Heathkits and American Industrial Decline

This is an interesting video about the rise and fall of the Heathkit company, and how that company affected the rise and fall of American manufacturing.  

The Heathkit history is interesting, but I disagree about the extent to which building a Heathkit led to an increase in technical knowledge.  I guess it could, but Heath was famous for making kits that could be built by people who knew nothing about electronics.  Even when many of them were done assembling the kit, most still "knew nothing" about electronics.  Just look at those color TV kits:  Did assembling one of those kits mean that you came to understand TV?  I don't think so. 

I'm looking at my HW-101 manual.  It is 199 pages long.  It is mostly instructions on which part should be soldered where. There is a section called "Circuit Description" but it is only 19 pages long and is at the end of the book.  You could assemble the whole thing without ever reading the descriptions of the circuit.  I suspect that this is what usually happened. 

As for the fall of Heathkit, I think the video is closer to being correct.  But it puts too much blame on the advent of small surface mount parts.  That is, of course, part of it.  But another part of this has to do with the shift towards FPGA and CPU chips.  

Anyway, in spite of being AI produced, the video is worth watching.  I note that at the end, we see a prominent homebrewer in his shack.  Who is this guy?  

Thanks to Rogier PA1ZZ for sending this to me.   

UPDATE:  Mike WN2A reminded me of who that guy in the video was:  It was Greg, N8ZRY.  He has been on the SolderSmoke blog several times.  And here is his video showing his homebrew 20 meter transceiver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-k73b6ojyQ&t=21s  Ironically, Greg proves my point about the Heathkits and kits in general:  You just do not see a lot of Heath stuff in Greg's shack.  You do see a lot of homebrew stuff, and it is probably from this gear that he really learned a lot.   Thank you Mike, and thanks Greg! 

SolderSmoke Podcast 263: DR-PR, UM, DCRX, SKN, Design, PSSST, W7ZOI, FT-101, HW32A, VK, HST, AMP, MAILBAG

Pete Juliano N6QW

February 23, 2026

SolderSmoke Podcast #263 is available for download: 

Audio:  http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke263.mp3

Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn164glxQ6s

Opening 

May 26, 2014, coming up on 12 years! That was the 1^st podcast where Pete N6QW was interviewed by Bill in Podcast #161,  which means 102 podcasts ago. 12 Years of Julian-ismo.  Thanks Pete!  

What to build?  Question faced by VWS Makers Group and by Charlie of RedSummit RF.   Regen?  Test Gear?  Simple oscillator?  

But did you DESIGN it yourself?  What does that even really mean? Barrie Gilbert in Jim Williams' book:  https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2025/12/homebrew-you-say-but-did-you-design-it.html

Grayson KJ7UM on a podcast -- Make it your own way.  Copper Clad and Glue!  Manhattan style! "BUILD SOMETHING!:  Tube testers not necessary.  OK to call thermatrons "vacuum tubes."  No ruling on calling them "valves" yet. 

Pete:  

-- When hams were hams -- Turning a Heath monobander into a tribander

-- Simple SSB

-- W7ZOI rigs

-- The Yaesu FT-101

SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION:   Mostly DIY RF!   Patreon!   But no more Amazon.  We do not want to help Bezos make more money. Even if this will cost us.   So please,  consider a donation or a Patreon sponsorship instead.  But no more Amazon through SolderSmoke.  

Bill:   

-- Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico on 2 meters -- status report. 

-- Working Australia on 20 meter SSB in the morning. 

-- The SpiderWeb net. 

-- The Hubble Space Telescope -- an old friend

-- One contact on Straight Key Night (Dean reminded me).  I worked NB1U on 20 meters with QCX from KD4EBM. 

Dean: 

-- The University of Michigan ant the Direct Conversion receiver project.  

-- Boxing up the amplifier.  A tale of woe.  Identifying oscillations.  A QSO with the Dominican Republic: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2026/02/a-qso-with-dean-kk4das-northern.html 

 Travails with other homebrew gear... Trying to find a working transceiver.

AI assisted repair of Bitx40 PA in my Mythbuster 

VWS club station update, tendency of Flex and other SDR makers to not release even basic technical information.

MAILBAG: 

Ian VK3MO  Huge antennas, big signal, friendship with WA3O https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2025/11/vk3mo-and-wa3o-brotherhood-of-ham-radio.html

Bob KD4EBM  2 meter propagation info

Todd K7TFC  -- Mostly DIY RF

Mike K6STR  Worked Pete on 40, building for CW and SSB on 2 meters

Grayson KJ7UM    German Avionics,  MMM Origin.  Old Steampunk Homebrew rig: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2025/12/a-very-interesting-old-steam-punk.html   

Phil  W1PJE   Forrest Mims III     Mims's sad denial on climate change. 

Ciprian  YO2DXE         Heard the SAQ Alternator  see: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2025/12/alexanderson-alternator-on-172-khz.html

Tom NS6T:  Very useful azimuth map with grey lines: https://ns6t.net/AzShadowMap/experimental.html

Walter KA4KXX -- 20 meter Direct Conversion Receiver.  FB Walter! 

WN2A Mike   Dos Equis man is BACK! https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2026/01/hes-back-dos-equis-man-most-interesting.html

KB4HG Rhett:  On USB on the Old Military Radio Net with a PRC-74.  Want one! 

How many of you guys have changed the clutch on a Heathkit HW-101 (or similar rig)?

That circular thing on the right is the "Plastic Clutch" on the Heathkit HW-101.   Mine dried out and shattered when I pushed the "Zero Set" button on the from ot the HW-101.  I heard it crack.  I cut out a piece of plastic of the right size.  That replacement clutch has been in there for about 30 years now.  

I know of one other guy who has replaced the clutch on a HW-101 (Will, N5OLA).  Let us know if you have done this too.  Put a comment down below. 

Will Everett N5OLA -- the Heathkit Guru from South Texas

Will N5OLA

Will's innovative approach to old, dirty Heathkit transceivers caught my eye:  he gives them a bath.  Like with soap and water.  Then he put the rig in the oven (not all of us can do this and live to tell about it).  Finally he leaves the rig under the South Texas sun for a few days to complete the drying process.  FB Will. 

Will has (I hope!) inspired Pete N6QW to change his landfill plans for the HW-32A.   I have not given my HW-101 a bath yet, but I have recapped the HP-23B power supply and I have the HW-101 on the air.  Just yesterday a guy on 40 told me I was 40 Hz off frequency. I felt like I had come home. 

 

The N5OLA Workshop

There is another line on Will's QRZ page that caught my eye: 

"When not on the air, I write novels and own two indie coffee shops here on South Padre Island."

Indeed Will is a well known author who has done some great stuff:   

From http://www.willeverett.net/about.html

As a journalist, Will Everett has reported from the Middle East, South Asia and West Africa for National Public Radio, the BBC, Voice of America and other outlets.  With Walter Cronkite he wrote and produced the 2006 documentary World War One Living History Project, the only media project to honor the last surviving veterans of WWI. He also collaborated with CNN’s Soledad O’Brien on a program for the National Campaign to Stop Violence.

For ten years he was the creator and host of the syndicated NPR program Theme and Variations. His work has been recognized by the Society for Professional Journalists, the New York Festivals, the National Headliner Awards and the Poynter Institute.

His novel We’ll Live Tomorrow was  published in October 2015.  He also provided lyrics for a choral collaboration with Joseph Martin, “The Message,” published by Hal Leonard.

Will holds a master's degree from the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. 

Will's QRZ page:  https://www.qrz.com/db/N5OLA

Will's Site: http://www.willeverett.net/home.html

Will's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@N5OLA