Vintage Heathkit CR-1 Crystal Receiver Kit
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This vintage Heathkit CR-1 Crystal Receiver kit is one the latest unbuilt Heathkit kits which appeared on eBay, and can still be found there occasionally both in kit form and fully built sets. I have been saving the images in order to preserve the history. The constantly growing list is at the lower right. A PDF version of the Heathkit CR-1 Crystal Receiver Manual can be found here, but I captured the pages (below) in case it disappears someday. Note the information included on the operation of detectors and oscillators.

The copyright on the manual is 1956, and it appears in the 1958 Heathkit catalog for $7.95 ($75.10 in 2021 money per the BLS).

From the catalog page: "This crystal radio is just the ticket for construction by young people interested in radio or electronics - yet it is definitely not a toy. Employs high-quality standard components throughout. It is even usable as an AM tuner in high fidelity applications. Covering from 540 to 1600 kc, the CR-1 has two high-Q tank circuits that employ ferrite core coils and conventional air tuned capacitors. Capacitors are tuned individually to the desired station. The receiver is most attractively styles in a black Bakelite case. Uses a sealed germanium diode for detection - no critical "cats whisker" adjustment. Includes a pair of high impedance earphones. Requires no external power. Could prove extremely valuable for emergency reception of civil defense signals, should there be a power failure. The construction manual provides the builder with the basic fundamentals of signal reception so that he understands how the crystal receiver functions."

Heathkit products were well known for the completeness of its instruction manuals, with clearly illustrated instructions. During the writing and editing process, Heathkit employees were given pre-production kits to take home and build, while annotating any difficulties or errors encountered. Doing so helped minimize the situation where the writer inadvertently assumes his own familiarity with the process is shared by the customer. Having built a few Heathkit products myself in the 1970s when I did not have a lot of experience with electronics assembly, I can attest to the user friendliness of the instructions. Heathkit still sells many of its vintage manuals for around $15, which is what you would pay on eBay.

Contact Info

Heath Company (Heathkit)

Operations: PO Box 15, Ottsville, PA 18942

R&D/Mfg: PO Box 3115, Santa Cruz CA 95063

Phone: +1 (831) 480-4368

E-Mail: info.2015@2015.heath.company

Posted August 13, 2021