What about Heathkit test gear? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: Axtman
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 16, 2014, 07:03:10 pm
content: What do you guys think about "kit" test gear like Heathkit, Knight, Paco, etc. Are these reliable pieces of equipment or more like a toy? I am not looking for laboratory grade stuff but just good quality equipment that is reliable and accurate. I know that older tube stuff has a tendency to drift and go out of tolerance.

author: PaulAm
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 16, 2014, 07:46:51 pm
content: Since you can often find HP or Tektronix equipment for little more than service grade gear, why bother with it?If you buy any Heathkit or other kit gear, besides have to replace all the caps if it's tube gear, you will have to first make sure that it was built correctly. Many kits were misassembled and just put on the shelf until the estate sale.I have 2 Heath power supplies because I got them cheap and they're OK. I also have an HP power supply. Guess which one sees more use.Some people collect Heath equipment, but if you want quality equipment that is reliable and accurate, look somewhere else.I just picked up a 35 year old HP DMM and it's still dead on.

author: MarkL
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 16, 2014, 09:53:34 pm
content: Some of it can be pretty good quality.I have a Heathkit IG-4244 oscilloscope calibrator that's in the range of 30 years old that I still use today. No tubes, and uses ECL for a nice sharp edge on the timing output. It's a fairly good design.Whatever Heathkit you intend to buy, make sure it comes with the assembly/operation manual, or know where you can get it. Heathkit still exists and they assert their copyright, so the manuals can sometimes be hard to find openly.

author: N2IXK
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 16, 2014, 10:37:11 pm
content: Heathkit gear was made to fill the low end to middle range of the test equipment market. Individual hobbyists, radio hams, and students, on up to your local TV/Radio/Audio repair shop type of stuff. While they made a few interesting and handy units, high end they were not.A Heathkit scope might have been a few bucks cheaper than a comparable quality service shop grade scope of the same era from the likes of Sencore, Hickok, or B&K, so it was a good way for cash-strapped hobbyists or frugal TV techs to equip a test bench, save a few bucks, and maybe have some fun building the stuff. But neither the Heathkit nor any of the commercial service-grade scopes of the day were really comparable to stuff from the likes of Tektronix, DuMont/Fairchild, or HP, which were aimed at the engineering/design and high-end field service markets, and cost far too much for the average radio ham or TV shop owner to justify back in the day.Nowadays if you just want to play around with a vintage scope, you can get one of those lab-grade units with vastly better specs for about the same price as an old Heathkit, and not have to worry about the variations in build quality inherent to kit products. How good and how reliable a particular unit might be is heavily dependent on the care taken by the original builder years ago, and can range from laboratory prototype perfect to a nasty rats nest mess that never worked properly because it was slapped together with plumbers solder and paste flux. At least with a commercial unit from Tek or HP, you can be reasonably sure that the unit once worked and met specs, so all you need to worry about is hamfisted repair attempts in the past.Heathkit stuff is fun though, and if you are really interested in the vintage Heathkit experience, it is possible to "re-kit" a poorly assembled or non-working unit, and rebuild/restore it if you have a copy of the original assembly manual and are careful about desoldering and working with aged, often fragile parts. But this is more of a "labor of love" and a way to experience a bit of the feel of days gone by than a simple way to get a useful piece of test gear.I've got a handful of Heathkits among my test gear (some originally purchased by me, some bought used and repaired as needed), and they are handy pieces of equipment. But if you are looking to buy vintage test gear, for common items like scopes there are much better vintage options available.

author: staxquad
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 17, 2014, 07:35:58 pm
content: IT-28 is still useful today and still demands high prices on ebay (Heathkit unassembled IT-28 capacitor checker $261.99).for reforming electrolytics, testing leakage of caps at voltage (up to 600V)

author: MarkL
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 17, 2014, 08:16:01 pm
content: Quote from: staxquad on February 17, 2014, 07:35:58 pmI have one of those. It's all tubes and pretty clunky. I had it on my bench for a long time until a non-electronics person walked in and remarked, "Wow - there's a lot of impressive equipment here, except for that THING!"I would think a large portion of the price is that it's unassembled. You're paying to have the legendary assembly experience.

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 17, 2014, 08:49:31 pm
content: Yeah, unassembled Heathkit stuff will typically go for tens if not hundreds of times higher prices than the same item assembled. I've seen some pretty insane final prices on certain Heathkit items such as ham radio gear and audio amps.