[Heathkit] Building for Pleasure

[Bob Macklin]

Lee, w0vt comments:

" I have very little in common with most hams on the air today.  I've been a 
ham for 60 years and the operators as a whole on the air today are much 
different then those of days gone bye."

This is the same thing I found after restarting in ham radio about 12 years 
ago.

So my main interest has become restoring old radios and building things 
similar to those in the 50' and 60's handbooks. The problem now is a lot of 
the parts for the old HB projects are not easy to come by.

In the 50's and 60's we used to scrap[ out old AM/SW BC sets for parts to 
make our own ham band receivers. Those items are no longer available and if 
they were ewe would probably not scrap them.

But I do have an old 12V car radio I bought for parts. But it is solid 
state. I need a 12V tube type car radio for a project.

Bob Macklin
K5MYJ
Seattle, Wa.
"Real Radios Glow In The Dark"
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "L L bahr" <pulsarxp at embarqmail.com>
To: "Michael D. Harmon" <mharmon at att.net>
Cc: <heathkit at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, July 11, 2013 10:45 AM
Subject: Re: [Heathkit] Building for Pleasure


>
> Hi Mike:
>
> I feel just about the same way you do.  I love to build stuff.  However, 
> building any tube type rig from scratch is not very economical these days 
> and at times almost unaffordable.  I do build QRP kits and that is 
> enjoyable too.  But, taking a really in bad shape boat anchor receiver or 
> transmitter and then restoring it is very rewarding in many ways for me 
> too.  Most of the time restoring one of these old pieces is more 
> economical too.  I say most of the time but if you want to do it 
> correctly, the price is still not cheap.  I like to keep what I restore so 
> I don't have to deal with the fact a truly nicely restored old radio would 
> really be hard to sell for what you have into it even if you don't 
> consider your labor.  So maybe giving it away to a friend is a nice idea! 
> One last comment.  Going to the epay site is really becoming a joke.  It 
> seems like parts and tubes there cost more then you can buy new ones from 
> other sources such as Mouser.  I in most cases can buy resist
> ors, capacitors, and transformers fresh and brand new from the big parts 
> stores for less. I don't actually operate on the air much either except to 
> talk to a few close friends.  I have very little in common with most hams 
> on the air today.  I've been a ham for 60 years and the operators as a 
> whole on the air today are much different then those of days gone bye.
>
> Lee, w0vt
>
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> I spent a lot of hours and probably $40 in new parts rebuilding the old
> girl.  After all that, I gave it away!
> I took it to my buddy at my local electronics emporium and told him to
> find a home for it.
> I have too much ham gear and test equipment as it is.  For me, the fun
> is in the challenge of building and/or repairing gear. Operating is sort
> of in second place.
>
> Am I crazy?  Maybe just a little.  Do I care?  Nope.  I'm having fun.
>
> Build on ...
> Mike, WB0LDJ
> mharmon at att dot net
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