Specifications

The DZ Company, LLC
www.dzkit.com
When in northern Colorado, visit our
retail store, offices and DZKit manu-
facturing plant, known locally as
Valley Ham Shack
710 Grove Ct.
Loveland, CO 80537
www.valleyhamshack.com
Call toll free: 877-HAM-SHACK
(1-877-426-7422)
The Story of DZKit
From the early 1900’s on, kit-building has been a way of life for many people. In the post-WWII era, there were many
companies making electronic kits. One was Heathkit, a large company ($100M in sales in 1979) based in Benton Harbor,
Michigan. They made kits of every kind, from simple learning tools to organs, color TVs, stereos, CB radios, test instruments,
marine electronics, darkroom equipment, garage door openers and amateur radio equipment. The large influx of imported
electronics in the mid-1970’s along with the computer phenomenon starting in the late 1970’s caused many American
electronics businesses to fail. Heathkit became another victim of the day, bought and sold numerous times until only its
educational products remained. They remained in business until 2012 when they filed for bankruptcy.
In 1965, a 14-year old ham radio enthusiast named Brian Wood discovered Heathkit products and eagerly built many of them.
His interest in electronics led him into an electrical engineering career at Hewlett-Packard®, and then to Agilent Technologies®,
which was spun off of HP in 1999. Eager to show the fun of kit-building to a new generation, and after 33 years of “training” at
HP/Agilent, Brian retired at 55 and, with 3 other hams, formed The DZ Company, based on the last two initials in his amateur
radio call letters (W0DZ). The first product, in development for five years, was Sienna, an all-mode HF transceiver with features
not available on many existing rigs.
Thus was laid the groundwork for DZKit products — no “me too” products, but rather products that make a contribution to the
industry by offering features not available elsewhere, with solid engineering and excellent customer support. We also believe
strongly in avoiding outsourcing wherever possible. All of our products are designed and manufactured in the U.S.
HP and Hewlett-Packard are registered trademarks of The Hewlett-Packard Co. Agilent Technologies is a registered trademark of Agilent Technologies, Inc.