Heathkit assembly manuals vs Bottlehead manuals

[mcandmar]

I recently bought a Heathkit IT-28 Capacitor tester in a sorry state and ended up doing a complete strip down and rebuild.  Was an interesting experience as i had to follow the assembly manual as though i had just bought the kit back way back when.  A few thoughts on the experience..

You get a single page diagram that you have to refer back to over and over again.  A line in the instructions might read (connect a 3" wire from switch R-3 to socket V2-7) and you have to flick back to the diagram to work out those locations, then go find your place again in the page of text.  Thankfully i have the modern ability to print the page and keep it in front of me, but even still, you end up jumping back and forth which makes it so much easier to get it wrong.

Also all the diagrams are hand drawn illustrations, vs today where Bottlehead gives you a nice crisp colour photograph next to each instruction step.  Pictures really do speak a thousand words.

Troubleshooting, no final checks, no voltage checks, no resistance checks, just a calibration procedure.  They do mark some voltages in the schematic so you can go find those and compare, but for the most part, you are on your own.

What if it still won’t work?   Well that’s where i am currently, half of the unit works, the other half has me completely stumped.   I could write to Heathkit for support, if it were the 1960's.  Imagine having a support forum, what an invaluable tool that would be, being able to talk directly to the folks who designed the thing, and could troubleshoot it remotely in a few short posts.  What an amazing concept that would be 

[debk]

At its time the Heathkit manuals were the best in the kit building world.  I built many as a child.


Debra

[Paul Birkeland]

Deb indirectly gave you the answer to your question.  Back in the day there were enough people building these things that finding someone to help wasn't too tough.  You may have to seek out your local amateur radio club to find some assistance.

[debk]

In the 60's Heathkit had physical stores you can bring the kit to if you had trouble.

Remember the era that the heathkit manuals were written in.  Color photos in the manual would have been very expensive if even possible.

[Tubegopher]

At its time the Heathkit manuals were the best in the kit building world.  I built many as a child.
 

Debra

Debra, were you building audio gear back then? If so, do you recall any of the model numbers?
I find myself wishing I was aware of Heathkit and Dynaco back then since I have owned and listened to so many of those items from the past. I first got into stereo gear in about 1972 when I worked for a company in Seattle called Electricraft Stereo. I later worked for Magnolia Hi Fi and became store manager of the Magnolia store. This was in 1975 and I first got introduced to tube gear when we had Dave O'brien do a McIntosh clinic at my store. I will never forget that MC275s that Dave went through and replaced tubes as needed. It really opened my eyes!

[Doc B.]

A big influence on me was my high school best friend's dad. He was an avid DX listener and general electronics/gadget freak. Built a lot of Heathkits including a receiver and a color TV. He also gave me a big stack of The Audio Amateur issues, which was a relatively new DIY audio publication at the time. Those really gut hooked me on this hobby. This was in San Francisco in the early 70s. The local Heathkit dealer was Zack Electronics, and you could bring your kit to them to have them sort it for you.

As you can imagine I pored over those Heathkit, Dynaco, Eico, etc. manuals for hours and hours when I started this kit thing back in the 90s. It's nice to hear that people think we've evolved the art form a bit. When we started (affordable digital cameras were a few years out still) it was expensive to get a good scanner and scan prints. So I did actually include a Heathkit-like drawing of the completed chassis underside with the first few products. By the time we got to Paraglow or so in the product line I changed over to a digital photo of a real finished amp.

[debk]

Debra, were you building audio gear back then?

I probably built my first kit in the early 70's.  It was a SW-717 short wave radio.  I still remmber the excitment when I turned it on and it worked!
Over the years I built many heathkits, AR-1500, a number of TV's and clocks.
I recently built the "re-started" heathkit company digital clock, but was not very impressed with it.

[mcandmar]

I never knew Heathkit had stores, always thought they were just a mail order company.  I would have loved to have built those kits, i have a few pieces of test gear that get used on a regular basis, especially the IP-17 bench supply, every amp builder should have one.