Seventy-five years ago this month, the July 1960 issue of Electronics Illustrated reviewed the then-new Mohican shortwave receiver from Heathkit. The reviewer reported that the assembled the $100 receiver in about 40 hours, and the result was an astonishingly “hot” 10-transistor superheterodyne that covered 560 kHz to 30 MHz (with apologies, apparently, to the stations […]
We’ve previously written (here and here) about the Heathkit Model CB-1 CB transceiver. Sixty years ago this month, the September 1959 issue of Popular Electronics carried a review of the kit. The magazine described the set as handsome and lightweight and convenient for use either at home or in the car. The set had a built-in […]
This early ad for Heathkit appeared in Popular Science 70 years ago this month, May 1948. These were among the Heath Company’s first offerings in electronic kits, which they offered from 1947 to 1992. Their offerings included a regenerative receiver for $5.95, which covered the standard broadcast band and shortwave. It was available as either […]
Fifty years ago this month, Popular Electronics for February 1967 carried this product announcement for the Heathkit Single-Bander transceivers, the HW-12A, HW-22A, and HW-32A, transceivers for the ‘phone portions of the 80, 40, and 20 meter bands. Priced in kit form at only $104.95, the radios were well received and proved popular for mobile use, […]
We recently looked at the Knight-Kit Star Roamer Receiver from 1964. It was a beginner’s general coverage receiver and was quite popular. The February 1965 issue of Popular Electronics announces another popular general coverage receiver for beginning SWL’s and hams, the Heathkit GR-64 shown here. It covered 550 kHz through 30 MHz in four bands, and […]
Most hams who have been around a while have encountered the “Benton Harbor Lunchbox.” This was a series of transceivers from Heathkit, and the most common were the HW-30 “Twoer,” which covered two meters, and the HW-29 “Sixer” for six meters. Less common was the HW-19 “Tener” for, you guessed it, ten meters. These were […]
Fifty years ago this month, the August 1972 issue of 73 magazine devoted its cover and an extensive article to the May 12-15, 1972 KC4DX DXpedition to Navassa Island, a two-square-mile island nestled in the Caribbean between Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica. The island is a U.S. possession, although also claimed by Haiti. Surrounded by cliffs on […]
I’m not so sure that this little receiver is a good idea, but it is from the July 1962 issue of Popular Electronics. It’s a one-tube receiver covering 122-144 MHz, meaning that it mostly covers the air band. The problematic feature is that it’s a superregenerative receiver. And superregenerative receivers, in addition to being excellent […]
Shown here are Sandra D. Roberts, WN5ASZ, Donna K. Fomby, WN5APM, Linda L. Neal, WN5AOG, Ella R. Sanders, WN5AUJ, Bonnie J. Baggerman, WN5AUI, Nina C. Shaw, WN5AUQ, and Carol J. Fontenot, WN5APG, along with Vivian McCracken, the director of Girlstown, a home for 32 girls who had lost their parents near Whiteface, Texas. When a […]
Fifty years ago, this young woman was doing something one wouldn’t have dared doing in the first decades of television–she was watching it in the pool. In the 1950s or 60s, this would have been a highly reckless thing to do, since the high voltages involved could have lethal consequences if they came into contact […]