What ever happened with the come back of Heathkit?

BobR · Feb 4, 2015

Some time back there were rumors and a website regarding bringing back
Heathkit or similar.
As I recall it even asked which kits from heathkit were the most
popular or maybe it was which ones would be popular now.

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news@netfront.net ---

Jim Thompson · Feb 4, 2015

On Wed, 04 Feb 2015 07:38:54 -0800, BobR <RR@spamnit.com> wrote:

Some time back there were rumors and a website regarding bringing back
Heathkit or similar.
As I recall it even asked which kits from heathkit were the most
popular or maybe it was which ones would be popular now.

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news@netfront.net ---

Feb 5, 2015

On Wednesday, February 4, 2015 at 10:39:05 AM UTC-5, BobR wrote:

Some time back there were rumors and a website regarding bringing back
Heathkit or similar.
As I recall it even asked which kits from heathkit were the most
popular or maybe it was which ones would be popular now.

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news@netfront.net ---

Man, I miss those days.
Real radios glow in the dark.

Michael Black · Feb 5, 2015

On Wed, 4 Feb 2015, BobR wrote:

Some time back there were rumors and a website regarding bringing back
Heathkit or similar.
As I recall it even asked which kits from heathkit were the most popular or
maybe it was which ones would be popular now.

Likely it failed the same way the comeback of Popular Electronics failed.

Which comeback?

The one where the remains of the old company suddenly decided they could
go back into the kit business (they had just kept going with the
educational stuff), and so they were starting with a few kits like a
backup warning system or something similarly mundane? That failed, if
they actually got as far as selling kits, they had only a few, none of
them interesting, and so they went bankrupt, the final act of the long
existing company.

Then some anonymous individual or individuals bought up the rights to the
name or something, and made a big splash declaring they would resurrect
Heathkit and be just like in the old days. But they were hazy about the
plans, or who was invovled. I think it was late 2013, they had a Q&A open
to the public, and lots was said, but little details. And that's pretty
much where it left off. They are claiming they are working behind the
scenes, but it doesn't look hopeful.

The problem is, the name isn't so important, while what they issue is.
And Heathkit got out of the kit business when the desired products got too
complicated (and expensive) to be made as kits. Hobbyists see it as a
hobbyist place, but the company was much wider, selling that fish finder
or electronic organ kit to Joe Average, who could get the end results
cheaper by soldering things together, and the manuals were intended for
that portion of the public, the ones who knew nothing but could follow the
manual. Once electronics got cheap, that larger audience fell away. Once
electronics got complicated, there was no easy way to duplicate them as
kits without the kits costing more than a manufactured product. YOu can
get laser printers and DVD players for about fifty dollars, shortwave
receivers that could only be dreamed about forty years ago for a hundred
dollars. Joe Average isn't going to spend the time putting together the
kit, even if Heathkit could figure out a way for the end user to actually
have much to put together. So it leaves the hobbyists, who are a small
percentage of the population, despite the "Maker Hype". They probably
want to put together those old tube kits (they were easier to hand
assemble, indeed when transistors came along, that's when Heathkit started
to not be cost effective compared to finished products), which would be
fun to put together, but lack all the modern stuff that people actually
want to use.

I gather there are lots of kits available now, but they are a different
thing, and not aimed at the general population. That's the competition
that Heathkit would have to face, and all they have is an old name.

No, there has yet to be any finite word on the second demise, but the
longer it is since the last announcement, the more likely it is failing.

(Some years back, someone got hyped up for trying to restart Popular
Electronics. He claimed to have got the rights to the name, yet the name
isn't all that important, the contents is. He couldnt' even get the
history right, for him it started in January 1975 when the Altair hit the
cover, when that was really the start of the demise of the magazine, the
prime was mostly in the past. He didn't even know that Steve Jobs likely
never went to the Homebrew COmputer Club (he was probably in India at that
point, but besides he was never the technical mind that some mistake him
for) or that Bill Gates was off at Harvard (when he wasn't in Seattle) so
likely never attended the club either, though Swiftwater Bill did send out
a letter to hobbyists (mainly the Homebrew Computer Club) about the
illegal copying of Microsoft Basic. So the guy couldn't even get the
hisotry right. He had some kickstarter program, it never reached its
goal, and then it all faded away. The names of the past are never as
important now as actual contents.)

Michael

Pimpom · Feb 5, 2015

Jim Thompson wrote:

On Wed, 04 Feb 2015 07:38:54 -0800, BobR <RR@spamnit.com
wrote:

Some time back there were rumors and a website regarding
bringing
back Heathkit or similar.
As I recall it even asked which kits from heathkit were the
most
popular or maybe it was which ones would be popular now.

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints:
news@netfront.net ---

Still unpacking moving boxes, I just unearthed my Heathkit
"Solid
State Grid Dip Meter" ;-)

Living in one of the most remote corners of India, I never had a
chance to do more than drool over catalogs from Heathkit, Radio
Shack, Maplin, etc. But I do remember using a Heathkit VOM with a
JFET input some 45 years ago. Analog of course. That was when I
was working at a mission hospital in South India that had strong
ties with sponsors from the US, UK and Australia.

Michael Black · Feb 5, 2015

On Thu, 5 Feb 2015, Pimpom wrote:

Jim Thompson wrote:
On Wed, 04 Feb 2015 07:38:54 -0800, BobR <RR@spamnit.com
wrote:

Some time back there were rumors and a website regarding
bringing
back Heathkit or similar.
As I recall it even asked which kits from heathkit were the
most
popular or maybe it was which ones would be popular now.

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints:
news@netfront.net ---

Still unpacking moving boxes, I just unearthed my Heathkit
"Solid
State Grid Dip Meter" ;-)

Living in one of the most remote corners of India, I never had a
chance to do more than drool over catalogs from Heathkit, Radio
Shack, Maplin, etc. But I do remember using a Heathkit VOM with a
JFET input some 45 years ago. Analog of course. That was when I
was working at a mission hospital in South India that had strong
ties with sponsors from the US, UK and Australia.

Has that changed (and I don't even know if you still live in India)?

I remember every so often, someone from India would write an article for
one of the ham magazines, and it was interesting to see how they
made do because of the hardships. That was forty and fifty years ago.
They'd talk about really high import duty on "non necessary" items, so
when a ham wanted to build something, they often relied on someone from
the US sending parts as gifts. Or making do with what was available within
India.

They'd write about relying on a library set up by the US embassy or some
US foundation where the magazines were available.

On one hand, it was a hardship for those interested in electronics and
radio, but making do has always been a part of the hobby, so it was good
to see even when so many hams were turning to buying commercial equipment.

I was 11 years old in 1971 when I found the hobby magazines (and the
catalogs advertised within). I could afford the fifty cents for the
magazines, but I too drooled over most of the contents, too expensive for
me at that age.

There was a period in the early seventies where a lot of ham equipment was
cheap, it used tubes and was AM only, and nobody wanted it at that point.
So I'd buy it cheap and play with it and then trade it off. It's in more
recent times that that stuff has gotten expensive, people regretting that
they got rid of it years ago, or like me, they dreamed of it after seeing
the ads, but couldn't afford it.

Michael

Pimpom · Feb 5, 2015

Michael Black wrote:

On Wed, 4 Feb 2015, BobR wrote:

(Some years back, someone got hyped up for trying to restart
Popular
Electronics. He claimed to have got the rights to the name,
yet the
name isn't all that important, the contents is. He couldnt'
even get
the history right, for him it started in January 1975

What?? I was poring over old copies of PE in 1971.

Jim Thompson · Feb 5, 2015

On Thu, 5 Feb 2015 01:50:22 +0530, "Pimpom" <Pimpom@invalid.invalid>
wrote:

Michael Black wrote:
On Wed, 4 Feb 2015, BobR wrote:

(Some years back, someone got hyped up for trying to restart
Popular
Electronics. He claimed to have got the rights to the name,
yet the
name isn't all that important, the contents is. He couldnt'
even get
the history right, for him it started in January 1975

What?? I was poring over old copies of PE in 1971.

Tim Wescott · Feb 5, 2015

On Wed, 04 Feb 2015 14:09:04 -0700, Jim Thompson wrote:

On Thu, 5 Feb 2015 01:50:22 +0530, "Pimpom" <Pimpom@invalid.invalid
wrote:

Michael Black wrote:
On Wed, 4 Feb 2015, BobR wrote:

(Some years back, someone got hyped up for trying to restart Popular
Electronics. He claimed to have got the rights to the name,
yet the name isn't all that important, the contents is. He couldnt'
even get the history right, for him it started in January 1975

What?? I was poring over old copies of PE in 1971.

Popular Electronics existed when I was a kid, and you know long ago that
was :-D

I thought that they were just figuring out how to smelt iron when you were
a kid, Jim!

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Jim Thompson · Feb 5, 2015

On Wed, 04 Feb 2015 20:39:46 -0600, Tim Wescott
<seemywebsite@myfooter.really> wrote:

On Wed, 04 Feb 2015 14:09:04 -0700, Jim Thompson wrote:

On Thu, 5 Feb 2015 01:50:22 +0530, "Pimpom" <Pimpom@invalid.invalid
wrote:

Michael Black wrote:
On Wed, 4 Feb 2015, BobR wrote:

(Some years back, someone got hyped up for trying to restart Popular
Electronics. He claimed to have got the rights to the name,
yet the name isn't all that important, the contents is. He couldnt'
even get the history right, for him it started in January 1975

What?? I was poring over old copies of PE in 1971.

Popular Electronics existed when I was a kid, and you know long ago that
was :-D

I thought that they were just figuring out how to smelt iron when you were
a kid, Jim!

Pimpom · Feb 5, 2015

Jim Thompson wrote:

On Thu, 5 Feb 2015 01:50:22 +0530, "Pimpom"
Pimpom@invalid.invalid
wrote:

Michael Black wrote:
On Wed, 4 Feb 2015, BobR wrote:

(Some years back, someone got hyped up for trying to restart
Popular
Electronics. He claimed to have got the rights to the name,
yet the
name isn't all that important, the contents is. He couldnt'
even get
the history right, for him it started in January 1975

What?? I was poring over old copies of PE in 1971.

I mean the copies were already old in '71. That was the year I
had my first chance to read *any* dedicated electronics magazine.
And that was possible only because I'd started working in a
hospital with good connections in the US. No way was it possible
in my home state.

Popular Electronics existed when I was a kid, and you know long
ago
that was :-D

Oh yeah. I'd been meaning to ask if you're going to celebrate
your birthday on Feb 28 or March 01 this year

Jim Thompson · Feb 5, 2015

On Thu, 5 Feb 2015 10:18:13 +0530, "Pimpom" <Pimpom@invalid.invalid>
wrote:

Jim Thompson wrote:
On Thu, 5 Feb 2015 01:50:22 +0530, "Pimpom"
Pimpom@invalid.invalid
wrote:

Michael Black wrote:
On Wed, 4 Feb 2015, BobR wrote:

(Some years back, someone got hyped up for trying to restart
Popular
Electronics. He claimed to have got the rights to the name,
yet the
name isn't all that important, the contents is. He couldnt'
even get
the history right, for him it started in January 1975

What?? I was poring over old copies of PE in 1971.

I mean the copies were already old in '71. That was the year I
had my first chance to read *any* dedicated electronics magazine.
And that was possible only because I'd started working in a
hospital with good connections in the US. No way was it possible
in my home state.

Popular Electronics existed when I was a kid, and you know long
ago
that was :-D

Oh yeah. I'd been meaning to ask if you're going to celebrate
your birthday on Feb 28 or March 01 this year

Mark Zenier · Feb 6, 2015

In article <ljj4datapt8sje2ddp8vg1celv5tpno8uo@4ax.com>,
Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:

On Wed, 04 Feb 2015 07:38:54 -0800, BobR <RR@spamnit.com> wrote:

Some time back there were rumors and a website regarding bringing back
Heathkit or similar.
As I recall it even asked which kits from heathkit were the most
popular or maybe it was which ones would be popular now.

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news@netfront.net ---

Still unpacking moving boxes, I just unearthed my Heathkit "Solid
State Grid Dip Meter" ;-)

Has the cushion foam in the carrying case turned to slime?

Mark Zenier mzenier@eskimo.com
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

Jim Thompson · Feb 6, 2015

On Thu, 5 Feb 2015 19:49:22 GMT, mzenier@eskimo.com (Mark Zenier)
wrote:

In article <ljj4datapt8sje2ddp8vg1celv5tpno8uo@4ax.com>,
Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:
On Wed, 04 Feb 2015 07:38:54 -0800, BobR <RR@spamnit.com> wrote:

Some time back there were rumors and a website regarding bringing back
Heathkit or similar.
As I recall it even asked which kits from heathkit were the most
popular or maybe it was which ones would be popular now.

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news@netfront.net ---

Still unpacking moving boxes, I just unearthed my Heathkit "Solid
State Grid Dip Meter" ;-)

Has the cushion foam in the carrying case turned to slime?

Frnak McKenney · Feb 7, 2015

On Fri, 06 Feb 2015 09:59:02 -0700, Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:

On Thu, 5 Feb 2015 19:49:22 GMT, mzenier@eskimo.com (Mark Zenier)
wrote:

In article <ljj4datapt8sje2ddp8vg1celv5tpno8uo@4ax.com>,
Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:

[...]

Still unpacking moving boxes, I just unearthed my Heathkit "Solid
State Grid Dip Meter" ;-)

Has the cushion foam in the carrying case turned to slime?

Not quite, but becoming sticky :-(

A mild diversion-of-subject: Can anyone recommend a good "cleaner" for
degraded foam? I have some of my father's camera cases that I'm about to
toss because of this problem.

Frank McKenney
--
"I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my
sails to always reach my destination." -- Jimmy Dean
--
Frank McKenney, McKenney Associates
Richmond, Virginia / (804) 320-4887
Munged E-mail: frank uscore mckenney aatt mindspring ddoott com

Feb 7, 2015

On Wed, 4 Feb 2015 15:55:32 -0800 (PST), sdeyoreo@hotmail.com wrote:

On Wednesday, February 4, 2015 at 10:39:05 AM UTC-5, BobR wrote:
Some time back there were rumors and a website regarding bringing back
Heathkit or similar.
As I recall it even asked which kits from heathkit were the most
popular or maybe it was which ones would be popular now.

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news@netfront.net ---

Man, I miss those days.
Real radios glow in the dark.

I miss that purple glow in the tubes, especially those 6L6 audio output
tubes where the purple glow would dance to the music. Wasn't that where
the phrase "Purple Haze" came from????

Tube equipment was much more fun (and easier) to work on than newer
stuff....

Jim Thompson · Feb 7, 2015

On Sat, 07 Feb 2015 05:10:42 -0600, electron206@online.com wrote:

On Wed, 4 Feb 2015 15:55:32 -0800 (PST), sdeyoreo@hotmail.com wrote:

On Wednesday, February 4, 2015 at 10:39:05 AM UTC-5, BobR wrote:
Some time back there were rumors and a website regarding bringing back
Heathkit or similar.
As I recall it even asked which kits from heathkit were the most
popular or maybe it was which ones would be popular now.

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news@netfront.net ---

Man, I miss those days.
Real radios glow in the dark.

I miss that purple glow in the tubes, especially those 6L6 audio output
tubes where the purple glow would dance to the music. Wasn't that where
the phrase "Purple Haze" came from????

Tube equipment was much more fun (and easier) to work on than newer
stuff....

Michael A. Terrell · Mar 12, 2015

Frnak McKenney wrote:

On Fri, 06 Feb 2015 09:59:02 -0700, Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:
On Thu, 5 Feb 2015 19:49:22 GMT, mzenier@eskimo.com (Mark Zenier)
wrote:

In article <ljj4datapt8sje2ddp8vg1celv5tpno8uo@4ax.com>,
Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:

[...]

Still unpacking moving boxes, I just unearthed my Heathkit "Solid
State Grid Dip Meter" ;-)

Has the cushion foam in the carrying case turned to slime?

Not quite, but becoming sticky :-(

A mild diversion-of-subject: Can anyone recommend a good "cleaner" for
degraded foam? I have some of my father's camera cases that I'm about to
toss because of this problem.

I've used 'Fast Orange' citrus oil based hand cleaner to remove it
from steel panels.
<http://www.walmart.com/ip/Permatex-Fast-Orange-Citrus-Hand-Cleaner/16776211>
I've found the pumice free version at NAPA Auto Parts. I prefer it,
because there is no abrasives in it.

--
Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to
have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.

Michael A. Terrell · Mar 12, 2015

electron206@online.com wrote:

On Wed, 4 Feb 2015 15:55:32 -0800 (PST), sdeyoreo@hotmail.com wrote:

On Wednesday, February 4, 2015 at 10:39:05 AM UTC-5, BobR wrote:
Some time back there were rumors and a website regarding bringing back
Heathkit or similar.
As I recall it even asked which kits from heathkit were the most
popular or maybe it was which ones would be popular now.

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news@netfront.net ---

Man, I miss those days.
Real radios glow in the dark.

I miss that purple glow in the tubes, especially those 6L6 audio output
tubes where the purple glow would dance to the music.

The 6L6 was a metal tube. The 6L6GC was glass.

--
Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to
have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.

Mar 16, 2015

On Wednesday, February 4, 2015 at 11:50:06 AM UTC-8, Michael Black wrote:

On Wed, 4 Feb 2015, BobR wrote:

Some time back there were rumors and a website regarding bringing back
Heathkit or similar.
As I recall it even asked which kits from heathkit were the most popular or
maybe it was which ones would be popular now.

Likely it failed the same way the comeback of Popular Electronics failed.

Which comeback?

The one where the remains of the old company suddenly decided they could
go back into the kit business (they had just kept going with the
educational stuff), and so they were starting with a few kits like a
backup warning system or something similarly mundane? That failed, if
they actually got as far as selling kits, they had only a few, none of
them interesting, and so they went bankrupt, the final act of the long
existing company.

Then some anonymous individual or individuals bought up the rights to the
name or something, and made a big splash declaring they would resurrect
Heathkit and be just like in the old days. But they were hazy about the
plans, or who was invovled. I think it was late 2013, they had a Q&A open
to the public, and lots was said, but little details. And that's pretty
much where it left off. They are claiming they are working behind the
scenes, but it doesn't look hopeful.

The problem is, the name isn't so important, while what they issue is.
And Heathkit got out of the kit business when the desired products got too
complicated (and expensive) to be made as kits. Hobbyists see it as a
hobbyist place, but the company was much wider, selling that fish finder
or electronic organ kit to Joe Average, who could get the end results
cheaper by soldering things together, and the manuals were intended for
that portion of the public, the ones who knew nothing but could follow the
manual. Once electronics got cheap, that larger audience fell away. Once
electronics got complicated, there was no easy way to duplicate them as
kits without the kits costing more than a manufactured product. YOu can
get laser printers and DVD players for about fifty dollars, shortwave
receivers that could only be dreamed about forty years ago for a hundred
dollars. Joe Average isn't going to spend the time putting together the
kit, even if Heathkit could figure out a way for the end user to actually
have much to put together. So it leaves the hobbyists, who are a small
percentage of the population, despite the "Maker Hype". They probably
want to put together those old tube kits (they were easier to hand
assemble, indeed when transistors came along, that's when Heathkit started
to not be cost effective compared to finished products), which would be
fun to put together, but lack all the modern stuff that people actually
want to use.

I gather there are lots of kits available now, but they are a different
thing, and not aimed at the general population. That's the competition
that Heathkit would have to face, and all they have is an old name.

No, there has yet to be any finite word on the second demise, but the
longer it is since the last announcement, the more likely it is failing.

(Some years back, someone got hyped up for trying to restart Popular
Electronics. He claimed to have got the rights to the name, yet the name
isn't all that important, the contents is. He couldnt' even get the
history right, for him it started in January 1975 when the Altair hit the
cover, when that was really the start of the demise of the magazine, the
prime was mostly in the past. He didn't even know that Steve Jobs likely
never went to the Homebrew COmputer Club (he was probably in India at that
point, but besides he was never the technical mind that some mistake him
for) or that Bill Gates was off at Harvard (when he wasn't in Seattle) so
likely never attended the club either, though Swiftwater Bill did send out
a letter to hobbyists (mainly the Homebrew Computer Club) about the
illegal copying of Microsoft Basic. So the guy couldn't even get the
hisotry right. He had some kickstarter program, it never reached its
goal, and then it all faded away. The names of the past are never as
important now as actual contents.)

Michael

Limor sells some kits over here, but nothing as extensive as Heathkit of course.

http://www.adafruit.com/

Michael D.

What ever happened with the come back of Heathkit?

BobR

Guest

Jim Thompson

Guest

Guest

Michael Black

Guest

Pimpom

Guest

Michael Black

Guest

Pimpom

Guest

Jim Thompson

Guest

Tim Wescott

Guest

Jim Thompson

Guest

Pimpom

Guest

Jim Thompson

Guest

Mark Zenier

Guest

Jim Thompson

Guest

Frnak McKenney

Guest

Guest

Jim Thompson

Guest

Michael A. Terrell

Guest

Michael A. Terrell

Guest

Guest

Log in

Welcome to EDABoard.com

Sponsor