Anyone Remember Heathkits?
May 31, 2004
In
the late 1950's and early 1960's, when I was a teenager, building electronic
kits from Heathkit was my favorite
hobby. During the Heathkit era which lasted from the late 1940's through
the mid 1980's, it was possible to build a wide range of things from hi-fi/stereo
and ham radio to computers, radio control, and home electronics. Heathkits were
first marketed by mail-order, with advertisements appearing in electronics and
amateur radio publications such as Popular
Electronics, Radio Electronics, CQ
and QST. I eagerly awaited the next issue
of these magazines to see if Heath had introduced any new kits. Even more exciting
was the arrival of a new Heathkit catalog. The largest kit I ever built was
the TX-1 "Apache"
Ham Transmitter. (read
more)
Edward Bayard Heath founded the Heath Aeroplane Company during the early 1900's
as an airplane kit company and it remained in the aircraft and replacement part
business until roughly 1945. Then an ambitious engineer named Howard Anthony,
who had purchased the Heath Company in 1935, bought a large stock of surplus
World War II electronic parts, and designed an oscilloscope
kit which was sold by mail order for $39.50. Mr. Anthony's theory was that
even people without technical knowledge of how things worked could build a kit
and save up to 50% over comparable factory-built models. The oscilloscope kit
turned out to be quite successful and the Heath Company was on it's way. Mr.
Anthony expanded the test instrument line with the addition of ham
radio and hi-fi component
kits.
The key to successful kit-building was the instruction manual, and Heathkit
had great ones. They contained simple, non-technical instructions and large
"exploded" diagrams that guided you through each and every step. The
delight was not so much saving money by building a kit but rather the satisfaction
and pride from building it -- especially the last step of turning on the power
and seeing what was formerly hundreds
of parts come to life. I can remember people asking me what kind of TV we
had. I would proudly say, "it's a Heathkit and I built it". I was
especially proud of the TX-1
"Apache" Ham Transmitter. It had 1,600+ parts in it. At 40+ years
old, it now resides on a shelf in my basement.
At the peak, more than 300 Heathkits were available in eleven different product
lines. The one's I built included radios, TVs, test equipment, ham radio, and
various gadgets. Friends and neighbors would buy Heathkits and I would build
them for them for free. Learning how to use a soldering gun properly continues
to serve me well for various home automation projects and other tinkering.
In the mid 1960's, Heath branched out to retail outlets
and added authorized service centers in several metropolitan cities. They later
expanded into Thomas organ kits, computers, satellite television earth stations,
even furniture and woodcraft, hoping to gain and maintain a critical mass of
customers. Unfortunately, the market shrank instead of grew and Heathkit manufacturing
ceased in the mid-1980's when Heath closed down their kit business. Although
Heathkits are no longer manufactured or widely available, unassembled kits are
sometimes offered in eBay auctions or in the
classified section of electronics magazines such as QST.
The Heathkit Company, Inc. is still located in Benton Harbor, Michigan and concentrates
on electronic learning materials for classrooms, schools and training centers.
Even though the Heathkits are mostly out of the picture, the memories of Heathkit
certainly are not -- thanks to the web. The Heathkit
Virtual Museum was built in chronological order, beginning with vacuum tube
kits. The information on the site was derived from Heathkit marketing materials
as well as contributions from individual Heathkit enthusiasts and former Heath
employees. It brings back a lot of memories to be able to see a picture of a
Heathkit that you built 40+ years ago. There is a lot of history on the site.
The graphic used in the masthead
is an artist's rendering of the Heath
plant that was constructed in 1958. Additional photos on the site depict
the Service Department,
a Kit Packaging
Line, the Consultation
Department, the Mail
Order Department, and Heath
Hams.
A LISTSERV [heathkit@cyberventure.com]
has been set up for anyone interested in communicating with other Heathkit fans.
You can also use it to request technical information or assistance, locate unassembled
kits or parts from other members, announce where unassembled kits or parts might
be available, and share ideas and thoughts about Heathkits with fellow enthusiasts.
The list has over 500 members and the searchable List
Archive includes all messages posted to the list since January, 2000.
The Heathkit Virtual Museum site is a participant in the new .museum domain, which began operating on November 1, 2001. With it, museums acquired significant new means for increasing their visibility and identity on the Internet. The Museum Domain Management Association - MuseDoma - is responsible for the policies and operation of the new domain. Registration in .museum is restricted to museums, museum organizations and individual members of the museum profession according to the definition established by the International Council of Museums (ICOM).