A Nice Piece of Kit
So, apparently Heathkit lives again, which creates such a feeling of must-have nostalgia for me, it’s hard to convince myself not to buy this TRF AM radio right now.
Yes, an AM radio. Using tuned radio-frequency circuits instead of PLLs or microprocessors. I imagine for many people, the notion that one could spend US$150 on an AM radio is simply insane. Which, of course, it totally is. But this is as much a statement of art as much as it is a piece of technology. Well, for some definitions of art.
Once I get my Amateur Radio license I’ll be equally tempted if they re-release their famous classic QRP transceiver (or I can find a vintage kit in good repair). Ditto, if they re-release any of the equally famous valve radio kits.
But the thing that really got my attention is a little gem of an air variable capacitor. Good grief, an air variable cap with reduction gears and bearings like it’s 1963? Given how rare such things are, I’m not at all surprised that Heathkit is selling them separately. I’m only a little confused why they don’t share the range of values this capacitor covers, though for US$20 I suppose one would simply adjust they rest of the circuit to match.
It’ll be interesting to see if Heathkit can make a go of it selling objects of nostalgic desire in this manner.
Via Hackaday.