[Elecraft] Today's HW-101?

[n2ey at aol.com]

-----Original Message-----
From: Brett gazdzinski <brett.gazdzinski at verizonbusiness.com>
S

>heathkit sold a lot of gear, and
>a lot of it was the same, the DX100/DX100b ran a while, as the HW100, 
HW101,
>and the (almost the same) SB101.

The DX-100/B was on the market for less time than the K2, and there are 
no plans
to discontinue the K2.

Many Heathkit models are similar but *not* the same. When they made 
improvements
they changed the model number. DX-40 is an improved DX-35, etc.

Some years back, Electric Radio published a list of how many EF Johnson 
ham
rigs were actually made in their day. The numbers were surprisingly 
low.
I can look them up if anyone is interested.

It would be really interesting to know the number of Heathkit ham rigs 
produced. I
suspect it's a lot lower than we imagine, particularly for rigs other 
than the big
sellers like the HW-101.

The HW101 was an improved HW-100, which was derived from the 
SB100/101/102
family. The big savings in the HW series was the elimination of the 
expensive
preassembled LMO module and its dial drive, plus some features like 
provision
for a remote 2nd VFO.

>Just what was the audio output tube in the HW101?

6GW8 Triode-pentode.

>I remember it being sorare, heathkit
>was the only place I could find one back then...

It was a standard TV tube. All my catalogs (Allied, Newark) had the 
6GW8 and
the 6BN8 used in the '101.

>I guess I just come from a homebrewers standpoint, where I don't need 
to
>make so many compromises to cost.I guess that is why I got rid of all 
that
>old stuff and went all home brew, too much cost cutting....

I did the same thing, but it only works if you have parts sources that 
cost
much less than what manufacturers pay in quantity. No manufacturer can
pull the precision variable capacitor out of a BC-221 frequency meter 
and
build a rig around it, but a homebrewer can. This one did - twice.

A homebrewer who buys all new parts in small quantities will not save
money. Been that way for more than half a century. Heck, I'll bet the
stock parts in a K2, if bought new from Allied/Newark/Mouser/Digikey
in small quantities, would add up to a surprising percentage of the 
kit's
price.

>I don't think the rig you describe (hw101 specs) would sell at all, 
unless
>it was a kit maybe. You can buy a good used rig for much less.

That's what I heard folks say about the K2 back in 1999. 6300+ K2s
later, I guess they were wrong....

Yes you can get a good used late-model rig, but can you work on it?
Does it have top-shelf performance at a bottom-shelf price?
How much does someone learn from buying a used rig vs. building a
kit?

Historical note about Heathkit: The company didn't originally make
electronic kits. They made kit airplanes. Rhinebeck Aerodrome has one.

Heath got their start in electronics kits after WW2, designing things
around war surplus parts they got for pennies on the pound. That's
why the oddball tubes in their early test gear. (1626 as a rectifier?)

You have to keep in mind the state of the art and economy of
their times. Plus inflation.

73 de Jim, N2EY
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