Heathkit

Heath Company
IndustryAviation, electronics
Founded1911; 113 years ago (1911) in Saint Joseph, Michigan, United States
Headquarters
Fargo, North Dakota; formerly Benton Harbor, Michigan
Key people
Will Cromarty, CEO
Websiteheathkit.com
1947 Heathkit ad featuring the 5-inch oscilloscope.
Oscilloscope OL-1 from 1954, the company's first with a relatively small 3-inch CRT which allowed for a highly competitive price of US$ 29.50 (equivalent to $335 in 2023) for the DIY kit.[1]

Heathkit is the brand name of kits and other electronic products produced and marketed by the Heath Company. The products over the decades have included electronic test equipment, high fidelity home audio equipment, television receivers, amateur radio equipment, robots, electronic ignition conversion modules for early model cars with point style ignitions, and the influential Heath H-8, H-89, and H-11 hobbyist computers, which were sold in kit form for assembly by the purchaser.

Heathkit manufactured electronic kits from 1947 until 1992. After closing that business, the Heath Company continued with its products for education, and motion-sensor lighting controls. The lighting control business was sold around 2000. The company announced in 2011 that they were reentering the kit business after a 20-year hiatus but then filed for bankruptcy in 2012,[2] and under new ownership began restructuring in 2013. As of 2022, the company has a live website with newly designed products, services, vintage kits, and replacement parts for sale.[3] In August 2023 Heath Company announced its acquisition by Kirkwall (company) as part of a planned expansion in North Dakota, and named former CIA officer and entrepreneur Will Cromarty as President and Chief Executive Officer.[4]

  1. ^ Bob Eckweiler: Heathkit of the Month #41 - OL-1 Three Inch Oscilloscope, Orange County Amateur Radio Club, 2012
  2. ^ Swindwa, Julie, "Disassembly complete: Heathkit is no more", The Herald-Palladium, 19 July 2012
  3. ^ "Shop". Heathkit. Retrieved 2019-05-22.
  4. ^ "Heath Company posted on LinkedIn".