[Elecraft] Appliances vs. kits [was: RE: Can Elecraft take over...]

[Bill Coleman]

On May 20, 2005, at 10:33 PM, Mike Markowski wrote:

> It's from Electronics Illustrated,
> Sept. 1964, "The Scrounger" by Herb Friedman W2ZLF, and starts with  
> this:
>
> "Real challenge used to be ham radio's keynote.  No one in the early
> days ever thought of flipping through a catalog, ordering gear galore
> and then going on the air the same day the stuff arrived.  Most  
> everyone
> rolled his own in those days.  Today, this kind of fun is pretty much
> gone with the wind."

Herb is correct to a point, but he misses some historical issues.  
First, in the 20s and 30s, any gear that could be ordered through a  
catalog was outrageously expensive for the day. Only the extreme  
wealthiest of hams could possibly consider it.

In the 40's and 50's, it was common for a ham to buy a receiver, but  
build his own transmitter. Again, cost was a major consideration.  
Even then, though, it was possibly for a well-to-do ham to order a  
stack of Collins gear, install a Big Bertha and a christmas tree and  
solder together virtually nothing but PL-259s.

In the 50's and 60's (and even into the 70's) the reason that  
Heathkits were so popular is that the assembly costs were a major  
portion of any electronic equipment. Heath could sell gear at a  
fraction of the cost of assembled gear, since the buyer provided all  
the labor to assemble the gear. In the 80s, however, advances in  
electronics and manufacturing finally turned the tide. Assembly costs  
dived.

Today, most electronics is assembled on a line with robotic  
equipment. That's why parts have become so vanishingly small.

We no longer build kits because it is a cheaper way to get access to  
great equipment. We build for other reasons.

It is interesting to note that other kit industries, like the kit  
aircraft industry, are thriving because the economies of self-built  
equipment still exist.

Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
             -- Wilbur Wright, 1901