Donations
I've received many incredibly generous donations of equipment, software, manuals, and books. I created this page, to recognize these very kind people, who felt it was important to help preserve the history, information, and equipment. They took the extra time to find a good home for their equipment, instead of just sending it to the landfill. If you have any old Heathkit computer related items and don't have a use for them, feel free to contact me at the email address below. Even if I'm not able to use the items, I can usually help in finding a good home for them.
My sincere thanks goes out to everyone listed. These donations have greatly helped in allowing me to preserve the software and information relate to Heathkit computers. Without them, the collection would be no where near as complete. In every donation there has always been items I needed for my collection.
Major Donors
I've received several large donations of collections which included system(s), software, and manuals.
Virginia Thompson (November 2022)
Virginia, from Oregon, offered equipment, documentation, and software. The equipment included an H8 computer, H9 terminal, H17 drives, and H19 terminal. There were also several manuals and disks which help fill in some holes, including an early version of HDOS and some HUG and SoftStuff titles. The H19 had a third party ROM upgrade - MyH19 ROM and keyboard decoder.
John (June 2015, November 2022)
John, from Hollister, CA, provided a large collection in June of 2015. The collection was a lot of everything - hardware, software, documentation, and periodicals. The hardware included an H89, H19 with a Cleveland Codonics graphics board, 2 - Z-100s, 1 Z-120, 2 - Z-37 external drives, Zenith 8" external drives, 2 - unbranded dual 8" drive enclosures, H14 printer with original box. Also included, was a huge amount of software for both the H89 and the Z-100 systems, with many titles that I was missing. Documentation for most of the items (hardware and software) was also provided. Among the periodicals, were Sextant, REMark, Z100-Lifeline, and SEBHC. The weight of all the items really tested the shocks on our Honda Odyssey.
In 2022, John contacted me again to see if I was interested in additional items he had. Items included an other H89 with the Cleveland Codonics Graphics card, Z-37, several individual 5 1/4" & 8" drives, many 8" floppies disks(some still sealed new in box), and original software/manuals. And even covered the significant shipping costs of 7 large boxes.
Bill & Larry (May-August 2021)
Bill had contacted me several years prior this, and provided some needed scans of articles and catalogs. Now, they had a large collection, that needed a new home. Due to my space constraints, Bill spent considerable amount of time, creating a very detailed inventory of everything. A significant portion of the items were sent, including a Corvus 10MB hard drive, H89 with the controller for the Corvus, an H8 with an expansion chassis (as documented in a magazine article they wrote), an H9 terminal, old modems, various documentation, software, periodicals, and expansion boards. Not only was the items donated, but the significant shipping costs were also covered. Many items were new for my collection including the Corvus drive/controller, some of the software and manuals.
David McDonald (July 2020)
David, from Seattle WA, had an early model H89, several manuals, and disks. The H89 was in great condition, and still had the cassette interface board installed. This will be a good system to keep in its original form, and try to get this up and running with the cassette interface and single drive. The manuals and disks were also in great condition and included some software titles I needed.
Jim Slocum (March 2019)
Jim, from NC, had contacted me in December of 2018, looking for a home for his large collection of Heathkit computers. After some discussions, it became obvious that shipping the equipment wouldn't be feasible. We arranged a date that I would fly there, rent a van, and drive it all back to Texas. The collection included an H89, a Z-89, a Z-100, two H-120s, an H-150, external 8" disk drives, external 5.25" drives, boxes of manuals, boxes of software, and even some spare parts. When we arrived, his family had already moved all the equipment and boxes from the workshop to the driveway. It made packing the van very easy and probably saved about 2 hours. There was many unique items that helped fill in holes in my collection.
Nick Mazzola (January 2019)
Nick, from Chandler AZ, had an H89, external drives, manuals, software, and even an H-25 printer. I was able to combine picking up his equipment (less the H-25) during a trip I made to California. There were several items in the collection which I did not have, including the Cassette Systems Software manual, HUG disks, and H17 diagnostic software. The H89 had a unique 64k upgrade card, which I still need to identify, and also an Environmental Control Systems PC-89 add-on board. Several boxes of blank hard-sectored disks and several NOS (new old stock) ribbon cables for the H-25.
Michael O'Keefe (March 2017)
Mike, from Eagle MI, had an H89, H14 (with a few unopened printer ribbons), a bunch of manuals (including some I didn't have - for cassette software), ET-3100, and even some unopened educational courses. He lives about an hour from some of my family, and he held the items until the next time I visited them. I was able to meet him and make the transfer, which avoided the hassles, expense, and the damage risk associated with shipping the equipment.
Tim Baxtor (February 2016)
Tim, from Champion OH, offered an H89, software, and documentation. There were several software titles and a book I could use. Tim shipped me the items I was needing. For the H89 and the rest of the items, I found someone though the SEBHC mail-list, who was local, looking for a system and was able to pickup the equipment in-person.
Roy M. (November 2015)
Roy offered a large collection of Heathkit equipment - 2 complete systems. First was an H8 system with a Z80 and a HA-8-3 Color Graphics board from NOGDS, H19 Terminal, H17 Floppy Drive, and an H14 Printer plus a large number of extra H8 boards, including an HA-8-2 Music board from NOGDS. Second was H89 system with an H77 Floppy Drive and an H25 Printer. Also provided, was a large amount software, including many original distribution disks, which I've imaged, and about 6 boxes of manuals and documentation. I was able to pick everything up over the Thanksgiving holiday, and avoid the hassles and risks of shipping.
Anonymous (July 2013)
A couple, who wishes to be anonymous, had an H9, H11, and H27 available. Their daughter contacted me to see if I was interested in the 'dusty' equipment. Since I didn't have an H27, nor a working H11, I was very interested in getting the equipment. To avoid shipping hassles and the possibility of damage during shipping, my wife and I spent a Friday/Saturday in July 2013 driving about 14 hours (7 hrs each way) to pick up the equipment. The collection also included manuals and a few floppy disks.
Gene Stillman/Mark Kroska (November 2010)
Gene offered me software, manuals, CDR FDC-880H disk controller, and even Heath/Zenith brand blank 8" floppies. There was over 25 manuals, 100+ 5.25" disks, and 40+ 8" disks. We met during the 2010 Thanksgiving break to transfer the items. After filling my trunk, the remaining items were place in the front seat. Some of these items were from Mark Kroska's collection. Mark was a dedicated Heathkit developer, who unfortunately passed away from cancer in 2005. Mark's collection of Heath related items was given to Gene by Mark's wife. I feel honored to receive these items, many which filled gaps in my collection, such as the complete HDOS source listings.
John Kerschen (February 2010)
John, from Colorado Springs, CO, contacted me in early 2010 and offered an H89, external drives, software, and manuals. Due to space constraints at the time, the H89 was shipped directly to another collector who needed the soft-sectored controller and a spare H89. I received the majority of the other items.
Rodney Nelson (July 2009)
Rod, from Eureka, CA, offered a very large collection, that included an H89, H77, external 5.25" drives, Z100, 8" external drive, Votrax Talk-n-type, and a HUGE collection of software and manuals. The entire collection required 11 boxes. Six boxes were used for the manuals and disks, with a total shipping weight of 250 pounds. Five boxes were required for the hardware, with a shipping weight over 200 pounds. I received this in July 2009. Most of the collection has been inventoried. There are many unique software disks which have been a great addition to our library.
P. R. (2006, 2010)
After attempting to get an H89 systems working with a soft-sectored controller for several years, P. was nice enough to offer a working H89 with a soft-sectored controller. In 2006, he sent not only the H89, but also a second H89, several external drives systems, manuals, software, many spare boards, spare disks, etc. He even covered the large shipping cost. This huge collection came in 10 boxes (over 330 pounds of equipment and software). At the time, it more than doubled my collection of Heathkit equipment. Even now, the number of spare boards and chips will help in repairing any systems. He sent an additional 3 boxes and 90 pounds of manuals and books in 2010, which helped me fill out some of my missing pieces.
David Keeney (2005)
David, from NH, provided an H89, H77, plus a bunch of software, books, and manuals for the cost of shipping. Several of the software titles were unique and have been added to the software library. I also received books on the Z80 CPU that has helped with my emulator.
P. E. (2005)
P., from Grand Rapids, MI, provided an H89, H77, software, and an Epson MX80 printer. This was the first donation in 2005 and provided me with a backup system, as I was repairing my first H89 in my current collection, which I purchased in 2003. (My original H89, which I had back in the 1980's and had assembled with my father, was sold to help fund a new computer at that time - a Zenith Z-158. 😆)
Other Donors
Smaller collection of Heath-related items are also greatly appreciated. I'm looking for many software titles, manuals, periodicals, etc. to fill in gaps, so even a single disk or manual can help.
A Boston-area Company
A company from Boston provided a box filled with Heath-related items and was kind enough to covered the shipping cost. This included periodicals (several years of REMarks, HSCOOPs, and Staunch 8/89er), manuals, chips, and media.
Jim Conger
Jim Conger from Ohio, provided a Z19 terminal, for just the cost of shipping.
Charles Doughty
Charles from CT, provided a Cleveland Codonics Graphics card, the associated documentation, and covered the shipping cost.
Rick Rabouw
Rick from the Netherlands, provide a box of about 70-80 floppy disks and even covered the international shipping. It included both original distribution disks and personal disks. I've added these to the library.
