Who's built a Heathkit ?

[beam me up schottky]

Just found a shot of the internals of the IG-18 I built :-

[Aerodyne]

I still use the signal generator I built. I liked the ethos of the company, I must say. Quality stuff.
-Tony

[tiv48]

to alan .when you lived in Gloucester do you remember mr pearsy from rsp electronics an aladins cave of tv and radio spares
you could buy lopts or tripplers ect off the shelf
rob t

[Shaman]

Hi Rob, i remember Ted Birds, Richards Electrics, you could buy everything for radios from these chaps, Roy at Richards electrics, was a radio ham sorry cant remember his call sign, bought bags of caps, resistors, valves transistoors, circuit boards etching fluid for pcb,s and the magic pen etc from him. It was old Ted Bird who had the shop in Barton Street, the son took over he was a miserable sod, treated his dad like dirt where was rsp Electronics rob, was it in Eastgate street, goodness my memory, the name Pearsy rings a bell.........Regards....Alan.

[tiv48]

yes it was Eastgate street trade only.Ted Birds i loved when i was young another aldins cave used to buy 12" fane speakers and other stuff for a mobile disco i ran when i was about 16 he always had time to explain every thing i never knew the son but i wish shopes like that still exsisted
rob t

[beam me up schottky]

You lot were so lucky to have all that your doorstep, all I ever had was M&B Electronics in Leeds and the occasional visit to Edgeware and Tottenham Court roads when they were still in action electronics wise ! Otherwise it was mail order to Henry's Radio, J.Bull Electrical and other such emporiums !

[Shaman]

Goodness Leeds, used to sport some great radio shops, years ago, i remember those ads in Practical Wireless. lots of shops in Yorkshire selling radio bits and pieces valves etc, there was a firm who used to sell tv,s by the thousands up here, shame all gone now, no its not progress its demise....Alan.

[Yorkie]

A very interesting thread - 'All our Yesterdays'!

I mentioned earlier that I hankered after building several Heathkits, but that they were just so eye-wateringly expensive that they were way out of the range of my pocket. There are two aspects which I guess cloud the issue of putting things into a proper perspective: Firstly, back in the 50s and 60s, all electronic and electrical equipment was expensive relative to what we get for our money today, and secondly, we lose the perspective of just how much a pound was worth back then, and by comparison, how little it's worth now. For exmple, mentally, I still think a five pound note is of value - without overtime, back in 1960, two fivers in a pay packet for a working man would be about the norm.

I've just scanned a two-page Heathkit advert from July 1964 PW, which I've attached, and using a historical inflation calculator, I've converted the prices to 2010. (See: http://safalra.com/other/historical-uk-i...onversion/ ). You can use the calculator either way - input today's price and check what it would have equated to for any year back to 1750, or can use it forwards - choose a year - in this case 1964, input the amount and it calculates what that equates to today. One pound in 1964 equates to fifteen pounds today, so all the 1964 prices need to be multiplied fifteen times to equate to 2011.

Below are a few 1964 prices of Heathkits from the advert, together with the 2011 equivalent price. The comparisons may seem incredulous, but notice that a 35ft self-supporting radio aerial tower kit, which was 3ft square at the base cost 'only' £29.15.0 oxide painted, or £35.15.0 galvanised. This equates to £446 & £565 respectively at today's price, which seems about right. (It was nevertheless, cheaper than a Mohican kit, or a 5" scope kit). The 2011 price equivalents are in brackets:

1964 kit cost

Mohican receiver: £37.17.6 (£570)
Fully assembled: £45.17.6 (£690)
5" Scope £32.12.6 (£490)
Fully assembled: £41.10.0 (£616)
V7A VTVM: £13.18.6 (£210)
RG1 Gen coverage RX £39.16.0 (£600)
Fully assembled: £53.0.0 (£800)

Not such a bargain as they may seem when casually flicking through old copies of PW and through the mists of time, which blur our perspective!

In 1964, I'd just been promoted to staff from being a manual worker - my first step up the greasy pole of the management hierachy, which ultimately brought me to Hull, where my career ended with retirement in 1996. My take-home pay was £49 a month in 1964, with no opprtunites for overtime pay. Our first son was born in November 1964, when my wife ceased working, as wives had to do back then, so money was tight anyway.

Quite apart from that, Heathkit prices were uncompetitve when compared to ready built equipment of the day, but then they weren't bought on their price - they were bought for the pleasure of building, and the surety that if you followed the copious and well illustrated instructions, what you built would work first time.

With the cheapness of mass produced electronic equipment, we shouldn't be surprised that the ultimate demise of Heathkit was inevitable. Had I have bought a Mohican kit, I'd have been hugely dissapointed with its performance. I owned a secondhand one for a while and was singularly unimpressed by it.

Hope that trip down memory lane was of intererst, and the attached advert c1964!

David

[AlanBeckett]

David,
I agree about the prices, which were way out of my reach as well. I'm slightly behind you in that I didn't start work until '65, when my gross pay was the princely sum of £7.10s per week, less tax and N.I. It did rise fairly rapidly so I didn't die of starvation. The one thing I would query is the multplier. I reckon '64 to now is probably nearer 40 for some items, although it does depend on which ones. I was thinking of beer
Alan

[beam me up schottky]

Very interesting comparison there David, thank you. Even in the early to mid seventies when I built mine, I had to use Heathkits own easy payment option. As you mention though, I was thrilled at the prospect of building something myself that would be very usable.