[Elecraft] Re-posted interesting comments Fwd: [GQRP] Do-it-all Kits

[John J. McDonough]

Rafael

As a quality professional, I understand that quality is what the customer
defines it to be, so clearly, for you, Heathkits are better than Elecraft
kits.  But I am a bit curious why?   Certainly they stood out compared to
the rest of the market at the time, but by today's standards, they would be
totally unacceptable.

The phenolic circuit boards certainly don't cut it by today's standards,
they typically lacked solder masks, and the low quality foil was easily
lifted by soldering.  Sometimes the boards weren't even screened.  The
instructions, although good, were printed on low quality paper and the
schematics were often hard to read.  By and large house numbered parts were
used, which makes maintenance difficult.  There is a reason they were called
"Griefkits".

These things, to me, make most of today's kits, and especially the Elecraft
kits, "higher quality" than the old Heathkits (and I've build a few of both
in my time).

Clearly, there is something else that you see.  I am curious (and I suspect
other kit makers, including Elecraft, would be too) about what you see in
the old Heathkits that makes them better than modern kits.

72/73 de WB8RCR    http://www.qsl.net/wb8rcr
didileydadidah     QRP-L #1446 Code Warriors #35

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rafael Garc�a" <EA4RJ@telefonica.net>
To: "Elecraft" <elecraft@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2004 9:14 AM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Re-posted interesting comments Fwd: [GQRP] Do-it-all
Kits


> Untrue. The best kit manufacturer of all times was Heathkit. Period.
> Best 73,
> EA4RJ
>