Heathkit HW family

An early Heathkit advert

As a teenager I always wanted a 2m HW30 kit. Goodness knows why, as by modern standards they were poor! 

Heathkit made a family of what became known as the Benton Harbor Lunchboxes. In many places they were the mainstay of VHF activity, way before FM, SSB and FT8.

They were valved and had a 5W AM TX and a super-regen RX. Most of the time this was fine for VHF at the time.

I cannot remember when they stopped being available, but I would guess mid 1970s.

At one time I had the manual, but never the rig.

The style I still like and in later years (before my stroke) fancied doing a modern equivalent for 10m with transistors and far smaller on a single PCB.

See http://www.radiomanual.info/schemi/Surplus_Radioamateur/Heathkit_HW-30_review_QST_2013.pdf

How it all started

Way back in 1961, my dad bought me a Heathkit Electronics Workshop for Christmas. Little did I know then that this would later become my career and lifetime hobby.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/commercial-rigs/heathkit-electronics-workshop

Heathkits

When I was young (OK a long time ago!) Heathkits were popular. They sold some very good kits that made some classy pieces of equipment including VHF and HF transceivers.

In recent years, they tried to make a comeback, but their range was poor and overpriced.  Their website still exists,  although goodness knows how! They must have some very dedicated followers.   With low cost kits from China, making kits for radio amateurs must be very hard these days unless the kits are good and the price is very competitive.

As mentioned yesterday, I coveted the valved HW30 2m AM transceiver. I realised that my website did not have a page on this, so I have added one.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/vhfuhf-commercial-rigs/hw30 .

See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathkit for the whole Heathkit story.

My whole professional career and hobby of 60 years owes a lot to Heathkit since my dad bought me a Heathkit Electronics Workhop for Christmas 1961.

Heathkit HW30 2m rig

When I was young I coveted a Benton Harbour Lunchbox. 

This was a 5W 2m AM transceiver. At the time, 2m was very quiet and a super-regen RX was fine. These receivers were sensitive, but lacked sharp selectivity.

Looking back these rigs were quite poor, although I always liked the ergonomics. Versions were made for 11m CB, 10m and 6m too. In their day, they served a purpose, but these would struggle these days. 

I once owned the manual, but never the rig.  These days all the functionality and far, far, more may be obtained in a tiny dual band VHF FM handheld.

Se

Heathkit HW8 QRP CW transceiver

 

A few days ago I posted that Heathkit is trying to make a comeback. So far, the kits are a poor imitation of the kits of old. These (to me) seem overpriced and poor. It is rumoured that some amateur band kits are planned.

Many years ago I owned an HW8 which was an HF QRP transceiver. I had great fun with mine. 

These days there is less CW activity, with FT8 better suited to QRP modes. However, FT8 needs a PC. With CW some very simple rigs can be made.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/hw8 .

Heathkits

Way back in 1961 I was bought a Heathkit electronics workshop for Christmas. Little did I know then that this was to be the start of an absorbing hobby and career. Heathkit is trying to make a comeback although the offerings I have seen have definitely not been impressive. These kits are overpriced and I am surprised they are still around. They must have some very loyal customers!

See https;//shop.heathkit.com/shop

See also https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp/Home/ew on my very old (not maintained) website. The links of the left cannot be relied upon.

Heathkits

Back in my early teenage years I was given a Heathkit electronics workshop for Christmas 1961. This was earth shattering and started me in the radio hobby and radio career in later life. The online Heathkit Virtual Museum seems to have closed, but the pages were archived and can still be seen.

Heathkits were famous for their excellent building instructions and quality. They tried to make a comeback in recent years, but what was on offer was not that impressive.

See https://web.archive.org/web/20190206173903/http://www.heathkit-museum.com/hvmhstory.shtml

2m progress

When I was first interested in amateur radio AM was king on 2m. Working 10km with a Heathkit HW30 "Twoer" seemed good. Nowadays working 200km with 10W of SSB is commonplace with a big-wheel omni antenna. With FT8 distances of 500km seem possible at any time. We have come a long way.

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

Heathkit Lunchboxes

Back in the 1960s I coveted the HW30 Twoer transceiver. These days, they look very dated with their simple super-regen RX and 5W AM TX.

Ranges of 15km would be considered good, whereas on 2m FT8 I regularly get copied well over 400km irrespective of conditions with less power!  These Heathkit Lunchboxes can still be found on eBay, but they are really collector's items these days.

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

Heathkit HW8

Many years ago I owned an HW8 transceiver from Heathkit. This had a direct conversion receiver and a QRP HF CW transmitter. With simple wire dipoles it worked some remarkable DX.

I think it was sold back to its original owner when I bought an FT7 in 1979. In its day it was a fine rig.

Mine was totally unmodified, but there are plenty of "improvements" on the net. In my experience, this was a great transceiver as it is. I am not sure how easy they are to find nowadays.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/hw8

Heathkit

It was Heathkit that got me into radio way back in the early 1960s.

In recent years, they have been trying to make a comeback, although judging by their product range, I suspect they must be struggling. Basically, I can see a very few loyal people buying these, but not many. Anyone know what has happened to them?

See https://shop.heathkit.com/shop/category/products-am-fm-shortwave-tv-explorer-tm-series-receivers-8

Heathkits

Like many of my generation, I loved Heathkits. The very first thing that got me into the hobby back in 1961 was an Electronics Workshop. In the late 1960s, I wanted a 2m HW30 Twoer AM transceiver.

According to their website Heathkit was making a comeback. Their website exists, but their product range is very limited and very overpriced. If it still survives, it must depend on a very loyal customer base. Certainly, I would not buy these. If the comeback was successful, I'd be surprised.

See https://shop.heathkit.com/shop .

Heathkit Twoer and similar

The older generations may remember the "Benton Harbour Lunch boxes" that were popular rigs back in the 1960s. These were 5W AM rigs with super-regen RXs. In many areas these were mainstays of VHF activity.

Compared with FT8 today we would be amazed. DX was 10 miles! On FT8 every day Germany is copied. With a super-regen and its broad selectivity even 50 miles would be considered amazing!

I always wanted the 2m version, but the nearest I got was the manual. Several similar designs were made by yours truly, but the styling never was quite as good.  To this day, I like the styling. As a QRP rig on any band I think this style is classic. Maybe one day I shall finish the Tenbox in a similar styling, although I would be very happy if someone else did this as my building skills are nothing like they were.

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

How it all started

Back in 1961, my dad bought me a Heathkit Electronics Workshop one Christmas. That was the start of a hobby and a career in telecommunications design.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/elwk .

Heathkit HW8

One of my favourite transceivers was the Heathkit HW8 QRP CW rig.  I bought this ready built from a local who later bought it back!

This rig covered the main HF bands and produced about 1.5W. It had a direct conversion RX. For a while it was my only rig.

You occasionally see these for sale and lots were modified, although mine was fine just as it was.  I liked it and worked some good stuff with mine using just low wire dipoles.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/hw8

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 today

When I was young (a long time ago!) Heathkits were the things to aspire to. I started out in radio with an electronics workshop from Heathkit one Christmas.

Heathkit is trying to make a comeback, but the kits so far have not exactly impressed me. This is a tough market to crack especially with cheap kits and assembled products available from China. A few years ago I bought a 40m CW transceiver kit from China (the Pixie) that was less, with free postage too,  than just one of the parts if bought in the UK. I liked Heathkits and hope the company succeeds.  I have my doubts though.

See https://shop.heathkit.com/shop

See also https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/elwk

Heathkit HW8 QRP Transceiver

Some years ago, I owned one of these rigs and worked some impressive DX with it. It was a joy to use. I think it was sold when I bought a Yaesu transceiver many years ago. It went back to its original owner.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/hw8

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