Heathkit returns

jefftk

jefftk

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http://www.eetimes.com/discussion/b...t-returns-?cid=NL_Embedded&Ecosystem=embedded
Heathkit, the fabled electronics kits company, is going back into that business after a two-decade hiatus.
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http://www.heathkit.com/
We will be releasing Garage Parking Assistant kit (GPA-100) in late September and soon after the Wireless Swimming Pool Monitor kit will be available.

Based on your input, we are looking at developing amateur radio kits. Our goal is to have kits available by the end of year.
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Awwww yeah!
 
Nice, I've built some of the Velleman kits but always hear the older geeks reminisce about Heathkits.
 
If they think they are going to develop transmitter kits, and get them type accepted by years end they are smoking crack.
 
I had a beautiful sb-220...couldn't wait to rock the 11meter crowd with that bad boy....never got a chance....anyone want to take a guess as to why? lol.
 
I am not a Ham, but it's awesome to see Heathkit back in business. I built SW receivers, stereos, auto diagnostics tools, etc. for many years and was very sad when the Wellesley store closed and later when they went out of business.

I wish them great success.
 
I'm betting their assembly manuals won't be as detailed as they were "back in the day". :)
 
I helped my dad build a color TV in the late 60's and learned enough to build my first stereo a year later. I learned a lot, like precharging caps and laying them on the bench as a joke....
 
I never built any of their kits myself but I'm familiar with some of their stuff.
A buddy of mine spent his entire freshman year at BU building a kit in his dorm room.
It was the "Modulus".

4c76e2c99e57c_177472n.jpg


Their top of the line home stereo receiver.
IIRC, it cost about $300 back in 1980.
It had about a dozen boards that all lined up neatly in the chassis, modular, hence the name.
He got it 99% completed when the school year ended.
He took it home to Vermont and left it on a workbench in his basement, with the cabinet covers removed.
A pipe burst under the kitchen floor, creating a water leak through the floor into the basement, right over the workbench.
Yup, it got heavily water damaged before it even was completed.
Man, was he pissed, after all the hours he had into it.
You know how sometimes life just kicks you in the nuts [sad2]
 
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I wonder what Heathkits are going to be like from a technology/construction point of view. It Heathkit's day, the predominant technologies were through hole mounted components that were well suited to manual soldering. Current electronics tends to utilize surface mount components, or a mixture of surface mount and through hole components. SMT is generally done using either reflow soldering or by gluing the components to the board and wave soldering.

It would not seem practical to offer kits that require manual surface mount soldering (a real pain in the butt), so it would seem that the choices are either pre-soldered sub assemblies or going back to 80's vintage technology for the PCBs. Perhaps Skysoldier can enlighten.
 
Rob Boudrie said:
It would not seem practical to offer kits that require manual surface mount soldering (a real pain in the butt), so it would seem that the choices are either pre-soldered sub assemblies or going back to 80's vintage technology for the PCBs. Perhaps Skysoldier can enlighten.
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That's exactly what Elecraft, a spiritual successor to heathkit in the ham radio arena, does. Some of their kits are all through hole. The newer stuff is pre-soldered SMD pcbs that you assemble, tune/configure, and system test. (The boards are all pre-tested at the factory)
 
Rob Boudrie said:
I wonder what Heathkits are going to be like from a technology/construction point of view. It Heathkit's day, the predominant technologies were through hole mounted components that were well suited to manual soldering. Current electronics tends to utilize surface mount components, or a mixture of surface mount and through hole components. SMT is generally done using either reflow soldering or by gluing the components to the board and wave soldering.

It would not seem practical to offer kits that require manual surface mount soldering (a real pain in the butt), so it would seem that the choices are either pre-soldered sub assemblies or going back to 80's vintage technology for the PCBs. Perhaps Skysoldier can enlighten.
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I think you could make a perfectly fine kit of almost anything using through-hole parts rather than SMD, it would just cost a little bit more and possibly be a little bulkier.

With the right tools and a little bit of experience SMD soldering is really not bad so far as I'm concerned. I actually think it is easier in some cases. So long as they don't use ridiculously small parts (like resistors smaller than 0603) or high density/pin count chips or BGA's I don't think it would be a big deal. You just need a decent soldering iron with an appropriately sized tip, some tweezers, flux, and maybe a magnifying glass.

And if you really want to get fancy, a hot-air rework station is actually not too unreasonable: http://www.sparkfun.com/products/76

There are dozens of tutorials on SMD soldering:
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/04/toolbox-smt-soldering-tools.html
http://www.eevblog.com/2011/07/18/eevblog-186-soldering-tutorial-part-3-surface-mount/
 
Through hole only is very limiting if you want to do anything in the digital realm. You can build audio amplifiers and the like no problem, but good luck building a DAC without some SMD. If you want microcontrollers, TH sticks you with 20 year old tech.
 

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