[Boatanchors] vacuum tube radio kits

[Troglodite at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/5/2010 4:40:35 A.M. Central Standard Time,  
np2or at yahoo.com writes:

As a  boatanchor fan and user, I favor the technology of vacuum tube 
radios.  
There are many solid state kits on the market these days but few offering  
vintage design and Heathkit-style assembly. I am considering developing  
and 
offering vacuum tube kits through an internet store. The kits would  focus 
on, 
but not be limited to QRP radios starting with a design  developed and 
published 
in QST a few years ago based on the Tuna Tin II  model. This kit would be a 
vacuum tube model. An auxiliary device is the  power supply. 


Vacuum tube components are not as inexpensive as  solid state stuff so the 
kit 
for the radio would have to sell at about  $99.
Before I get too far in this I need to assess the potential market.  

1. Would vacuum tube kits be of interest to you?

2. Would you  spend $99 for a kit to build a vacuum tube QRP transmitter?

3. If we  were to essentially reproduce a Heathkit AT-1 type radio and 
could 
market  it for under $200 would you consider purchasing?

4. What vacuum tube  kits would you like to see on the market?

Thank you for your time and  attention.

Jack,
 
I grew up with vacuum tubes, built many vacuum tube rigs, and certainly  
have a fondness for them. However, I think that there may be problems with 
such  a product, based on what I have seen in the last few years. This is just 
my own  opinion, based on experience, and the fact that I would probably 
qualify as a  potential customer.
 
Most of the people who would be interested in such a product are probably  
"old timers." The newer Hams don't really seem to have all that much 
interest in  old technology, except as a curiosity. There are younger Hams those 
who might  restore an old vacuum tube product, but might not be interested in 
building one  from scratch. The "old timers" are probably capable of home 
brewing their own  vacuum tube QRP gear, if that is their interest. A kit 
would have to be fairly  cheap to be attractive, and in that case it isn't as 
good a business proposition  unless you can convince the Chinese to make it. 
:-)
 
Several years ago a club in the South attempted to market a copy of the  
(in)famous Ameco Novice transmitter. They were sincere and did a good job on  
design and fabrication, but they gave up after a few months and probably 
ended  up eating a lot of hard tooled chassis and parts. I don't really know, 
but they  didn't succeed. The Ameco was about as bare bones as you could get, 
but was  complete on one chassis including an AC power supply.
 
Similarly, there was a guy making an AA5 tube receiver kit on a plastic  
chassis, which was also available as a shortwave model. Irrespective of the  
usual criticism of transformerless designs, it wasn't a bad kit at all, but 
he  too failed after a few months.
 
No doubt there have been others of which I am unaware. There are also parts 
 supply problems with vacuum tube kits. NOS tubes are still available in  
quantity, but they are no longer cheap. Some Russian tubes like 6V6's are 
also  available and are quite good, others, like the Chinese copy of the 6L6 
are not  very good. Tube sockets, RF chokes, higher voltage capacitors,  
transformers etc. are all available, but not cheap like they used to be.  
Everything these days is geared to solid state and PC boards. No doubt you  already 
know this.
 
But the biggest problem appears to be that there just isn't the interest  
any more from the general Amateur Radio populace. Those that are interested 
will  probably roll their own.
 
This is what I have found. Of course your mileage may vary. I'd be  
interested in opinions of others.
 
Doug Moore kb9tmy (Formerly k6hwy, originally licensed in 1954)