Heathkit lunchboxes

Really I have no idea why these rigs appealed to me so much. They had poor receivers with little selectivity. Although I coveted the 2m version for years, apart from the manual, I never owned one.

These days, they would struggle on VHF. Most activity is FM, not AM, and the selectivity would be a real handicap anyway.

What I think I liked was the form factor. There was something about that that appealed.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/lunchbox

Heathkit Twoer and similar rigs

Back in the 1960s I always wanted a Heathkit Twoer 2m AM transceiver. I even bought the manual, although I never did get a rig.

The RX was a super-regen, which was just about OK in the early 1960s on 2m as activity was low. These days, there is very little AM on the band, sadly, and the poor selectivity would almost certainly be a real limitation.

There was just something about the "style" that appealed. Even now, I still like the "lunchbox" look. From a historical viewpoint, these are interesting. They also did versions for 11m,10m and 6m

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/lunchbox

Heathkit Twoer and Sixer transceivers

If, like me, you are rather old you may remember the Heathkit Twoer, Sixer and similar rigs. These were 5W AM transceivers covering either 10m, 6m or 2m. I think there was also one covering 11m for the early USA CB market.

These were single channel transmitters with a super-regen RX. Although I coveted one, the nearest I got was owning a manual!

In its day, it opened up the VHF bands to the masses, long before SSB and FM. I liked the style then and do so even now. To be honest, today they would struggle, as there is not much AM on VHF and the bandwidth of the RX would be too wide for serious use.

In 1966 it sold for £26 in the UK! On the second-hand market good ones command a good price, no doubt bought by nostalgic old timers!

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/lunchbox