The Heathkit IG-1271 Function Generator

In this video we examine The Heathkit IG-1271 Function Generator.

[warp]

Nice little unit. I wish someone would go back into the “kit based radio” and “kit based electronic test tools” making world. What a fun way to spend a rainy saturday, building a multimeter or one of these function generators, with your dad or your ham radio Elmer.

[youtuuba]

The 1271 was a pretty nice design, both in terms of the circuit and the ergonomics. I had one, probably purchased around 1978 (it came out in 1974, discontinued in 1987) and used it in my home lab. It always worked very well, but I found it a bit difficult to use in the more advanced circuits I was working on, since it only had the most basic waveforms. I sold mine on eBay when I acquired a reconditioned HP that I still use, which itself has been partially supplanted with a digital function generator that is even more flexible. The one thing that always bugged me about the 1271 was that Heath put a standard round LED behind the triangular shaped "arrow" opening next to the Frequency dial, and they did not include a diffuser, so instead of a nice illuminated triangle, it just had a round lighted dot in an otherwise dark triangle.

There is good reason why probably most Heathkits of this so-called "Post New Look" styling are missing their combination carrying design sucked! The star washer Heathkit provided to give enough 'lock' to the handle/stand was too weak, and when the equipment sagged, the washer's teeth dug gouges into the aluminum case, further reducing surface area and making the 'sag' worse and worse. I think only on the oscilloscopes of that period did Heath include proper detent locks for the handles/kickstands.

[PapasDino]

Thanks Jeff, always enjoy your reviews of so many of the boxes I built back in the day and of course your Classic book is a great reference! 73 - Dino KLØS