held a soldering iron and that shows.

what do you need a soldering iron for? just simulate....

That's exactly what one guy did when tasked with a large switch mode
supply design. He was a Spice virtuoso, much better than I might ever be
as a Spice user. Then he had it built (this engineer could not solder!).
Finally, the moment of truth, drum roll, click ..... KABOOM!

They needed to replace the carpet where he did the test.

Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com

 

[Terry Given]

Joerg wrote:

Hello Terry,

I wish there still was a Heathkit company. It brought lots of folks
into an EE career, including myself. Nowadays it seems that many
newly minted engineers have never held a soldering iron and that shows.


what do you need a soldering iron for? just simulate....


That's exactly what one guy did when tasked with a large switch mode
supply design. He was a Spice virtuoso, much better than I might ever be
as a Spice user. Then he had it built (this engineer could not solder!).
Finally, the moment of truth, drum roll, click ..... KABOOM!

They needed to replace the carpet where he did the test.

Regards, Joerg

ROTFLMAO!

Cheers
Terry

 

[legg]

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 09:56:17 -0700, Jim Thompson
<thegreatone@example.com> wrote:

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 16:44:45 GMT, Joerg
notthisjoergsch@removethispacbell.net> wrote:

Hello Jim,

Heathkit's downfall was an ill-advised policy that "We will not let you
fail". You could send a kit that didn't work when you got through with it
and for a fixed fee (10% of the price of the kit, as I vaguely recall) they
would fix the kit, no matter how bad you screwed it up. That is absolute
insanity.

I am not so sure. Knowing Schlumberger a bit I doubt their accountants
would have let a loss leader service policy fly if it would have meant
lots of red ink. Also, many people felt way too embarrassed to take them
up on that offer. It was a matter of pride I guess. I resurrected a lot
of "suboptimal" Heathkit assemblies for friends and learned a lot along
the way. It really hones your debug skills. No, there wasn't any pay
except for the occasional booze but they sure were glad that word about
them getting stuck didn't spread.

What turned me off after lots of Heathkit builds was that the stuff
became too flimsy. The last was a FET meter, IM17 I believe. Poorly
engineered IMHO but that could have been fixed by temp coupling some
transistors in there. It wasn't worth it though because the cheesy
plastic housing began to fall apart within a short time.

However, my Heathkit dip meter is still alive and kicking. The plastic
case fell apart but the dip meter housing is aluminum. The best was a
HW100 (HW101's grandpa). I bought it used and heavily banged up from
riding along in someone's Jeep. Then it served me another 15 years or so
without a glitch. Those things were virtually indestructible. The only
change from the original was a custom VFO for a bit more stability
although the original wasn't bad at all.

I wish there still was a Heathkit company. It brought lots of folks into
an EE career, including myself. Nowadays it seems that many newly minted
engineers have never held a soldering iron and that shows.

I still chuckle when thinking back about Heathkit's instructions for a
static-free staging area: Cut-up egg cartons. Nowadays the lawyers would
be all over them, looking for potential salmonella cases ;-)

Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com

My first kit was an EICO VTVM.

...Jim Thompson

Mine was a crystal reciever. Sliding-coil tuned. Age 7?

RL

 

[legg]

On 14 Aug 2005 18:12:25 GMT, et472@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Michael Black)
wrote:

"Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\"" (NOSPAM@dslextreme.com) writes:
An unassembled Heathkit transistor tester alreadty has 9 bids and is
over $200. Looks like kitbuilding is still a hobby with some folk.
Too bad Heathkit isn't around any more.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5796969240&rd=1&sspa
gename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

No.

Things become collectible, and hence valuable, when they are scarce.
Since people didn't normally buy kits to leave on the shelf, there are
a very limited number of unbuilt Heathkits lying around. Plenty can say
they have Heathkits lying about, few can say they have one that's never
been built.

But the moment it is built, it moves from one category to the other.
When it's built, it's just a Heathkit, and unless it's a rare item
it's no longer valuable.

They pay the price not to build it, but so they can boast about
having an unbuilt kit.

Michael

The switches, pots, capacitors and other components in this thing will
age, even without use ( ....particularly without use).

RL