Alan Duncan, I doubt that it qualifies as a 'national treasure', especially since as a private collection with no regular way of the public being able to see it, it might as well not exist.
It would be good if they could preserve this as a museum to some extent. The collector spent so much time, effort and money on the equipment. Equally interesting would be to understand how this came about and what his history was. I realize it's not to be told but it certainly piques one's curiosity. Having built my first Heathkit at age 14 and visiting Heathkit stores with awe, I really identified with the brand. My first build was a GR64 shortwave receiver. One thing led to another for me and I ended up with a career in electronics engineering. How I would have loved to have met this person and to have spent an hour or two with him. What is sad is no one knows what to do with the collection after the passing of the owner. On a smaller scale, I have a lifetime of electronics "things" at my home and when I am no longer alive, I'd like to have my "stuff" go to someone would use and/or appreciate what I have.
Shango066 talked about this in a few of his videos. If one has a large collection or even small they need to work out where the items will go and approximate value. Then if something unexpected happened there would be a plan and information for others to follow and refer to. Good luck and God Bless.
I built Heathkits as a kid in the 1960's. Now, at age 70 I have a couple of Heath transceivers, a Heath HF receiver, a couple of Heath Bench power supplies, a Heath VTVM, and a Heath tube tester. They all still work just fine.
The owner of this GOLD mine should consider starting his own museum! I would pay top dollar to spend a few hours looking at this collection. Awesome video!
When I was a teen, about 1980 -- I used to look thru their catalog and dream, dream, dream -- I always thought the TV's were so cool and wanted one: esp since it had the built in digital clock shown on the TV screen !!
Does anybody remember that Heathkit also sold furniture kits that were brass and glass? I purchased their coffee table and display table. Our local Heathkit store was about 20 miles away. When I ordered these two items, I picked them up in person to save money on the shipping costs. I remember how heavy they were in their boxes! The glass tops are beveled and about 1.25 inches thick with round corners. I had them in my living room, but these are in my family room now The brass is now somewhat tarnished, because over the years the protective coating has gradually worn off. Someday I will polish the brass to bring them back to their original luster. My wife doesn't know that they came from an electronic hobby store, when I was in my mid twenties. Heathkit was my first hobby interest that helped with my career.
You hope it was interesting? That is the understatement of the time, especially for a Heathkit fan like me! I put together the tube color TV kit in the late '60's (don't remember the kit number) and got it working in time for one of the New Year's televised parades and it just blew me away to view the richness of the colors AND the sound! Before tackling the TV, I also put together one of their receivers and a Transvision BW TV (and some other small electronic pieces). Quite a good time which I wish the youngsters had in these present times.
Built a Heathkit CB base station at age 14. Lived on the second highest hill in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) and with a colinear antenna (all vertical), I covered a lot of territory. Went to college in Michigan and one weekday I drove to Benton Harbor to pick up my 14 inch color TV kit (based on an RCA chassis). Guy in the dorm offered to buy it from me at premium price based on great picture quality. Toured the factory / warehouse which had one of the early computer driven robotic retrieval systems to bring pallets down from the extremely tall warehouse shelves.
Wow, that collection is incredible. I built many a Heathkit in my youth. Several stereos, a tv set, rc aircraft controllers, fish finder, some test equipment.
Absolutley AMAZING collection, not pn;ly of Heathkit equipment, but other manufacturers as well. The amount of amateur radio equipment OTHER than Heathkit is staggering. Looks like a museum in the making; & it looks like a warehouse is needed to store it all! I can understand the owner's desire for privacy - looks like literally $$$$$$$$ worth of equipment. Thanks for sharing this! :)
Wow, what an amazing collection. May it last for man years to come. I have some Heathkit equipment in my advanced electronics lab, along side of my HP, Tek and Fluke gear. It was the equipment most of us could afford for years until the high-end equipment aged out and became affordable by us mere mortals. LOL My first Ham xmiter was a DX 35 back in 1972 and I enjoyed making lots of contacts with it. Later I had an HW 16, then an HW 101, later the SB 303, 301 and 401 rigs. I still have an HW 101, HW 16, SB 303 and 301 etc. Many people made a living with HeathKit test gear in Radio and TV shops for many years. Even today, most all of Heathkits Test gear, Ham equipment and others can easily be repaired by he average tech, engineer or even hobbyist. All of the new digital stuff is great but good luck finding many surface mount parts from even a decade ago, And then you have to have the right SMT equipment to repair it, not to mention steady hands and good eyesight. I suspect Heathkit equipment will be in labs, shops, hobbyist benches and Ham shacks for MANY more years to come. Thanks for housing/hosting this excellent collection ! !
wa4aos, yes, a lot of the vintage Heathkit test equipment still works fine, and much of it can still be repaired fairly easily. I have restored all of their low voltage power supply models, and there is no reason these cannot still be useful in modern labs. The VTVMs and most of the DMM models can still be quite useful, although they can be fiddly and intermittent due to worn (and usually irreplaceable) selector switches. Most of the oscilloscopes, function generators, etc; can still give good service. I have heard that most of their ham equipment and stereo hi-fi equipment is still in service.
WOW! Incredible! I can still remember using the HW-16, HW-101, SB-102, and SB-104 on the Amateur Radio bands, at my high school Ham Radio club in the 70's! My first rig was an HW-16 with the matching VFO, and I had a blast working DX on CW using an attic dipole!
Thank you! Great Video...I started with a VTVM (1963) in France, USAF Remote Microwave Radio Relay Site. Part of my training OJT. I also have an H8 All-in-One from 1982. Still works!
My gosh, that's an incredible collection. I wonder what in the world will eventually become of it. I've done some collecting, myself, and I've been discovering that acquiring things is much easier than getting rid of things (unless you just leave it to your heirs to deal with things). ;)
I believe I think I know whom your talking about who had this collection but I'll keep my mouth shut as to whom it is. Since I'm good friends with the family. I've seen most of this stuff before 😀
I had an opportunity to see this collection and get the details on how he obtained the equipment. He also has some historical artifacts from 1960’s t.v. Shows as well. I cannot explain how awesome it is to see in person, video just doesn't quite capture the impressive size of this collection. Thank you for sharing.
That is a lot of variety concerning Heathkit models. Holy smokes. I just recently finished giving my 1976 Heathkit AA-1506 120 watt Stereo Audio Power Amplifier a full cleaning, plus I replaced some bipolar capacitors, and replaced the dead light bulb with 4 high brightness LED's. Three of them light up the word "POWER", and the last one lights up the head on the power push switch itself. So overall it now looks almost brand new, but it is working actually as good as new. Plus my 1986 Heathkit HERO 2000 robot is still up and running. Sadly the scope I threw together died by the hands of the solder that came with the kit. The acid in the centre of the solder literally ate away at the PCB's. Just to be safe, I used my own solder supply for my AA-1506 audio amp and the HERO 2000.
Heathkit was just 23 miles up the road from me. They had a nice show room over looking Lake Michigan. When visiting here I would make a trip up there. Those kits were fun to build. Sad to see it all gone. The building is still there and I think up for lease.
That is an awesome collection !!! Thanks for showing it youtuuba! Hopefully the owner had the where-with-all to properly deaccess it after he passes. Too many times it goes to surviving family who don't have any idea as to how to part it out, sell it or god forbid throw it out. I know some whom collected much less electronic stuff that was disposed of poorly.
Yes...one would hope that something of this magnitude would be passed on to a person, or persons who know and appreciate just what this collection represents.
This collection is almost - no, it IS - terrifying! I look at this and wonder how much time and effort world have to be put in just to ensure it was all operational. I am a collector as well but nowhere near a fraction of this magnitude. It's almost sad in a way, this obsession.
I think he redeemed himself by opening this up for others to look at, and now we have 15,872 views. This stuff would be mostly trashed and in the scrap heep by now if not for him.
@@ChatGPT1111 you are certainly correct! My remarks were somewhat course. One easily mistakes obsession for passion. And making this available to those who share the passion is indeed a kindly gift. It was his life and he spent it happily.
Wow, unbelievable collection. I have some Heathkit test equipment as well. Mainly for working on old tube radios and amp. I loved that old stuff when I was a kid I'd save money to buy the kits at a Heathkit store!
He was a great fun guy, he told me that he started by fixing car radios from junkyards. Heath kits, radios "CBs" and a wonderful collection of transistor radios. I was lucky to stumble in and visit in his final days. God Speed My friend.
Heathkit had an Education product line that was only sold to schools, and was marketed directly to them. I used to be on the advisory committee for a Vocational Electronics course for a local school board. Heathkit also sold some items, factory assembled, like the computers with the Zenith branding. Zenith bought Heathkit, to be able to bid on contracts to the US military. I have some of the cases with the monitors and power supplies that were stripped of the logic boards. I think they still have the power supplies, and I may have a couple of the boards that remapped the ports to allow you to run MSDOS, instead of the HDOS from Heathkit.
i was only lucky to put together a Heathkit Sb104 transceiver ..I still remember 45 years later the joy i got from such complex project so ,well built and the quality of the documentation to built such a high quality piece of electronics ...
Yes indeed... very interesting. Thanks for sharing :- ) ... and mega-kudos to the man working there for his ongoing work of sorting out and shelving all that awesome stuff, too.
WOW. Missed the Heathkit era as I was too into computers as a kid. My grandfather (SK) built lots of Heathkits, including a Color TV. I have his late 1970's frequency counter. I think all of it got tossed, sadly.
3:25 Was hoping to see something similar to my old IO-12 'scope, and there they are. My first 'scope, when I was still at school, I was given it with a bad transformer and it worked a treat when someone re-wound the transformer for me. I used it for many years and eventually sold it. No DC input though.
I loved building the Heathkits back in the 70s & early 80s. I had so much fun. GR-900, IT-21, IT -28, IT-3121, IO-4550, GR-2001 & an IO-30 which was my 1st back in the 60s. The "kits" sold by the new Heath company aren't worth the effort.
I've built lots of HK's in the past. Brings back memories. It was always exciting to see the HEATHKIT box arrive! Good times. It will take a large team to liquidate that warehouse of stuff when he finally checks out! Does the word excentric come to mind?
I built the GW-12 in the early 60's and a Power supply that I use even today. I also built some smaller kits like a 100mw Walkie Talkie, code practice oscillator etc. Today I also have a working CB-1, GW-12 , GW-22 . I am 71 y/o and before I go , I'd like to assemble another transceiver. Those were the best years of electronic hobbies for this OM! KB8TPT
My first Heathkit was HW-100 Transceiver which I built as 17 yrs old, when it was a new model. Today I have a vintage ham station Drake Line and pristine SB-104A Transceiver + ext VFO + PWR / Speaker. Also SWR bridge HM-102 and VTVM IM-32. I remember how good the Heathkit soldering tin smelled and I’d like to buy some more if it’s available somewhere. 73 de OH2BIO
I still use the power supply, function generator, serial breakout box and am about to try replacing my frequency counter batteries for my kits. I had no idea there were so many more kits!
I've never seen anything like this and I doubt whether there would be anything like this anywhere else in the world even technology museums, its memory lane plus!
What a wonderful video! I host a podcast that helps to teach him radio as well as encourage people to join our hobby. I’d like to show this video. I’ll make sure and credit you for making it and of course the link to your channel will be in the description. Well done. Not many people in their lifetime get to see something this special. It reminded me very much of seeing part of Martin F Jue’s collection. Just very impressive. You did an excellent job of showing The incredible scope of this collection. Thank you for not only taking the time to make this video but also to help raise raise awareness regarding just how many things Heathkit made. It was such an important part of ham radio for so long. All the best to you and yours, Larry de K7HN
Once found 2 small & sealed unbuilt Heathkit things in a cheap auction box lot. I think it was a digital thermometer and maybe a clock? They went on eBay 15+ years ago when auctions started at 99 cents. I’m thinking they sold well over $100 each. It was those kind of deals that brought on retirement at 52. Now I’m thinking Amtrak rides.
David McKee, if it truly rivaled what Mr. Carlson has, it would be 100th of its size. I don't know exactly how big Carlson's collection is, but it does not sprawl across three full floors of a large warehouse!
In 1974-5 I took the Dev Rey mail electronics course and built the Heath Kit nixie tube volt meter, oscilloscope, and electronics design console. All were blue. They were supplied by Dev Rey.
WOW! I agree with other commenters this is sad in a big way! This is hoarding not collecting. To not allow the young people of today's generation to see and feel this kind of history is obscene. This person's obsession won't help anybody to learn from or inspire them to pursue their own future educational projects. Anyway, thanks a million for sharing this amazing story with us and take care!
Wow, how can anyone amass so much equipment, he must have spent only half an hour with each before moving onto the next! This would sure make a nice electronics museum. I never knew heathkit was this large.
Paul Stubbs, Heathkit made a great many kit types over the years. The collection in this video is mostly just their test equipment line. They also made many types and models of TV, radio, HAM radio and home audio/stereo hi-fi equipment, plus lots of other niche items.
Neat to see......... for those who hoard this stuff, I just hope it goes to auction when they are gone, so someone else can use it. I've owned a decent selection of HK stuff, but I fixed and sold it, if I already had a test tool that I liked better.......If it wasn't going to be used I sold it.
Wow, I didn't know Heathkit made much more than during that in the sixties, seventies, of what was on sale in the Netherlands at the time, I remember the VTM, and the tube tester, also the l.f. signal generator, but there wasn't much more in the Netherlands.
Looks similar to a collection locally by a ham (recent SK) amazing collection. 20 years ago I almost bought a 1970's NOAA Weather Radio console with the tape carts and all, but the XYL would have left me for sure as soon as that rack came into the house!
Hello. Wow!, what a wonderful and huge collection!. Sorry, but I am looking for an it-11 cap tester in working condition for years…excuse me for the question but: do you know where can I obtain one?. I am in Europe, and 120V will not be an issue for me. Excuse me again, and I hope you will preserve your treasure for many, many years!. Greets from Madrid, Spain.
What a great collection, Wow, How come He doe not want to show anymore, Getting Up in years, If so I understand, You have to Be very careful These days Great video, thanks for sharing
I built many trainers for my electronics class teacher. Starting with the basic to the digital I don't remember building the microprocessor trainer but I helped building hero 1 I don't see him in the video but I will look again. I also had the VTVM and used it to work on antique radios. I remember the 6SN7 and the 6H6 in the VTVM. My Atwater Kent Short Wave radio used that tube also. I wish I had that beat up VTVM because it was a good piece of test equipment. I do have a mono amplifier by Heathkit I'm looking for another so I can use them with my Jenson speakers by EICO. They are in solid walnut cabinets I bought at a thrift store in north Georgia. If it has tubes I'm interested in it and see how it works. I love old electronics. I know the dangers of tube electronics but like any electrical device care must be sought in repairing such devices. 73
In the late 70's heath had a computer kit that was a copy of PDP computers. At one navy site they were to choice because they had looser temperature standards and would fit existing air condition spaces with no extra cooling.
Im and all timer YV4BF. I had the opportunity of assemble many of those devices and EICO too. Unfortunately after more than 70 years I only own a DX100 transmitter and a IP2717A Power Supply. My deepest remind are associated with Heatkit.I love them
I'm still using a Heathkit clock I bioult 40 plus years ago and it still works perfectly though display has a dim segment. Wish I could find a spare part.
What provides the light for the segments? If an array of LEDs is used for each segment, and all of that segments LEDs are dim, the problem is most likely a bad driver transistor, which should be easily replaceable.
If modular 7-segment LEDs are used for each digit, and only one digit is dim, it is more likely that that digits driver transistor is failed, and that should be easily replaceable. If just a segment(s) of a single digit are dim, then that modular digit needs replacing. Heathkit used very popular models of 7-segment LEDs in their products, and most of them are still available as new old stock (NOS) from various surplus electronics sellers.
Truly amazing collection... just the area to house and store this is mind-boggling! I think he mentioned in the video they had moved it to this location, how long did that take? the old-timers are going SK and were seeing more and more of this equipment show up in estate sales with no buyers, none of the young kids want antiques or old radios...
Actually not quite true, there are history groups all around the country full of young people interested in stuff like this. They just are young and don't have much money.
Esplendoroso acervo dessas relíquias, passear no vídeo é muito bom, muito melhor seria presente nesse ambiente onde contemplar cada peça dessas joias preciosas, parabéns pelo belo memorial, é de encher os olhos de alegrias, congratulações.
Wow, when your electronics collection gets really out of hand. Was this the result of a single individual? It's cool, but think of how tied down you are with all this stuff. I've come to appreciate eBay, to keep a limit on the hoard. The trick is to get enough of a kick out of the sale to overcome the hoarding joy. Anyway, I've been getting into clock radios recently for reasons, and sure enough the guy has shelves of them (13:30). I met a guy on Long Island when I was a kid in 1978 who had a massive hoard like this, but mostly junk. The car radios remind me of him, he had tons of ancient vacuum tube ones (there was a progression: vibrator powered, then low voltage tubes with germanium output transitor).
Yes, the trick is to make use and enjoy, without the poisonous high of purchasing with the idea of "getting around to it someday"! I have been down that road too much myself.
@@russwentz3957 yeah im having to reverse that I'll get around to it one day and I've been selling off the stuff I'm not in love with. And I never want to go back down that road ever again.
Wow, I have 1 heathkit a (C-3) condenser checker. But I have 3 pieces by Knight. I have more knight because I used to drive truck for knight transportation . I think thats why cooler name. Heathkit reminds me of the candy bar.
Well dang...i thought i was bad, no it turns out im just lazy. 😜. This guy was the shit. im assuming this was from someone that recently passed away? Actually im curious about the shelving units. are those recent? if so who makes them. Anyhow...holly sh*t. The amount of organization in this place is remarkable. I'd love to be able to come see for myself. im on the east coast..where is this place... 🤩😘😗
The ultimate hoard!! Too bad it just sits there. Seems like a lot of duplication to me. the value of most items except for the Hi-Fi will keep going down as the collector population gets older like myself. I love all this but am trying to get rid of a lot of my stuff at 71 yrs old and health issues I realize I can't take it with me.. thanks for sharing this video, it is truly amazing.
biggest collection I ever seen. My God truly a museum . that stuff should all be in a museum. I have few things in my life but thats incerdible collection. Thanks for video WOW ,, Tony ve4akf
Anthony Mokelkle, I am glad you appreciate the collection, but it is not in any way a museum ("truly" or otherwise). It is a private collection, no more, no less.
My dad would buy old things from auction and bring it home old radios tvs all that good stuff we repair them , oh yeah you have some real oldies there really , yes its your private collection , but still in time it should all be in museum , lots you never see them again, ham ops some some fine collections.too . thanks for video and the reply. Great collection. Tony ve4akf
@@anthonymokelkie9360 , I don't know why you think this is MY collection. I mentioned more than once that I was given permission to visit, and video, somebody else's collection.
@@youtuuba well who ever it is . Amazing load of stuff . I been ham operator over 40 years and electronic service tech long time too I never ever seen old radio shops packed like that. But hey thanks sharing your visit there. Anthony. Ham radio ve4akf.
I understand collecting because i do it in certain areas. What I don't understand is having more than one of everything. When you come across a 2nd one just keep the better of the 2.
Janick Williams, it is my understanding that this collector got a lot of the collection by buying out other collections, so that probably explains the redundancy. A lot of collectors can't bring themselves to part with anything, however redundant. Sometimes contracts with estates are involved, such as agreeing to accept another's collection on the condition that it is kept together and not disseminated.
i wonder if this was the guy that bought my heathkit microwave oven years ago at the dayton hamvention......it was a working heathkit microwave i built in the 1970's
An extensive collection, and in just what I viewed, told me that this was not a one man endeavor. This has to be the collection of many individuals with one location. There is no way one man could collect all these items on his own, even if he bought numerous pieces each day.
Tolerance, according to the man there who let me in to see the collection, this is partially the piece by piece collection of one man, augmented by the collections of other people who he bought out. It was not combined by others after his death.
Towerman, adding to my earlier reply; the owner of the collection spent his life amassing electronic items, not just the Heathkits, and I showed some of it in my video. He was a widely known collector and worked hard at it. Other people thought of him when deciding to dispose of their own collections. Also, most of the items were considered to be of low value in past pre-eBay times, so he did not need to spend a lot on most of it. My own Heathkit collection numbers over 100 pieces, and I only started collecting them within the last 4 years, and was not working that diligently at it, and was not offered anyone else's collections. And I have a house full of vintage item collections, amassed over about 20 years. So yes, knowing my own experience, I can see how an enthusiastic and dedicated collector could have amassed THIS collection, all by himself, over the course of a lifetime.
Thank you for showing this national treasure. I showed my wife this to explain my collection and told her, "see, it could be worse".
Alan Duncan, I doubt that it qualifies as a 'national treasure', especially since as a private collection with no regular way of the public being able to see it, it might as well not exist.
I have to show that to my wife too... But not sure of the outcome!
It would be good if they could preserve this as a museum to some extent. The collector spent so much time, effort and money on the equipment. Equally interesting would be to understand how this came about and what his history was. I realize it's not to be told but it certainly piques one's curiosity.
Having built my first Heathkit at age 14 and visiting Heathkit stores with awe, I really identified with the brand. My first build was a GR64 shortwave receiver. One thing led to another for me and I ended up with a career in electronics engineering.
How I would have loved to have met this person and to have spent an hour or two with him. What is sad is no one knows what to do with the collection after the passing of the owner. On a smaller scale, I have a lifetime of electronics "things" at my home and when I am no longer alive, I'd like to have my "stuff" go to someone would use and/or appreciate what I have.
Shango066 talked about this in a few of his videos. If one has a large collection or even small they need to work out where the items will go and approximate value. Then if something unexpected happened there would be a plan and information for others to follow and refer to. Good luck and God Bless.
Thank you sir!
This is truly a privilege to see something that I could never see in person. Glad that you have connections!
😎👍
I built Heathkits as a kid in the 1960's. Now, at age 70 I have a couple of Heath transceivers, a Heath HF receiver, a couple of Heath Bench power supplies, a Heath VTVM, and a Heath tube tester. They all still work just fine.
This belongs in a museum, it's mind boggling
The owner of this GOLD mine should consider starting his own museum! I would pay top dollar to spend a few hours looking at this collection. Awesome video!
Had to see to believe. Even Mr. Carlson would be blown away. That wood floor sounds like it's ready to break.
When I was a teen, about 1980 -- I used to look thru their catalog and dream, dream, dream -- I always thought the TV's were so cool and wanted one: esp since it had the built in digital clock shown on the TV screen !!
Does anybody remember that Heathkit also sold furniture kits that were brass and glass?
I purchased their coffee table and display table. Our local Heathkit store was about 20 miles away. When I ordered these two items, I picked them up in person to save money on the shipping costs. I remember how heavy they were in their boxes!
The glass tops are beveled and about 1.25 inches thick with round corners. I had them in my living room, but these are in my family room now The brass is now somewhat tarnished, because over the years the protective coating has gradually worn off. Someday I will polish the brass to bring them back to their original luster.
My wife doesn't know that they came from an electronic hobby store, when I was in my mid twenties. Heathkit was my first hobby interest that helped with my career.
You hope it was interesting? That is the understatement of the time, especially for a Heathkit fan like me! I put together the tube color TV kit in the late '60's (don't remember the kit number) and got it working in time for one of the New Year's televised parades and it just blew me away to view the richness of the colors AND the sound! Before tackling the TV, I also put together one of their receivers and a Transvision BW TV (and some other small electronic pieces). Quite a good time which I wish the youngsters had in these present times.
Built a Heathkit CB base station at age 14. Lived on the second highest hill in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) and with a colinear antenna (all vertical), I covered a lot of territory. Went to college in Michigan and one weekday I drove to Benton Harbor to pick up my 14 inch color TV kit (based on an RCA chassis). Guy in the dorm offered to buy it from me at premium price based on great picture quality. Toured the factory / warehouse which had one of the early computer driven robotic retrieval systems to bring pallets down from the extremely tall warehouse shelves.
Wow, that collection is incredible. I built many a Heathkit in my youth. Several stereos, a tv set, rc aircraft controllers, fish finder, some test equipment.
Absolutley AMAZING collection, not pn;ly of Heathkit equipment, but other manufacturers as well. The amount of amateur radio equipment OTHER than Heathkit is staggering. Looks like a museum in the making; & it looks like a warehouse is needed to store it all! I can understand the owner's desire for privacy - looks like literally $$$$$$$$ worth of equipment. Thanks for sharing this! :)
Wow, what an amazing collection. May it last for man years to come.
I have some Heathkit equipment in my advanced electronics lab, along side of my HP, Tek and Fluke gear. It was the equipment most of us could afford for years until the high-end equipment aged out and became affordable by us mere mortals. LOL
My first Ham xmiter was a DX 35 back in 1972 and I enjoyed making lots of contacts with it. Later I had an HW 16, then an HW 101, later the SB 303, 301 and 401 rigs. I still have an HW 101, HW 16, SB 303 and 301 etc.
Many people made a living with HeathKit test gear in Radio and TV shops for many years.
Even today, most all of Heathkits Test gear, Ham equipment and others can easily be repaired by he average tech, engineer or even hobbyist.
All of the new digital stuff is great but good luck finding many surface mount parts from even a decade ago, And then you have to have the right SMT equipment to repair it, not to mention steady hands and good eyesight. I suspect Heathkit equipment will be in labs, shops, hobbyist benches and Ham shacks for MANY more years to come.
Thanks for housing/hosting this excellent collection ! !
wa4aos, yes, a lot of the vintage Heathkit test equipment still works fine, and much of it can still be repaired fairly easily. I have restored all of their low voltage power supply models, and there is no reason these cannot still be useful in modern labs. The VTVMs and most of the DMM models can still be quite useful, although they can be fiddly and intermittent due to worn (and usually irreplaceable) selector switches. Most of the oscilloscopes, function generators, etc; can still give good service.
I have heard that most of their ham equipment and stereo hi-fi equipment is still in service.
WOW! Incredible! I can still remember using the HW-16, HW-101, SB-102, and SB-104 on the Amateur Radio bands, at my high school Ham Radio club in the 70's! My first rig was an HW-16 with the matching VFO, and I had a blast working DX on CW using an attic dipole!
Thank you! Great Video...I started with a VTVM (1963) in France, USAF Remote Microwave Radio Relay Site. Part of my training OJT. I also have an H8 All-in-One from 1982. Still works!
HDOS?
@@jvolstad Heathkit H8 all-in-one PC, running HDOS (Heath Disk Operating System) Two 5.25" floppy disks, 64k Ram
@@1945jlee the old hard sectored drives.
Bro. can single handedly bring back the Famous Good Ol Heathkit Brand!!!! AWESOME Collection.....😁👍👍👍
Wow. What memories. Thanks so much for sharing that. I really enjoy your videos.
Thanks again. Al
My gosh, that's an incredible collection. I wonder what in the world will eventually become of it. I've done some collecting, myself, and I've been discovering that acquiring things is much easier than getting rid of things (unless you just leave it to your heirs to deal with things). ;)
Been there RIP. MR J. That's only the second floor of the three. Used to be a casket manufacturing building
I believe I think I know whom your talking about who had this collection but I'll keep my mouth shut as to whom it is. Since I'm good friends with the family. I've seen most of this stuff before 😀
So since the collector has passed... what's the current status of this collection?
I had an opportunity to see this collection and get the details on how he obtained the equipment. He also has some historical artifacts from 1960’s t.v. Shows as well. I cannot explain how awesome it is to see in person, video just doesn't quite capture the impressive size of this collection. Thank you for sharing.
That is a lot of variety concerning Heathkit models. Holy smokes. I just recently finished giving my 1976 Heathkit AA-1506 120 watt Stereo Audio Power Amplifier a full cleaning, plus I replaced some bipolar capacitors, and replaced the dead light bulb with 4 high brightness LED's. Three of them light up the word "POWER", and the last one lights up the head on the power push switch itself. So overall it now looks almost brand new, but it is working actually as good as new. Plus my 1986 Heathkit HERO 2000 robot is still up and running. Sadly the scope I threw together died by the hands of the solder that came with the kit. The acid in the centre of the solder literally ate away at the PCB's. Just to be safe, I used my own solder supply for my AA-1506 audio amp and the HERO 2000.
Heathkit was just 23 miles up the road from me. They had a nice show room over looking Lake Michigan. When visiting here I would make a trip up there. Those kits were fun to build. Sad to see it all gone. The building is still there and I think up for lease.
That is an awesome collection !!! Thanks for showing it youtuuba! Hopefully the owner had the where-with-all to properly
deaccess it after he passes. Too many times it goes to surviving family who don't have any idea as to how to part it out,
sell it or god forbid throw it out. I know some whom collected much less electronic stuff that was disposed of poorly.
Yes...one would hope that something of this magnitude would be passed on to a person, or persons who know and appreciate just what this collection represents.
@@chrisbillings2050 Maybe Paul Carlson in Canada would be a good receiver for such a collection.
Wow. Just imagine how much it cost to assemble this collection!
This collection is almost - no, it IS - terrifying! I look at this and wonder how much time and effort world have to be put in just to ensure it was all operational.
I am a collector as well but nowhere near a fraction of this magnitude. It's almost sad in a way, this obsession.
I think he redeemed himself by opening this up for others to look at, and now we have 15,872 views. This stuff would be mostly trashed and in the scrap heep by now if not for him.
@@ChatGPT1111 you are certainly correct! My remarks were somewhat course. One easily mistakes obsession for passion. And making this available to those who share the passion is indeed a kindly gift.
It was his life and he spent it happily.
*THERE IS NOTHING "SAD" ABOUT THIS MANS PASSION FOR COLLECTING*
Thank you for sharing the tour of that outstanding collection.
Wow, unbelievable collection.
I have some Heathkit test equipment as well. Mainly for working on old tube radios and amp. I loved that old stuff when I was a kid I'd save money to buy the kits at a Heathkit store!
Fascinating collection! It would be interesting to learn how all that stuff was obtained. Thanks for a peek into endless shelves of equipment.
He was a great fun guy, he told me that he started by fixing car radios from junkyards. Heath kits, radios "CBs" and a wonderful collection of transistor radios. I was lucky to stumble in and visit in his final days. God Speed My friend.
You were fortunate to have met him.
Man i have admired you 0collection of Radios
I think even Mr Carlson would even be speechless
Heathkit had an Education product line that was only sold to schools, and was marketed directly to them. I used to be on the advisory committee for a Vocational Electronics course for a local school board.
Heathkit also sold some items, factory assembled, like the computers with the Zenith branding. Zenith bought Heathkit, to be able to bid on contracts to the US military. I have some of the cases with the monitors and power supplies that were stripped of the logic boards. I think they still have the power supplies, and I may have a couple of the boards that remapped the ports to allow you to run MSDOS, instead of the HDOS from Heathkit.
Thanks for sharing, Lots of Ham equipment. What a collection!!
i was only lucky to put together a Heathkit Sb104 transceiver ..I still remember 45 years later the joy i got from such complex project so ,well built and the quality of the documentation to built such a high quality piece of electronics ...
Amazing. I have never, ever seen something like this before )))
This is the TV engineers idea of being sent to heaven
Yes indeed... very interesting. Thanks for sharing :- )
... and mega-kudos to the man working there for his ongoing work of sorting out and shelving all that awesome stuff, too.
WOW. Missed the Heathkit era as I was too into computers as a kid. My grandfather (SK) built lots of Heathkits, including a Color TV. I have his late 1970's frequency counter. I think all of it got tossed, sadly.
WOW! I love the old store display racks of parts!
thanks for sharing this as it sure was very interesting I learned a lot about heathkit I did not know
OMG, you just passed the blue Spartan radio without even a mention! Nice video. Thank you for the chance to see something we all can only dream about.
Thanks, it caught my attention, thanks for identifying it.
Impressive! I recognize some Heathkit models I built myself, long time ago: my first VTVM, a dipmeter, electronic bench, etc. Amazing...
3:25 Was hoping to see something similar to my old IO-12 'scope, and there they are. My first 'scope, when I was still at school, I was given it with a bad transformer and it worked a treat when someone re-wound the transformer for me. I used it for many years and eventually sold it. No DC input though.
What a collection!! I’ve never posted a comment containing this word: “Agog, I’m just simply agog” 😀
I loved building the Heathkits back in the 70s & early 80s. I had so much fun. GR-900, IT-21, IT -28, IT-3121, IO-4550, GR-2001 & an IO-30 which was my 1st back in the 60s. The "kits" sold by the new Heath company aren't worth the effort.
I've built lots of HK's in the past. Brings back memories. It was always exciting to see the HEATHKIT box arrive! Good times. It will take a large team to liquidate that warehouse of stuff when he finally checks out! Does the word excentric come to mind?
Wow what a beautiful collection of Heathkit I wonder if there was any Heathkit walkie-talkie radios I'm trying to collect to them
Got my Novice in 79 and built a Heath HW-16 and HG10B VFO. Those were the days!
I built the GW-12 in the early 60's and a Power supply that I use even today. I also built some smaller kits like a 100mw Walkie Talkie, code practice oscillator etc. Today I also have a working CB-1, GW-12 , GW-22 . I am 71 y/o and before I go , I'd like to assemble another transceiver. Those were the best years of electronic hobbies for this OM! KB8TPT
Hey, the dream of Mr Carlson's Lab . Impressive job of storage =-O
Built a HealthKit ham radio when I was 13 with a friend. We had just passed our novice ham tese back in the late 50s. Fun times.
Many thanks for that collection,
My first Heathkit was HW-100 Transceiver which I built as 17 yrs old, when it was a new model. Today I have a vintage ham station Drake Line and pristine SB-104A Transceiver + ext VFO + PWR / Speaker. Also SWR bridge HM-102 and VTVM IM-32. I remember how good the Heathkit soldering tin smelled and I’d like to buy some more if it’s available somewhere. 73 de OH2BIO
I still use the power supply, function generator, serial breakout box and am about to try replacing my frequency counter batteries for my kits. I had no idea there were so many more kits!
I've never seen anything like this and I doubt whether there would be anything like this anywhere else in the world even technology museums, its memory lane plus!
What a wonderful video! I host a podcast that helps to teach him radio as well as encourage people to join our hobby.
I’d like to show this video. I’ll make sure and credit you for making it and of course the link to your channel will be in the description. Well done.
Not many people in their lifetime get to see something this special. It reminded me very much of seeing part of Martin F Jue’s collection. Just very impressive.
You did an excellent job of showing The incredible scope of this collection.
Thank you for not only taking the time to make this video but also to help raise raise awareness regarding just how many things Heathkit made. It was such an important part of ham radio for so long.
All the best to you and yours,
Larry
de K7HN
Incredible collection of kit 👍
Once found 2 small & sealed unbuilt Heathkit things in a cheap auction box lot. I think it was a digital thermometer and maybe a clock? They went on eBay 15+ years ago when auctions started at 99 cents. I’m thinking they sold well over $100 each. It was those kind of deals that brought on retirement at 52. Now I’m thinking Amtrak rides.
This is the first collection I have seen that truly rivals "Mr. Carlson's Lab" Amazing... now excuse me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard.
David McKee, if it truly rivaled what Mr. Carlson has, it would be 100th of its size. I don't know exactly how big Carlson's collection is, but it does not sprawl across three full floors of a large warehouse!
WOW! This was GREAT!!
In 1974-5 I took the Dev Rey mail electronics course and built the Heath Kit nixie tube volt meter, oscilloscope, and electronics design console. All were blue. They were supplied by Dev Rey.
Benton Harbor Michigan! My first ham radio, the famous HW “hot water” 101!
WOW! I agree with other commenters this is sad in a big way! This is hoarding not collecting. To not allow the young people of today's generation to see and feel this kind of history is obscene. This person's obsession won't help anybody to learn from or inspire them to pursue their own future educational projects. Anyway, thanks a million for sharing this amazing story with us and take care!
Wow, how can anyone amass so much equipment, he must have spent only half an hour with each before moving onto the next!
This would sure make a nice electronics museum.
I never knew heathkit was this large.
Paul Stubbs, Heathkit made a great many kit types over the years. The collection in this video is mostly just their test equipment line. They also made many types and models of TV, radio, HAM radio and home audio/stereo hi-fi equipment, plus lots of other niche items.
Hi, let us know the address so we can pick some stuff up… maybe by night. LOL! Great video, thank you for sharing!
Neat to see......... for those who hoard this stuff, I just hope it goes to auction when they are gone, so someone else can use it. I've owned a decent selection of HK stuff, but I fixed and sold it, if I already had a test tool that I liked better.......If it wasn't going to be used I sold it.
Incredible collection
Wow, I didn't know Heathkit made much more than during that in the sixties, seventies, of what was on sale in the Netherlands at the time, I remember the VTM, and the tube tester, also the l.f. signal generator, but there wasn't much more in the Netherlands.
WOW now there is some big $$$ there to the right person or collector.
Now I know where all the Heathkits went. I'm still looking for a Heathkit 200 ham radio amplifier. W Rusty Lane K9POW in eastern Tennessee
Looks similar to a collection locally by a ham (recent SK) amazing collection. 20 years ago I almost bought a 1970's NOAA Weather Radio console with the tape carts and all, but the XYL would have left me for sure as soon as that rack came into the house!
Hello. Wow!, what a wonderful and huge collection!. Sorry, but I am looking for an it-11 cap tester in working condition for years…excuse me for the question but: do you know where can I obtain one?. I am in Europe, and 120V will not be an issue for me.
Excuse me again, and I hope you will preserve your treasure for many, many years!. Greets from Madrid, Spain.
I was going to ask if they took and inventory, but I think it is amazing they were able to move it there and mostly shelve it.
Did you ask him if he'd put you in his will? 🤣
Tons of vacuum tubes. Those were the days.
What a great collection, Wow, How come He doe not want to show anymore, Getting Up in years, If so I understand, You have to Be very careful These days Great video, thanks for sharing
At 6:28 I finally saw the oscope that I built in the mid 70s. After that I built the 25" color TV. What I would give for a Heathkit VTVM.
I built many trainers for my electronics class teacher. Starting with the basic to the digital I don't remember building the microprocessor trainer but I helped building hero 1 I don't see him in the video but I will look again. I also had the VTVM and used it to work on antique radios. I remember the 6SN7 and the 6H6 in the VTVM. My Atwater Kent Short Wave radio used that tube also. I wish I had that beat up VTVM because it was a good piece of test equipment. I do have a mono amplifier by Heathkit I'm looking for another so I can use them with my Jenson speakers by EICO. They are in solid walnut cabinets I bought at a thrift store in north Georgia. If it has tubes I'm interested in it and see how it works. I love old electronics. I know the dangers of tube electronics but like any electrical device care must be sought in repairing such devices. 73
In the late 70's heath had a computer kit that was a copy of PDP computers. At one navy site they were to choice because they had looser temperature standards and would fit existing air condition spaces with no extra cooling.
Im and all timer YV4BF. I had the opportunity of assemble many of those devices and EICO too. Unfortunately after more than 70 years I only own a DX100 transmitter and a IP2717A Power Supply. My deepest remind are associated with Heatkit.I love them
Mind boggling!
I'm still using a Heathkit clock I bioult 40 plus years ago and it still works perfectly though display has a dim segment. Wish I could find a spare part.
What provides the light for the segments? If an array of LEDs is used for each segment, and all of that segments LEDs are dim, the problem is most likely a bad driver transistor, which should be easily replaceable.
If modular 7-segment LEDs are used for each digit, and only one digit is dim, it is more likely that that digits driver transistor is failed, and that should be easily replaceable. If just a segment(s) of a single digit are dim, then that modular digit needs replacing. Heathkit used very popular models of 7-segment LEDs in their products, and most of them are still available as new old stock (NOS) from various surplus electronics sellers.
Truly amazing collection... just the area to house and store this is mind-boggling! I think he mentioned in the video they had moved it to this location, how long did that take? the old-timers are going SK and were seeing more and more of this equipment show up in estate sales with no buyers, none of the young kids want antiques or old radios...
Actually not quite true, there are history groups all around the country full of young people interested in stuff like this. They just are young and don't have much money.
Esplendoroso acervo dessas relíquias, passear no vídeo é muito bom, muito melhor seria presente nesse ambiente onde contemplar cada peça dessas joias preciosas, parabéns pelo belo memorial, é de encher os olhos de alegrias, congratulações.
Amazing ...
Wow, when your electronics collection gets really out of hand. Was this the result of a single individual? It's cool, but think of how tied down you are with all this stuff. I've come to appreciate eBay, to keep a limit on the hoard. The trick is to get enough of a kick out of the sale to overcome the hoarding joy. Anyway, I've been getting into clock radios recently for reasons, and sure enough the guy has shelves of them (13:30). I met a guy on Long Island when I was a kid in 1978 who had a massive hoard like this, but mostly junk. The car radios remind me of him, he had tons of ancient vacuum tube ones (there was a progression: vibrator powered, then low voltage tubes with germanium output transitor).
Yes, the trick is to make use and enjoy, without the poisonous high of purchasing with the idea of "getting around to it someday"! I have been down that road too much myself.
@@russwentz3957 yeah im having to reverse that I'll get around to it one day and I've been selling off the stuff I'm not in love with. And I never want to go back down that road ever again.
wow I see my collection growing I might need a bigger shed
Wow, I have 1 heathkit a (C-3) condenser checker. But I have 3 pieces by Knight. I have more knight because I used to drive truck for knight transportation . I think thats why cooler name. Heathkit reminds me of the candy bar.
Well dang...i thought i was bad, no it turns out im just lazy. 😜. This guy was the shit. im assuming this was from someone that recently passed away?
Actually im curious about the shelving units. are those recent? if so who makes them.
Anyhow...holly sh*t. The amount of organization in this place is remarkable. I'd love to be able to come see for myself. im on the east coast..where is this place... 🤩😘😗
I Repair Electronics, as I said in the video, don't ask me about who or where, because I promised not to tell.
The ultimate hoard!! Too bad it just sits there. Seems like a lot of duplication to me. the value of most items except for the Hi-Fi will keep going down as the collector population gets older like myself. I love all this but am trying to get rid of a lot of my stuff at 71 yrs old and health issues I realize I can't take it with me.. thanks for sharing this video, it is truly amazing.
biggest collection I ever seen. My God truly a museum . that stuff should all be in a museum. I have few things in my life but thats incerdible collection. Thanks for video WOW ,, Tony ve4akf
Anthony Mokelkle, I am glad you appreciate the collection, but it is not in any way a museum ("truly" or otherwise). It is a private collection, no more, no less.
My dad would buy old things from auction and bring it home old radios tvs all that good stuff we repair them , oh yeah you have some real oldies there really , yes its your private collection , but still in time it should all be in museum , lots you never see them again, ham ops some some fine collections.too . thanks for video and the reply. Great collection. Tony ve4akf
@@anthonymokelkie9360 , I don't know why you think this is MY collection. I mentioned more than once that I was given permission to visit, and video, somebody else's collection.
@@youtuuba well who ever it is .
Amazing load of stuff .
I been ham operator over 40 years and electronic service tech long time too
I never ever seen old radio shops packed like that.
But hey thanks sharing your visit there.
Anthony. Ham radio ve4akf.
Please explain me the purpose of having so much...
Al Thepal, if you don't already understand, nobody will be able to expain it to you.
Is this still around?
I understand collecting because i do it in certain areas. What I don't understand is having more than one of everything. When you come across a 2nd one just keep the better of the 2.
Janick Williams, it is my understanding that this collector got a lot of the collection by buying out other collections, so that probably explains the redundancy. A lot of collectors can't bring themselves to part with anything, however redundant. Sometimes contracts with estates are involved, such as agreeing to accept another's collection on the condition that it is kept together and not disseminated.
did i see bearcat scanners in there
i wonder if this was the guy that bought my heathkit microwave oven years ago at the dayton hamvention......it was a working heathkit microwave i built in the 1970's
Wow!
Is this located in ANCHOR CITY ?
Heath kit hoarder for sure lol
#MrCarlsonsLab would have fun in there !
An extensive collection, and in just what I viewed, told me that this was not a one man endeavor. This has to be the collection of many individuals with one location. There is no way one man could collect all these items on his own, even if he bought numerous pieces each day.
Tolerance, according to the man there who let me in to see the collection, this is partially the piece by piece collection of one man, augmented by the collections of other people who he bought out. It was not combined by others after his death.
Towerman, adding to my earlier reply; the owner of the collection spent his life amassing electronic items, not just the Heathkits, and I showed some of it in my video. He was a widely known collector and worked hard at it. Other people thought of him when deciding to dispose of their own collections. Also, most of the items were considered to be of low value in past pre-eBay times, so he did not need to spend a lot on most of it. My own Heathkit collection numbers over 100 pieces, and I only started collecting them within the last 4 years, and was not working that diligently at it, and was not offered anyone else's collections. And I have a house full of vintage item collections, amassed over about 20 years. So yes, knowing my own experience, I can see how an enthusiastic and dedicated collector could have amassed THIS collection, all by himself, over the course of a lifetime.