[Elecraft] Heath vs Elecraft

[Dave Van Wallaghen]

> 
> Well, I AM old enough to remember the Heath era, here's my take.  [{n}
> refers to notes at the bottom].  In at least two respects, Heath and
> Elecraft are very similar ... they both sell radio gear as kits, and
> their offerings are inexpensive vs the other non-kit stuff out there.
> In my view however, that's about where the similarity ends.
> 

Well, at 46, I somewhat remember the Heathkit line. At a pre-teen I sat down
with the catalog and picked out my dream lineup I would purchase with the $8
a lawn (but they were 2-3 acre lawns) I was making in the summer. Never did
get to it - the money went for school and a car. I did have some experience
with Heathkit labs that we evaluated for our electronics teacher in the mid
to late 70's. Based on our evaluation, he worked them into his curriculum.
Like Elecraft, they were well built and had great manuals. Too bad I killed
all of those brain cells that stored that knowledge :-) Now I have to
relearn it all over again.

I think Fred hit the nail on the head. There are some basic similarities,
but certainly different times and technology. In retrospect, I'm almost glad
I went into a ham coma for 30 years. When I got back into it a couple of
years ago, I was very surprised to find an Elecraft type company out there.
I think I would have become dissatisfied with just operating in the 80's and
90's and not having the chance to play with the hardware. Just a guess -
maybe I would have gravitated to using boat anchors instead - who knows. 

But one of the things that the current technology and times have brought to
me (and other newer hams I would guess) is regarding the very nature of
Elecraft's fine support and it's ability to listen and incorporate
suggestions by the community. The great side effect of this has been massive
flow of information regarding the technology. I have learned more about ham
radio and the technology employed in the hardware I've built and tested
right here on this reflector. I had no idea what roofing filters, IMD, BDR
etc. were until I read here how they would be used or measured with regards
to the K3. It inspired me to go to other resources and research and learn.
For me, that is why I got into this hobby - to learn and experiment. 

Reading on a daily basis of how others use this technology is also a great
benefit. I certainly could sit down and constantly read books about most of
the technologies discussed here, but the contributors to this list put it
into a perspective that allows me to better understand the "why" of the
technology so that I can research the "what" on my own. For a younger ham
still working many hours, this is a pretty streamlined process that saves me
some time and allows me to learn quickly.

I can't imagine being able to do this 30 years ago and am forever grateful
to the current times, technology and people on this list that I am able to
benefit from the vast knowledge of all those before me. I wonder if those in
Aptos thought or planned for this side effect.

73,
Dave W8FGU