[Heathkit] SB-240 on the Bay.

[MikeDoolin at aol.com]

The SB-240 in question was after my time at Heath (1968-74 - I wrote the 
catalogs and ads) but a typical "proofbuild" would have been 15-20 units. No 
surprise that Mike Elliott would have one of these.

Proofbuilds were built using specified production parts, production 
packaging, and a manual that was as close to final as possible. The proofbuild was 
mostly designed to critique the manual - the Heath engineers would have done a 
great job on engineering at that point, as they usually did.

Proofbuilds were always a hot item, but since I was the only ham in the 
advertising department, I always got the ham gear. Proofbuilds were only available 
to salaried/exempt employees, which meant that the production people (behind 
the swinging doors) never got them - a source of consternation to many of them.

The proofbuilders would have been given a deadline to finish the kit, the 
manual would have been marked up with comments and suggestions during the 
kitbuilding process (we were encouraged to be ruthless but not snotty!), and both the 
manual and the assembled kit would have been returned to engineering. The 
engineers would have run tests to make sure the kits performed to specs, and the 
manual department would have incorporated whatever changes were suggested that 
were found to be valuable to the kit builder. There was a committee involved 
in vetting these marked-up manuals, and the Executive Product Development 
Committee (XPDC as it was called) would have to sign off on the final kit and its 
associated manual.

Eventually (several months in most cases) the kit and the manual would have 
been finalized and offered for sale. The proofbuilds (and the proofbuild 
manual) would then have been returned to the folks who built them. It was their 
reward for their contribution to the process.

If this amp has the original proofbuild manual with it, it will be a VERY 
rare item and definitely a valuable piece of Heathkit history.

Good luck to whoever gets it.

Mike Doolin
KC2TP
ex-WB8CDU, One of the Hams at Heath


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