Heathkit Apache TX-1
$····
| Frequency | TX: 80–10 m (amateur) |
| TX power | 100 W |
| Modes | AM, CW |
| Weight | 43 kg (94.8 lb) |
| Connector | SO-239 |
| Year | 1958 |
| antenna | SO-239 |
Heathkit's big transmitter, designed to pair with the Mohawk RX-1 receiver. 150W AM (phone) / 180W CW input, AM with a built-in modulator, and SSB via the plug-in SB-10 adapter. A pi-network output and a low-drift VFO. The Apache was Heathkit's answer to the Johnson Viking Valiant at a kit price about half the wired competition.
Kit build quality lottery. The modulation transformer is the expensive failure point. Very heavy at about 95 pounds (a big modulation transformer). SSB requires an external exciter, adding cost and complexity. AM audio quality depends entirely on build quality.
Heathkit's most ambitious transmitter before the SB series. The Apache gave kit builders a high-power station at a fraction of commercial prices. A well-built Apache with a Mohawk receiver was a legitimate contest station.
The Heathkit Apache TX-1 is a quintessential late-1950s boatanchor and a centerpiece of many vintage AM stations. Produced from 1958 to 1964 and sold - like all Heathkit gear - as a build-it-yourself kit, it is a handsome 15-tube AM/CW transmitter covering 80 through 10 meters, with 150 watts AM (phone) and 180 watts CW input and a pi-network output that matches 50-72 ohm antennas. With the optional Heathkit SB-10 adapter it also produced early SSB at up to 500 watts PEP, making it unusually flexible for its day.
It pairs naturally with a period receiver - Heathkit's own Mohawk RX-1 being the matching companion - to make a complete vintage station, and it is backed by the deep documentation and active restoration community that surround Heathkit products.
The caveats are those of a 65-year-old kit transmitter: it is AM/CW only without the now-scarce SB-10 adapter, output is modest, it is finicky by modern standards, it is a transmitter only (you supply the receiver), and it covers five bands. Build quality varies kit-to-kit, so buy on condition. As an affordable, characterful AM/CW classic, though, the Apache is hard to resist. Compare it with the Heathkit DX-100 and the Johnson Viking Ranger.