{"id":17552,"date":"2016-03-01T09:15:06","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T13:15:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=17552"},"modified":"2016-03-01T09:15:06","modified_gmt":"2016-03-01T13:15:06","slug":"the-heathkit-gr-78-eds-basket-case-radio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/the-heathkit-gr-78-eds-basket-case-radio\/","title":{"rendered":"The Heathkit GR-78: Ed’s “basket case” radio"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Basketcase\"<\/a>Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Edward\u00a0Ganshirt, who writes:<\/p>\n

I picked up this Heathkit GR-78 at a estate\/moving sale. It was in a pile of “e-waste” (you know, old vcr’s broken TVs, remote controllers, dead cell phones, etc.). <\/em><\/p>\n

I found a container and sorted through the stuff to retrieve all what looks like Heathkit parts. The radio was disassembled and scattered about. I was able to collect all the critical components and brought the works to the sales table. The person manning the table said that was stuff they were discarding and I could have it for free but the Easter basket was $0.50.<\/em><\/p>\n

So far I had put little time into it but was able to mechanically assemble it completely. All the fasteners holding the cabinet were missing. The rest appears to be all there but the primary side of the transformer is open and the NiCads are shorted and stone dead. The manual that I found in their recycle bin is complete and appears to gone through 3 owners by 3 sets of handwriting in the notes and comments through out the manual. If anything this looks like a CSI\/forensics troubleshooting process getting into the mind of 3 different owners unsuccessful at making it work.<\/em><\/p>\n

I will keep you posted on the progress.<\/em><\/p>\n

WA1-LAI<\/em><\/p>\n

More power to you, Ed! There are few things as difficult as picking up where someone else left off on a kit build. Your project is exponentially more complicated since there were three<\/em> people involved and parts are scattered. \u00a0Please update us with your progress.<\/p>\n

Readers: If you have any experience with the GR-78, I’m sure Ed would welcome your input!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Edward\u00a0Ganshirt, who writes: I picked up this Heathkit GR-78 at a estate\/moving sale. It was in a pile of “e-waste” (you know, old vcr’s broken TVs, remote controllers, dead cell phones, etc.). I found a container and sorted through the stuff to retrieve all what looks like Heathkit parts. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,1271,344,3],"tags":[4800,586,4799,4095],"class_list":["post-17552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-boat-anchors-2","category-kits","category-news","tag-edward-ganshirt","tag-heathkit","tag-heathkit-gr-78","tag-kits"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-4z6","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17463,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/james-adds-an-lm386-amplifier-kit-to-his-heathkit-gr-150\/","url_meta":{"origin":17552,"position":0},"title":"James adds an LM386 amplifier kit to his Heathkit GR-150","author":"Thomas","date":"March 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, James Surprenant (AB1DQ), who shares this update to his review of\u00a0the\u00a0Heathkit Explorer Jr. TRF AM radio receiver kit: With regard\u00a0to the Heathkit TRF AM receiver kit,\u00a0I did indeed build my LM386 amplifier. I was planning on home-brewing it from scratch as the chip is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Accessories"","block_context":{"text":"Accessories","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/accessories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Heathkit Explorer Jr. Completed w. screwdriver","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Heathkit-Explorer-Jr.-Completed-w.-screwdriver.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16720,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/james-reviews-the-heathkit-explorer-jr-gr-150-trf-am-radio-receiver-kit\/","url_meta":{"origin":17552,"position":1},"title":"James reviews the Heathkit Explorer Jr. GR-150 TRF AM radio receiver kit","author":"Thomas","date":"January 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, James Surprenant (AB1DQ), who shares this review and photos of the new Heathkit Explorer Jr. TRF AM radio receiver kit: \u00a0Heathkit Explorer Jr. Review I received this Heathkit kit for Xmas from dear old Dad. The Explorer Jr. manual is very nicely done, spiral-bound,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"HeathkitExplorerJr","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/HeathkitExplorerJr.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1802,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2011\/09\/heathkit-is-back-in-business\/","url_meta":{"origin":17552,"position":2},"title":"Heathkit is back in business","author":"Thomas","date":"September 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Great news for kit builders! Legendary company Heathkit has started manufacturing kits again. Though their first line-up of products do not include radios, they are planning to cater to the amateur radio community as soon as next year. I would like to believe that the popularity of the Maker community\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/heathkit-logo-300x63.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17771,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/stuart-sizer-heathkit-designer-dad-and-bon-vivant\/","url_meta":{"origin":17552,"position":3},"title":"Stuart Sizer: Heathkit designer, dad, and “bon vivant”","author":"Thomas","date":"March 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Two weeks ago,\u00a0through a radio preservation group,\u00a0I met the son of Heathkit product designer of the 1950s-70s, Stu Sizer\u2013\u2013\"stylist, artist, maker of models, bon vivant.\"\u00a0His son\u00a0described the\u00a0discovery of\u00a0a few vintage Heathkit brochures, photos, and illustrations his father kept in his family's basement shop, many of which had been scanned at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Heathkit-Drawings-2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Heathkit-Drawings-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Heathkit-Drawings-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Heathkit-Drawings-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15088,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/new-from-heathkit-the-explorer-jr-trf-am-radio-receiver-kit\/","url_meta":{"origin":17552,"position":4},"title":"New from Heathkit: the Explorer Jr TRF AM radio receiver kit","author":"Thomas","date":"October 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, the legendary\u00a0Heathkit company is back\u00a0and their first kit is a simple\u00a0Tuned Radio Frequency (TRF) AM\/mediumwave analog receiver: the Explorer Jr. I knew\u00a0Heathkit was back in business and under new management, but hadn't heard any updates as of late. Their president, Andy, just sent a message to the \"Heathkit Insiders\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"HeathkitExplorerJr","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/HeathkitExplorerJr.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26879,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/a-new-heathkit-precision-rf-meter-hm-1002\/","url_meta":{"origin":17552,"position":5},"title":"A new Heathkit: The Precision RF Meter – HM-1002","author":"Thomas","date":"July 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Heathkit recently sent the following link to their \"Insiders\" email list: Dear Heathkit Insider We have opened advance orders for our newest product, the HM-1002 Heathkit\u00ae Precision RF Meter\u2122, for our most loyal customers and fans. This is the first amateur radio accessory and the first test equipment kit Heathkit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Accessories"","block_context":{"text":"Accessories","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/accessories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Heathkit-Precision-Meter-1024x768.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Heathkit-Precision-Meter-1024x768.jpeg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Heathkit-Precision-Meter-1024x768.jpeg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17552\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}