Memories of Neil W. Heckt
My work with Tobias (KK7BCO/2M0TFF) on a LC meter as the fifth build in Red Summit RF's Homebrew Workbench series for beginners introduced me to the clever LC meter design of Neil Heckt. As we celebrate his work by building one ourselves, in this post I hope to celebrate his life through the memories of those who knew him.
Neils's AADE L/C Meter IIB was a great hit, with thousands of units sold both as kits and as fully assembled instruments. It is not difficult to find praise for the meter. Many owners have written about its accuracy, usefullness, limitations, and clever design. Scattered among those reviews, however, are also small glimpses of Neil himself—stories from people who corresponded with him, asked him for help, or sent their meters back to him for repair. The reviews of the AADE L/C Meter IIB on eHam.net are particularly valuable in this respect. Many are written by people who dealt with Neil directly, and aongside their praise for the meter they remembered his kindness, honesty, and unusually generous customer service.
Memories
There is surprisingly little written about the man behind the instrument. While trying to learn more about him, I found most of the biographical information in his obituary. While searching further, I came across a moving remembrance titled Celebrate the Sun, written by Jill L. Ferguson, Neil's daughter-in-law. It offered something quite different from the technical accounts and product reviews: a glimpse of Neil as a husband, father, and person. One story in particular reveals a wonderfully personal side of him:
She (Kay) said her favorite book and life philosophy came from Celebrate the Sun. Back before she and Neil dated she had told him about this book. Not only did he borrow her copy and read it, but he photocopied the whole thing and pasted page by page into a photo album and intermixed the pages with his own photographs of the sun, of himself on hikes, and of the two of them walking in the woods. He decorated the front of the book with black electrical tape and two die-cut pelicans as they are key characters in the book. After Neil and Kay moved in together and married, she found this book he had created but had never told her about. She intimated that part of the way she knew he was the man for her was because he had taken her interest in this book so seriously. On his last night, she had the book Neil had created with them in hospice center and was reading the end of it to him shortly before his passed.
I was deeply moved by the story and wrote to Jill to ask whether she might be willing to share a few more memories of Neil, and perhaps a photograph. She kindly replied that she would speak with Kay, Neil's wife, and with Neil's son, her husband.
Two days later, I received a message containing a wonderful remembrance written by Kay herself, together with a photograph of Neil as a younger man. I have reproduced both here.
Photograph of Young Neil, thanks to Jill, sent to me by Kay.
Neil Heckt worked for the Boeing Company for more than 30 years. He was a member of their early air and space team. In his earliest years he worked on getting satellites into orbit and later getting men onto the moon. He developed his first inventions during those years which, of course, were owned by Boeing.
When we met he was a few short years from retirement. He was anxious to start his own business and create new products unrelated to his work at Boeing. He named his company Almost All Digital Electronics.
The inventions that followed seemed focused on developing ways to measure very, small units of...? He invented an atomic clock. It is my understanding that the Bureau of Weights and Standards in Colorado used it and that it was displayed there. Here I must state that I am woefully unknowledgable about any aspects of his work. I am neither a business woman or an inventor so, though I found him brilliant I rarely understood what his inventions really did. We were very different in many ways but genuinely admired each other's talents.
The last invention was an L/C Meter kit for hobbyists. He did very well with that product. The arrival of the internet and eBay made it a commercial success.
I thought his philosophy about not patenting his products was unusual. He told me that he developed a product, sold as many as he could and when someone copied his work he would stop production and leaveit to someone else to deal with it while he invented something else.
He had talents and ideas brewing in his brain that craved to be made real. He told me that whenever he needed money he would invent something that people would buy and then he paid his bills.
He wasn't like me and the people in my world who took on a second or third job when we needed money. I found his confidence and creativity to be amazing!
Neil was scrupulously honest in his business . Once he purchased two antique vacuum tubes for less than $100 from an eBay customer. When they arrived he discovered that they were quite valuable. He wrapped one tube up and sent it back to the customer with a note telling him what it was worth. Instead of selling it and making a good deal of money he sent it back. I asked him why. He said it wouldn't be fair to the seller for him to keep all of it for himself because the guy just didn't know what he had.
If anyone had a problem assembling one of his kits they sent them to him and he would fix their problems without charge.
Neil was sick for many years before his death. His brilliant mind was with him to the end.
I hope these memories help preserve not only Neil Heckt’s work, but also something of the thoughtful, generous, and inventive man remembered by those who knew him.
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