Rare 1973 Heathkit BUILD! Pt.2
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- čas přidán 26. 12. 2018
- Part Two! This time I set out to assemble the main chassis, with some surprises along the way. It seems that this will be at least a 4-part series, but I'm not complaining. I want to enjoy this as much as I can.... and I hope you will too!
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I completely agree with you about the Heathkit era, although mine started several years before yours did. There were no regional stores when I started with Heathkit. Someone once asked me what the most important thing anyone ever said to me was. I thought about it and realized that it wasn't "God created the heavens and the earth". It was my neighbor, Pete Stacey, saying to me, "Oh sure, Marty. If you can read you can build a Heathkit. That determined what I did in the military (USCG) and what I did for a living for the remainder of my working years. I worked at HP for 25 years. I only built one Heathkit. It was the A9 20 watt integrated amplifier. I wish I had seen your videos then (about 1960). Your tips and hints would have been very helpful. I love your videos.
So far I am enjoying this build. Old parts.
Oh Fran, everytime I turn to your channel I just can't get enough you. Yes, we fans love watching and listening to what you do, but you are a breath of fresh air. You're so easy to be with, your a natural, no airs. you're funny and I love your giggle. it's like having you in my livingroom just chillin and learning and discovering. You are one of a kind and I'm sooooo happy I discovered you. Apple Juice and Frankenberries next Monday at say 4pm? Okay, great!
I'm jealous. I haven't built a Heathkit since 1980 (H-89). What fun!
I will now refurbish my IT-12, thanks Fran.
Great channel. Just retired from Lockheed Martin (Philly) after 38 years. Started my career as a wireman with NASA certification in soldering. Worked on everything from re-entry vehicles, aircraft, satellites and the Space Shuttle. These old Heathkits bring back lots of memories, some of them, not so good LOL. Assembled a wonderful shortwave from them way back in 1970. Thanks for these videos!
Yes boys and girls, even our 4k flat screen TV's we had to assemble by hand just like this back in the day. Was a hell of a time counting if all of those pixels were included in the box before starting the job.
4k flat screen TV "back in the day" just what do you mean by "back in the day" just wondering about your comment of a 4k flat screen as a kit. What kit was it and what company sold the kit? Would like to know.
Nothing like finding out they omitted just ONE. the most important one to boot. I remember a kit, didnt bother counting parts and compairing with the parts sheet. Sure enough. Got to the nitty gritty and part number 1001A was missing...no where to be found. So fill out the form, send it in the snail mail, wait till it FINALLY come 4 to 6 weeks( centuries, forever) and it finally comes. Then as you are moving the box bottom out of the way, part number 1001A falls out of the box flap! WHAT THE#@%&! OMG! why couldnt they have stuck it in an envelope? NOOOO! Yup...been there...done that...
Yeah, the total count of pixels was 3.......
@@petroldevo9934 Lost count? Happened to me a few times too. Good ol' times though
@DeRaafMedia - I always seem to be a few pixels short.
Hi Fran - I built a Heathkit in the early 70's and that was my introduction to building electronics. I like how you use some of the same tools today that I use, like a second pair of hands: the little alligator clip vise deal. Thanks so much for doing this. Was nice to listen to your voice while I worked on fixing and refining and invention (mechanical) for camping.
Hello, I'm a French hobbyist and I like your videos!
I got a HealthKit stereo in 1967 the same year I got married. Very much enjoyed the assembly. A few years later my house was broken into and my stereo was gone.
I love that you went to the trouble of adding "'scuse me" but didn't cut out the burp
That has me thinking Fran has got a few brit genes ;) :)
Well, could be Canuck
@@jamesvandamme7786 True
The standard British phrase upon burping is: "More tea, vicar?"
I think she will fart in the next video.
Hi Fran. Very entertaining for me as an electronics guy. Thumbs up.
I hear you on Heathkit. They closed around the time I got out of school. Luckily, I experienced a new (back then) computer and robotics course that my school started and in getting the program started, they had to put together Hero 1 AND Hero Jr robots and also the computer trainers. Since I was very close with the electronics teacher and passed the electronics course with flying colors, I was one of two lucky students that were able to work on putting these items together. I had a lot of fun, not only putting the Heathkit items together, but also working with them, particularly the Hero - 1 robot. Helping the teacher did garner me my school's very first Technological Achievement award when the school offered it. Also, when they moved the electronics lab, the teacher ended up giving me much of the older obsolete equipment. I do remember getting a Heath signal tracer from him, but it wasn't this one. It was larger. It might have been a T-3, but I don't remember as even I, no longer have the unit. But, it was sad indeed to see Heathkit go. Over the years I had seen one by one, the great kit firms close up. I think Dynaco went first, then Eico and finally Heathkit. In more recent years, I have purchased and built kits from Ramsey Electronics and sadly, THEY closed up as well just a few years ago. So as of now, I think Velleman is one of the last holdouts for electronic kits. It is a sad shame that these companies are no longer around. I know I that I probably would have bought many kits from Heath, Eico, and Dynaco had I been around a bit earlier. Building these kits was always a ton of fun, and I am enjoying following you along in assembling this unit. So on to the next part!
Thanks Fran. I am enjoying your channel, and looking at your past videos.
Love how these kits are assemblywise almost electromechanical projects.
Enjoyed the series so far!
I remember putting together my first Heathkit back in 1967 boy they were fun to build. Thanks for bringing back some old memories Fran.
I really really loved the real-time pacing of these two videos. Your level of dialog is just right - it's interesting when you're talking but it's also interesting just to watch. Also this pacing gives you time for philosophical observations on the nature of, when you take something apart and put it back together, you "know" that thing in a different way, which I think really hearkens to _Zen And The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance_
Hello Fran. This is the best youtube channel I have seen. I like watching all of them.
This heathkit rebuild reminds me of evenings spend in my high school physics class in the early 70's putting them together.
great info on the triple capacitator! Great Vid!
When I was a kid, it was a butterknife for flatheads to hook up my Atari to the TV. A pair of pliers served me pretty well too.
I remember very well in my pre teenage and youth years sat building Heathkit projects and Sinclair kits, i built the Sinclairs smallest radio and got away for ages wearing it at school told teachers it was a hearing aid ear piece until a science teacher spotted it and had built the kit himself lol.
How you mounted the electrolytics was really cool!!!!
Love your electrolytic capacitor replacement. Neat.
Oh, and just FYI, the eye tube you pulled from an old radio is probably a 6E5 or something similar.
The eye tube in the IT-12 is a 1629, a WW2 vintage tube originally used in airborne radio equipment. It has a 12V heater (filament) which is why Heathkit used a 12V heater string in this kit.
The 1629 is an octal-based tube; the older 6E5 is a six-pin “big pin” format.
ooooh, oooh!! I have a story about this one. I bought an assembled one of these at a hamfest around 1982, so I didn't have the fun of assembling it. Around 1995 I was using it to trace a single through a Fluke 6071 signal generator, a $12,000 device! The problem was a lack of phase-lock on the delay-line filter plane. The manual set for the 6071 is like six two-inch-thick gray manuals. Very thorough, except for the delay-line manual, which just gives up on trying to explain how a delay-line filter works, and just says "the adjustments on this board are all factory only." Drat. The signal generator is useless if it won't lock, so I gotta fix it. The schematic for this plane is like 2x2 feet, and complex, and all interdependent, so the integrators are connected to a sample-hold with four pots, and those feed back to a cascade of wobbleizers and misc passive components and diodes. totally unlike any other stage I'v ever seen. So I start randomly probing around the circuitry with the signal tracer and many places sound like squash-clap, squoosy-thunk, not sounding right at all for something that is supposed to lock up on the signal. At the fifth spot I probe, the squishy-clunk settles down to deep silence and the signal generator locks like it should! A normally-bad side effect FTW! I measure the cable and it measures something like 55K and 80pF. I replace the probe with a Heathkit resistor decade box and a Heathkit capacitor substitution box. Unbelievable, but it only locks with the resistor box at 68K and the cap one at 100pF !!!
Of all the possible resistor-capacitor combinations that a cable could have, this Heathkit length of RG-58 and stray capacitance just so happens to hit the sweet spot. Amazing.
The tracer is still on my test bench and still gets a lot of use.
Regards,
George
Wow, this brings back memories. Heathkit used to offer an electronics training course under the GI Bill that culminated in building a TV Set. In the late 70's my father took the course (really just to get a "free" tv), we spent many months in the basement building various kits. This lead to a love of electronics that continues to this day
While was in the Navy, I built the GR-2000 through Bell & Howell Schools using the GI Bill in 1974. Also just to get the TV. I didn't learn anything from the course.
This must have been a heathkit tradition. Not reading the addendum until having extra wires and not being sure where they should go. Great fun so far.
As a punk I always loved walking into a Heathkit shop. I smell the electronics it did something for me. Do u remember that. When you were a punk. Space LOL
If you're interested, the power transformer in this build of yours was made by Grand Transformer Inc. during the 18th week of 1973. Helps to date (nearly) when the kit was put together.
Fran. What a total joy. Thank you for building me a time machine! This young arts leaning electronics geek had huge fun with Heathkits at school and incendiary soldering at home! Your attention to detail and complete enthusiasm was mine too! Just wonderful
I can still remember my dad building a Heathkit color TV. It was in the 60s when the kits first were available that might explain the round TV tube in the front. My dad said the Heathkit TV cabinets were way too expensive, so he mounted the TV in the wall of our family room. My friends all told me we had the "Coolest" house they had ever seen because of the color TV mounted in the wall.
Boy, does this bring back memories. I built a Heathkit power supply in 1970. Finally had to junk it a few years ago.
I admit this is in the slow-n-steady category, but I like it anyway. I like your asides as well. I'm wending through these in the new year while I am working on my own little project, so it's like a podcast. I do look over when you indicate a visual thing.
I was a Manhattanite and I don't recall a Heathkit store in town so I missed out. Radio Shack was it for me. I miss it sorely.
My first color TV was a Heathkit, part of a Bell & Howell course paid for by the VA.. Had it for years before I replaced it with a 27" CRT set, then LCD.
I still have a heath kit signal generator/ frequency generator in the box, never opened. It was a gift back when i was 13. Mabey one day ill finally build it. Probably needs new caps by now.
Donate it to me! (*jealousy*)
@@mr-meek mabey.
@@petroldevo9934 I was mostly just being silly and didn't expect a reply at all. On the other hand, if you do decide to part with it I'd be willing to pay- I just don't think I could afford market value ;-) My grandfather was an engineer at Heathkit's St. Joseph home base for 15 years and when he passed I didn't understand the value of the many prototypes he built and tested that we had laying around (sentimental and monetary). They're all gone now. I recently decided to pick up the family EE torch and have been rabidly seeking out every kit I can manage to get my hands on ;-)
@@mr-meek thats cool that he was a higher up in the heath kit corporation. Well, i have a kit that i never opened and i guess he helped designed it. I have no idea what its worth.
I had that transistor tester kit also for decades....and also never used the thing.
Got my IT-12 down off the shelf and the instruction book from the late 60s and am following along with your build. Great fun. Nice job on the electrolytics by the way. I need to replace mine.
For me you said the magic word - 'Mullard'. EL34, ECC83, EF86 and GZ34 (20W amp.) It might be over half a century but some things you never forget. Happy New Year Fran - Take care.
Brings back so many memories of a totally overwhelmed 10 year old me, finally getting it put together after about 2 weeks.
Yes, going to the Heathkit store was almost as much fun as going to Radio Shack (back when they mostly sold parts and kits for hobbyists and before they foolishly tried to compete with big box stores like Best Buy, and Conn’s for the consumer electronics market.) There was always WAY too much fun (and expensive) stuff to choose from in the Heathkit store! 🤠
If you've ever seen a Radio Shack catalog from about 1959 or 1960, they sold Fisher and Scott amplifiers, dual, Gerard, and even thorens turntables if I remember correctly. So Radio Shack was a halfway decent Hi-Fi store back in the day.
Well, I'll be her for Pt 3 and 4 Always like to learn new things - until I saw you mention Heathkit I never knew there was such a thing - was busy being mom and raising my boy's but it's never too late to learn - Always fun to watch Take care and enjoy the upcoming New Year and stay safe
Running these and feeling ever so tangentially like I've time travelled and putting together my own heathkit projects at christmas. One thing was missing, so I paused the video and dropped a screw on the floor and spent a few minutes trying to find it. Thanks Fran, yer a peach!
Looking good I have done that with electrolytic capacitors in older radios enjoying the series very much brings back wonderful memories. On to part 3...
LOVE the way you fettled a solution for the 3 capacitors - an elegant and functional workaround for all of us with basic-grade OCD!
OMG how this takes me back😀 and yes you are correct Heathkit and Radio Shack are not the same. Love watching you!! Lots of fun!! Thank you so much for sharing 😀
We lost so much when Heathkit went under.
I miss going to the Heathkit store and browsing the awesome kits.
The catalogue was a must have for the bathroom, LOL!
heath kit... reminds me of going through electronics school at great lakes naval training center!
That was not far from Benton Harbor
My brother went through boiler tech training. He retired after 30 years. Now his lungs are full of asbestos from when they were upgrading older ships. He went in to the Navy in 1976. He can hardly even breath any more. He told me the life expectancy of a Retired Navy guy was short. I hope he hangs around a few more years myself.
@@scottfirman that breaks my heart to hear. I have definitely got some health issues at age 50 but I am trying to keep on keepin on
Hey Scrap, what year were you there? I did FT A School in 1980.
@@paulepruss I should have been more specific. I went to FT A School. 1990 to 1991. even though I was a coast guard fire controlman they sent me to Navy schools.
Is amazing how long time is necessary to fill a little box with electronics, and to make it to work GOOD! But the satisfaction...
1:50 My dad built the IT-28 capacitor checker. As a 10-year-old I always got a kick out of charging capacitors and discharging them across a piece of metal.
"I'm going off script here...."
My God, what have you done!?! Y-y-y-you rebel!!
Much as I find your social commentary videos interesting, I find this type of video totally absorbing. It is like putting it together yourself. Lovely attention to detail with the capacitors using the original plate. Can’t wait for the next instalment. Cheers.
Fran, I had a, not new, IT-12 on my service bench in 1978. I also built a Heathkit 12 volt bench power supply and DVM in Bell and Howell tech school. Thanks for the memories.
Thank you for another Epic video
I think this is the "happiest" I've seen you in a long time! I know the feeling, I love vintage electronics! and Heathkit was always one of my favorites. I would gush over the catalogs for hours!
As vintage electronics/ radio expert, author- historian, and test gear Guru Alan Douglas used to say, it's never too late to have a happy childhood!
I’m enjoying this, and I did *not* want to see the unbuilt kit get built.
Fran, it’s nice to see you having fun with this. Glad for your sake that all the living/working space hunting is over with.
The Cap(sulation). Genius. That would be my recommendation. You are so good.
I remember my dad's first Ham Radio rig was made by Heathkit. He didn't build it himself a friend I think built it for him. Anyway, it did have the advantage of being the easiest Ham Radio to work on when things went wrong, though, surprisingly in the 10 years he had it it only went wrong once and that was just some leaky tubes. ( I think! What I know about electronics is you could write on a match head.)
I know what you mean about the Heathkit stores, I loved going to the store in Seattle in the late 60’s. Good memories!
Super project, amazing to be assembling a Heathkit in 2018, looking forward to part 3. Thanks for sharing!
Fran, a full project build like this takes time so breaking it up in to 1 hour segments seems right. Your viewers can always pause and continue each episode to fit their needs. I also appreciate that you've chosen to not speed up portions of the video to save time. That way we get to listen to your comments and tips during the build. My only wish is that I had my own kit to work on along with your build. Take care.
Yay! Part 2! Lets do this!
You are a lucky person to get such a great kit donated to you ,I am sure they are very rare ,congrate and a great job on your assembly,love the video
Heathkit cool wished they still made.them
I was into short wave back in Junior High and actually took the FCC test and passed. My dad actually let me and my sister take the classes. Seems like there were several tests one for Morse code then another one for verbal or to be able to use a regular mike and get the call sign. My dad refused to foot the bill for that next course. I suppose I could have gotten a job for the White Star Line. Now I do not have the interest to bother taking that test.CB radio was in its hey day then and my dad built a linier carrier amplifier that produced such a strong signal, It would light up a floresent tube from three foot away from the unit. One day two guys from the FCC showed up at the door asking questions. I didnt tell them anything but I remember my dad comming home and disassembling the unit post haste. Apparently it was over riding the Airports equipment 15 miles away. This is a true story. They noticed he had a 40 foot CB antenna on the back of our house and wanted to know if my dad Had some kind of device he hooked to it. I acted stupid but my guess is they went to his work and threatened him with some stiff fines if he ever used it again. Even with that 40 foor CB antenna, We could get Honolulu on a clear evening on that CB, even with a smaller amplifier. I do not know what wattage that Linier amplifier put out but it was wicked. It sure wasnt a Heathkit!
36:09 Fran is no stranger to "breaking the rules". Love the series Fran
Finally got on of your videos in my recommended feed, great.
love the way you use a screwdriver as a hammer, typical spark (UK speak for electonic engineer)
A spark is an electrician. Fran's an engineer, you wouldn't call an engineer a sparkie or a chippie...
Wonderful flash back to when I was young ...Didn't come with nut starter I remember that was a nice addition to the kits
Part 2, ready for the magic part. Woohoo.
Fran. You are hands on and on time. BTW I love "stop motion". Yes, that has nothing to do with this build. Carry on.
Fran your awesome! I learn so much watching your videos.
I would love to spend a Christmas with you.
Building kits is so ZEN. I agree with the main power supply filter cap change. I would also swap out any carbon resistors that are out of tol with metal film.
Yippeeee, part 2 , love this build , so many cool old parts and the look .....it has that ...arhh now thats how they used to make them 👍😊
Great work
I'm relatively new to your channel and I'm captivated by this latest series. I enjoy watching your thought process and your enthusiasm is infectious. Thanks for sharing.
Enjoying the close-up work. Very nice.
The more installments of videos the better. It's the waiting!! :-)
Can`t wait for part 3 Fran I`ve been watching your vids for some time now as always you are great
What a Nice tee shirt Line...
I think I'd have put the old cap can in, but mounted the new caps next to it. Because just decorative and shows what it would have looked like originally.
So exciting, interesting so educational to watch the build thank you.
Awesome stuff , entertainment and education in one.
Thanks Fran
Hi Fran,
You have me sitting on the edge ofmy seat waiting to see part tbree.
Love the multi-part projects.
Thing is some people want a single 20 minute full build with any issues removed, sad really.
Would like to see 5 or 10 part detailed build, problem solving etc. This way the educational value is much greater.
I look forward to similar multi-peart builds.
Happy New Year to You & Yours
Fran can you imagine how hard this kit would be for a first timer,I was lucky enough to find find a tube tuner radio ,I found at a electrical shop ,I think it was a fifties kit ,it had a tuning majic eye ,it still works far as I no my x has had it for 40 years .these kits are amazing when you can find one .
That's awesome, I can actually copy that helping hands setup you have exactly with the parts I have, looks actually handy. I've not had much luck with finding good helping hands setups.
New versions are crap! Gonna make myself one!
@@larrythecomputerguy what new versions?
@@JWH3 "Helpin' Hands" are still available, but are light-weight junk with hardware that won't really hold steady! Even Harbor Freight has a $5 version.
@@larrythecomputerguy i like the harbor freight ones. But they're for different uses than this.
I like what you did with the triple electrolytic capacitor C7. Neat solution. I for one wouldn't want to power up the original 45 year old capacitor! 💣
@garry olsen True
@garry olsen You keep thinking that. You are taking a heavy gamble when you "reform" old capacitors. Too many of them work just fine for a while until you leave the room and come back to fire and smoke. You cannot replace the components of the electrolyte that are no longer there.
@garry olsen Indeed. I do not understand people, who claim doing restoration, when they in fact destroy the historical value of device. And it is not true, that old electrolytic capacitors are unsafe - I keep doing so for years, and even using NOS capacitors in my new constructions, and have never noticed a fail. If the reforming is done right way (slowly charging through 1 M resistor or so), they are 100% safe. I would say that they are even better than modern chinese capacitors, twenty times smaller with the same values.
@@OMKBialystok exactly
Your glee is great to see!
Love that you didn't edit out the burp (after I picked myself up from the floor from laughing) :-)
I liked this video so much took me back when i used weller irons in 1973 great stuff i worked in a factory making pcbs for sound meters i can tell you have great skill at soldering 😃😃😃😃😃
My first and only Heathkit was an AR1500 receiver, purchased in the Heathkit store in Philly and assembled in our apartment in Florence, NJ back in the mid 70's sometime. Still have the receiver and it still works beautifully. Unfortunately somewhere along the way, the assembly and user guides disappeared. Absent a new in box kit for a signal tracer, I guess I'll have to build the one on Mr. Carlson's lab.
This is just the coolest! Thanks for sharing! :)
My dad bought me a Heathkit Ham radio which I started to build must have been like 1970 maybe? but I just totally lost interest not long into the building process and he was super busy at the time with his career in the computer world at the time....one of my many sad failures to finish something worthwhile. But it did get finished at least! ...my friend and his brother whipped it out for me but again I failed to follow through and never did get my ham radio licence ...darn Morris code just killed my motivation lol ...I just had other things to do at that age mainly riding and racing motorcycles ....well and partying LOTS of partying ....now I just look back and wish I could have been more interested and bonded more with my dad who was a life long Ham Radio guy ...Seems like we never could really mesh with passtimes....We both made some kind of effort though he actually bought a dirt bike which I know he was not much interested in ...he did better at that tthough than I did with my radio effort lol like at least he learned to ride it a little ....but it was still pretty pathetic...wish I could go back and get all that right...thanks for the Heathkit build ...brought back flood of memories
Friend: Would you ever watch someone put together an electronics project for 4 hours spread out into 4 parts?
Me: No way, are you crazy...I have my own projects piling up.
Friend: What are you doing now?
Me: Uhhh, waiting for Part 3
It's not about watching a kit get built - it is about sharing an experience with Fran.
@Power - lol
Yes. It's called re-living my youth.
Rad!
Very exciting to watch! I am envious!
Don't let the magic blue smoke out!
Closest place I know of in the area for any type of kits is Micro Center in St. Davids. Most of those are from Adafruit.
I set the video to speed = 1.5. Speech is still fine and the video doesn't drag on as long! Interesting, thanks.
@@fredflintstone8048 , not to mention that double speed would probably cause bats to fall out of the sky when Fran giggles!
I have several different Heathkits still in the boxes with instructions, I just put them in the garage because I had no use for them!
Wish I still had the first Heathkit I built, a 2 metre ham transceiver a HW30 "Twoer". I do have an AT5, but I didn't build that.
Agree... I remember how bummed I was when the local Heathkit store closed. And the Layfayette store.... Mar Vac, Popkey....
I did a lot of UL work for a big company. I don't know if the final kit carries a UL approval but your red wire under the transformer mounting screw is a void.
Being from NY, I LOVED Lafayette!