Ronald
T.
Oxley
Located in Benton Harbor, Michigan where the Heathkits were made, RTO Electronics is owned and operated by Ron Oxley, WM8Z. We have been servicing Heathkit amateur radio equipment here at RTO since 1990 when Ron left the Heath Company after 12 years in the service department. While we specialize in repairing the Heathkit ham gear we can also service other brands. We also stock many of the repair parts needed to service the Heathkits and we can supply many of the original Heathkit manuals for ham gear.
RTO Repair Service Discontinued
As of 10/13/2023 we will no longer accept any units for repair. After 50 plus years of servicing Heathkits, 30 plus here at RTO, it is time to throw in the towel. Yes, we have temporarily suspended service several times in the past, but this time it is permanent. Many thanks to all those who have been supporting us through the years.
We will be selling off our large collection of used equipment (200 plus units) and parts. Please check back often for new listings which we'll be posting as time permits.
Equipment Sale
We are selling off our collection of Heathkits and other equipment accumulated over the last 30+ years. The collection includes some reconditioned and ready to operate units as well as units that are not working but restorable or can be used for parts to repair other equipment.
Items will be described as accurately as possible but will be sold as-is, no warranty, no returns. So read the description carefully, and look at the pictures.
We have many items available and will be listing them as time allows. The list includes both Heathkit and other brands of amateur radio equipment and test equipment.
Navigate to the "Used Equipment" page to see the list.
Steve Jobs and Heathkit
Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc., as quoted in an April, 1995 Computerworld article:
"Heathkits were really great. Heathkits were these products that you would buy in kit form. You actually paid more money for them than if you just went and bought the finished product if it was available. These Heathkits would come with these detailed manuals about how to put this thing together and all the parts would be laid out in a certain way and color coded. You'd actually build this thing yourself. I would say that this gave one several things. It gave one a understanding of what was inside a finished product and how it worked because it would include a theory of operation but maybe even more importantly it gave one the sense that one could build the things that one saw around oneself in the universe. These things were not mysteries anymore. I mean you looked at a television set you would think that "I haven't built one of those but I could. There's one of those in the Heathkit catalog and I've built two other Heathkits so I could build that." Things became much more clear that they were the results of human creation not these magical things that just appeared in one's environment that one had no knowledge of their interiors. It gave a tremendous level of self-confidence, that through exploration and learning one could understand seemingly very complex things in one's environment. My childhood was very fortunate in that way."