That was my very first Heathkit kit, bought from the official french Heathkit store in Paris and assembled when I was 16... I used it many years until I bought a more modern, accurate and self powered multimeter. Later I gave it to my best friend, still working! It was the beginning of a long and pleasant story with Heathkit... Thanks for your nice video that remembered me lots off souvenirs.
I still use this meter. I bought it in Holland where I lived then. When I moved to the USA, I brought it over and adjusted it for the US grid. Still going strong.
Wow, awesome video! I found a bell and Howell version of this multimeter in a dusty box at the local thrift store - 5$ - saw the nixie tubes and had to have it! Thank you
Awesome video - thanks for sharing! I just got my grandfather’s unit, ran the calibration, and it works perfectly. I have the full original manual and errata, and if you are interested I could wrap it up in a PDF for you!
Hi Jeff I have been restoring a couple IM-2102 and IM-1212 Nixie VOM's (a pair of non-functional IM-102 and IM-1210 VOMs are waiting in the wings), and was disappointed by the hard-to-read Heathkit schematics (very small text & often obtuse circuit layout). This was made worse if a scanned & downloaded schematic needed to be used. I did find a real IM-1212 manual on eBay, and downloaded an IM-1202 schematic whose component designations and values are often illegible (due to low resolution scanning of the original). I did a LOT of work through a jeweler's loupe and peering at the components on the meter circuit boards, and eventually got what I believe to be two reliable schematics. Over the lest week, I spent a few hours every night generating new schematics for both models using AutoCAD, with a lot of effort to try and maximize legibility through careful tweaking of component and text sizes, and fine adjustment of circuit details and orientation and spacing of circuit sections. In the process, I also 'un-did' the more obtuse Heathkit circuit schematic layout areas, hopefully maximizing ease of understanding the circuit. The resulting PDFs are intended to be printed at full size (no scaling) on 11x17" paper, approximately the same size as the originals in the manuals, but with better use of available space. I have put the PDFs on my personal fileshare webpage www.serpentwebsite.com/fileshare.htm, down at the bottom of the page along with other Heathkit schematics I gave a similar treatment to. I hope you and others can benefit from these.
@@jefftranter , as always happens, even after I do a lot of proofreading, I will immediately spot an error when looking at my work a few days later. I have just updated the files on my fileshare page to "Revision B" (both the IM-1202 & IM-1212 drawings), which fixes a few places on the function selector switch where I was off by one position in regards to DCmA and DCV. Makes more sense now.
@@youtuuba , your drawings are an awesome contribution to this channel and to the community at large. I am just a hobbyist, but I wanted to thank you for taking the time to create and revise this work.
I recently picked up the Bell & Howell version of the IM-1212 (Heathkit IMD-202-2 based on the very faded sticker on the back of the unit) at a swap meet for $2.50 because of the Nixies inside (didn't even realize it was a Heathkit design until I put it on my bench at home). The exterior is a little rough (probably why everybody ignored it), but the inside looks pretty decent. Now that I have a nice set of schematics to use for this process, I plan to run through it to see if I can bring it up and then get it back into shape. I am subbed to this channel and now to yours as well.
@@8alonzo8 , the nice things about these low-end Heathkit Nixie display DMM's is that the components are pretty generic, nothing custom of odd about the component choices. Assuming that the selector switches are OK, all other parts can be replaced fairly easily. Unless they are physically damaged, the Nixie tubes are probably OK. The display driver ICs are not unusual, but are no longer in production, so it is necessary to buy those from surplus sellers, on eBay, etc. The other ICs are still available.
Great, high quality video. I recently acquired one of these (the assembled SM model), so it was interesting to learn about some of the history of the meter.
Just started to build one of these, new old stock kit that was never started. Looks like I am missing a few parts, but I think I can find them. Mine is the Bell and Howell version, if you need any documentation let me know, I have all three books that go with it.
I have the Bell & Howell Shcools labeled model, It has a 1/2" hole someone drilled in the front panel above and between the range knobs. Wondering if someone had a polarity switch in there once, I'll probably put one in there just to fill the hole...
I have the same one. still works. the cardboard over transformer was lost and I got extra tubes. and have the BELL and Howell version complete with manual to calibrate meter. was gotten threw the school program. doe't remember the price. can tell you the readings are off in the cold. below 60F. my display flickers the same way.
That was my very first Heathkit kit, bought from the official french Heathkit store in Paris and assembled when I was 16... I used it many years until I bought a more modern, accurate and self powered multimeter. Later I gave it to my best friend, still working!
It was the beginning of a long and pleasant story with Heathkit...
Thanks for your nice video that remembered me lots off souvenirs.
I still use this meter. I bought it in Holland where I lived then. When I moved to the USA, I brought it over and adjusted it for the US grid. Still going strong.
Wow, awesome video! I found a bell and Howell version of this multimeter in a dusty box at the local thrift store - 5$ - saw the nixie tubes and had to have it! Thank you
Awesome video - thanks for sharing! I just got my grandfather’s unit, ran the calibration, and it works perfectly. I have the full original manual and errata, and if you are interested I could wrap it up in a PDF for you!
Hi Jeff
I have been restoring a couple IM-2102 and IM-1212 Nixie VOM's (a pair of non-functional IM-102 and IM-1210 VOMs are waiting in the wings), and was disappointed by the hard-to-read Heathkit schematics (very small text & often obtuse circuit layout). This was made worse if a scanned & downloaded schematic needed to be used. I did find a real IM-1212 manual on eBay, and downloaded an IM-1202 schematic whose component designations and values are often illegible (due to low resolution scanning of the original). I did a LOT of work through a jeweler's loupe and peering at the components on the meter circuit boards, and eventually got what I believe to be two reliable schematics. Over the lest week, I spent a few hours every night generating new schematics for both models using AutoCAD, with a lot of effort to try and maximize legibility through careful tweaking of component and text sizes, and fine adjustment of circuit details and orientation and spacing of circuit sections. In the process, I also 'un-did' the more obtuse Heathkit circuit schematic layout areas, hopefully maximizing ease of understanding the circuit. The resulting PDFs are intended to be printed at full size (no scaling) on 11x17" paper, approximately the same size as the originals in the manuals, but with better use of available space.
I have put the PDFs on my personal fileshare webpage www.serpentwebsite.com/fileshare.htm, down at the bottom of the page along with other Heathkit schematics I gave a similar treatment to. I hope you and others can benefit from these.
Thanks, I will check it out!
@@jefftranter , as always happens, even after I do a lot of proofreading, I will immediately spot an error when looking at my work a few days later. I have just updated the files on my fileshare page to "Revision B" (both the IM-1202 & IM-1212 drawings), which fixes a few places on the function selector switch where I was off by one position in regards to DCmA and DCV. Makes more sense now.
@@youtuuba , your drawings are an awesome contribution to this channel and to the community at large. I am just a hobbyist, but I wanted to thank you for taking the time to create and revise this work.
I recently picked up the Bell & Howell version of the IM-1212 (Heathkit IMD-202-2 based on the very faded sticker on the back of the unit) at a swap meet for $2.50 because of the Nixies inside (didn't even realize it was a Heathkit design until I put it on my bench at home). The exterior is a little rough (probably why everybody ignored it), but the inside looks pretty decent. Now that I have a nice set of schematics to use for this process, I plan to run through it to see if I can bring it up and then get it back into shape. I am subbed to this channel and now to yours as well.
@@8alonzo8 , the nice things about these low-end Heathkit Nixie display DMM's is that the components are pretty generic, nothing custom of odd about the component choices. Assuming that the selector switches are OK, all other parts can be replaced fairly easily. Unless they are physically damaged, the Nixie tubes are probably OK. The display driver ICs are not unusual, but are no longer in production, so it is necessary to buy those from surplus sellers, on eBay, etc. The other ICs are still available.
Great, high quality video. I recently acquired one of these (the assembled SM model), so it was interesting to learn about some of the history of the meter.
Nice! I just picked one of these up for my lab. I've wanted Nixie meter for a long time and got an awesome deal on it.
Nixi tubs are so cool
Very informative video, Thank You!
Hello Jeff,
I have the IM-1212 and it has a white wire and plug for the mA/ohm socket. Yours looks much nicer than mine. Thanks for the review!
Jeff,
Great nostalgia! Hurry up with the IG-18 video; I picked one up and would be interested to see your restoration.
72,
Bill, k6whp
I need to get one of these. Nixie tubes FTW!
Just started to build one of these, new old stock kit that was never started. Looks like I am missing a few parts, but I think I can find them. Mine is the Bell and Howell version, if you need any documentation let me know, I have all three books that go with it.
I have the Bell & Howell Shcools labeled model, It has a 1/2" hole someone drilled in the front panel above and between the range knobs. Wondering if someone had a polarity switch in there once, I'll probably put one in there just to fill the hole...
I added a toggle power switch to mine, thought about putting it there
Great Job!
I have the same one. still works. the cardboard over transformer was lost and I got extra tubes. and have the BELL and Howell version complete with manual to calibrate meter. was gotten threw the school program. doe't remember the price. can tell you the readings are off in the cold. below 60F. my display flickers the same way.
Three and a half digit back then was really useless. It was one of the first digital display ICVM. Most of the time it displayed three digits.
Well Done!