Robaroni 86 #1 Posted December 28, 2022 Any of you youngsters build a Heathkit or other kits back when? 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rmaynard 15,436 #2 Posted December 28, 2022 Yes. Being a child of the 50's and 60's, and with a father who was fascinated by two-way radios, my brother and I built a Heathkit radio that we got for Christmas. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 48,815 #3 Posted December 28, 2022 Then new fangled transistors radios is all I remember but I'm sure there were others. My first introduction into npn and pnp junctions. One was a repro of the one they used on Gilligan's Island! After I put it together my dad and I used to listen to Packer games on it. Radio Shack kits were my down fall. So I take electronics in high school and barely scrape by. Ohm's law and Eli the ice man kicked my butt but I was never top notch at math and back then we had to use slide rules which REALLY kicked me. So I get to my first boat and strike for IC. Submarine built in 1960s and everything was tubes yet with a smattering of digital! I did ok tho Rob... retired IC1(ss) USNR with 22 years in. 1 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handy Don 12,214 #4 Posted December 28, 2022 Absolutely! Crystal AM radios (with and without battery power) Room to room intercom Three 100mw walkie talkies All worked, but none lit a fire for me to stick with electronics until integrated circuits arrived on the scene. Small micro-controllers (thank you Steve Ciarcia and Byte magazine!) and A/D conversion did more interesting stuff. But eventually, it was easier to buy the completed projects so I did. (Small engines, furniture restorations, and construction projects became my foci.) One uncle was an inspired Heathkiter (color television, shortwave radio, and more) and HIS two sons really got the fire. One helped create the WiFi standard with IEEE and the other was a lead designer of the 68000 and then the PowerPC microprocessors and more. Turns out both cousins were professionally acquainted with Steve, too! In the end, I acquired some very useful and applicable knowledge of basic and intermediate electronics that helped me at different points in my career in technology. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeff-C175 7,199 #5 Posted December 28, 2022 3 hours ago, Robaroni said: Any of you youngsters build a Heathkit or other kits back when? Only several dozen! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oliver2-44 9,739 #6 Posted December 28, 2022 I never had a Heathkit, but I built several “Dad” kits. My dad was a self taught Ham Radio guy in the late 50’s. In the early 60’s they had a Ham radio club and got several free truckloads of WWII radio gear. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ri702bill 8,316 #7 Posted December 28, 2022 Well - nope. but my older sister did. I was always tinkering with my Gilbert Erector Set... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SylvanLakeWH 25,535 #8 Posted December 28, 2022 Erector sets, lego's, Lincoln Logs and mini bikes... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Racinbob 11,050 #9 Posted December 28, 2022 I built several of them. The most memorable was an analog multimeter. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
formariz 11,987 #10 Posted December 28, 2022 (edited) Never built a Heathkit but built quite a few Dynakits. Amplifiers, preamplifiers and tuners. Contemplated building some of the Amps offered but opted for the Dynacos . Edited December 28, 2022 by formariz Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
