This month's poll on my Website posed the question: "Which of the following kit types have you built?"
The answer surprised me a bit. Heathkit is still king by a narrow margin. I'm certain it's due to the fact that Heathkit was around so long; and most Hams have been around for a long time. If you got your ticket anytime before the mid-80's, it's probably almost a certainty that you would have built a Heathkit, or two, or three, or ...........
I was a prolific Heathkit builder; and in fact towards the latter part of their existence, I qualified for inclusion into their "Master Kit Builder" program or whatever it was called. I not only built a ton of Amateur Radio gear; but most of my sound system was Heathkit product, also. I think I had my own personal UPS truck route between Benton Harbor and my house back in the day!
This is how the voting rounded out, with 73 votes having been cast. I guess this was a popular topic!
Heathkit (16 votes) for 21.92% of the poll
Elecraft (11 votes) for 15.07% of the poll.
Small Wonder Labs (8 votes) for 10.96% percent of the poll.
Emtech (3 votes) for 4.11% of the poll.
Oak Hills Research (9 votes) for 12.33% of the poll.
Wilderness Radio (3 votes) for 4.11% of the poll.
Steve Weber KJ1DV kits (5 votes) for 6.85% of the poll.
Ten Tec (6 votes) for 8.22% of the poll.
Kanga Kits (3 votes) for 4.11% of the poll.
"Other" (9 votes) for 12.33% of the poll.
So Heathkit, Elecraft, Oak Hills Research and Small Wonder Labs were the top four vote getters and between the four of them, they accounted for 60.28% (over half and almost 2/3 !) of the poll.
Personally, I have built Heathkit, Elecraft, Small Wonder Labs, Emtech, Oak Hills Research and Steve Weber kits - currently working (very slowly) on an ATS-3.
It's good to see such an interest in QRP and such an interest in kit building. Now I have to think of a topic for February ..... hmmmmmmm. Check my Website tonight for a new vote!
73 de Larry W2LJ
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