A couple of days ago, this Tweet found its way into my Twitter feed:
KE2YK_HAMRADIO @ke2yk
If you are an old time Ham Radio Op, you may remember the AMECO transmitter. Well, this beautiful lil TX is back! Check out thenewameco.com #hamradio
Well, I’m an old-time ham radio operator, and I do remember the AMECO AC-1, but I don’t remember it as being something desirable. I remember it as something that you bought if you really couldn’t afford anything else. As you can see below, the kit costs $21.95 in the late 1960s.
By comparison, I opted for the Heathkit DX-60B, which for $125, offered higher power (90 W for the DX-60B vs. 15 W for the AC-1), covered 80 – 10m (vs. just 80m and 40m for the AC-1), and could even do AM once you got a General Class license.
While I hope that the new AMECO succeeds, I wonder what the market really is for kits like this? At $200, the AC-1 kit is pricey. Are there enough customers out there to keep the company in business. The question is, “What price nostalgia?”
I just ordered one of these this morning. There is a big market in retro audio and computing hardware. I think there’s money to be had retro amateur radio as well. When you think about it, is it any more crazy to spend $200 on a tube QRP rig when we got folks spending multi-kilobucks on several rigs, to talk to people they could email or call on the phone? :-)