Heathkit GR-900 Build Thread!

[N2IXK]

All of the ICs in this set were (or went on to be) industry standard stuff of the day. Mostly Motorola and RCA linear ICs, most of which were second sourced by other vendors, and were available from ECG, SK, or NTE at least at one point. Same types of chips that started showing up in other manufacturer's sets of this era.

This kit had already been unpacked and partially gone through, and I received it in 2 large boxes, 4 smaller boxes (one for the remote control option), and of course the CRT carton. One of the smaller boxes was apparently a duplicate shipment. Not sure if the training classes shipped the whole kit at once, or in multiple shipments to each student.

Anyway, the build continues on board by board. My best friend and her daughter were over last weekend (Daughter needed help with replacing a fuel pump on her car that we had diagnosed as bad a few weeks earlier), and she was asking about all the boxes of parts down in my basement shop. I told her that I was putting together a DIY TV kit, and she was intrigued with the idea of building your own TV. Showed her a few of the modules I had been working on, and she was so interested in it that I gave her a few quick lessons on soldering, and turned her loose on the Chroma board (which was one of the ones I had a spare for from the duplicate shipment). She did an AMAZING job putting it together, and wants to drop by again to do some more on the set, before I finish it all. By the end of putting the board together, she was already starting to learn the resistor color code, too...

The Chroma, 3.58 MHz oscillator, and AGC/Sync modules all went together that afternoon. Here's some pics of the finished board, plus a shot of my soldering student in action....

Up next, Vertical Oscillator, Horizontal Oscillator, and Pincushion modules....