Rockwell

Collins The Signal - 1971 to Date - OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE COLLINS COLLECTORS ASSOCIATION * Q4 2013 Anniversary Issue *

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The Signal Magazine OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE COLLINS COLLECTORSASSOCIATION

Issue Number Seventy Two - Forth Quarter 2013 - Holiday Greetings -

To Our Membership & the People of Rockwell Collins

The membership of the Collins Collectors Association - and its management team - would like to take this opportunity to say “Seasons Greetings and a Very Happy New Year” to all of the em- ployees of Collins Radio and the Rockwell Collins Corporation.

We hope that all of you have a wonderful and safe holiday season and that your 2014 is rewarding and fruitful.

This issue is the last (post Rockwell) issue of the four part series that we hope has served to document some of the great history of Collins and Rockwell Collins. We hope that you have enjoyed the stories as much as we have enjoyed working with the many retired and working Collins, and Rockwell Collins, employees.

It has truly been a privilege working with all of you, and all of us have, in one form or another, expressed our pleasure in getting to know many of you for the first time, and working with you during

the research that led to some of these stories. They are your sto- The Signal Magazine ries, and you should be proud of them and your history. is published quarterly by the Collins Collectors Association & Copyright © This issue particularly is dedicated to all of those that “weathered 2013 - All Rights Reserved. the storm” and then proceeded to help make the turn-around of Editor Bill Carns, N7OTQ Ass’t Editor, Don Jackson, W5QN Collins Radio a success. It is also dedicated to the Rockwell man- agement who had the vision and perceptiveness to see the inher-

CCA Board of Directors ent value in the heritage and ethic of the Collins Radio Company Bill Carns, N7OTQ President & Editor while it was struggling. Scott Kerr. KE1RR Vice President & IT Karl Bowman, W4CHX Events This dedication should also rightfully extend to Arthur Collins. Jim Stitzinger, WA3CEX Secretary Without his vision, leadership and enthusiastic pursuit of excel- lence, the company would have never arrived at the 1972 juncture Bill Wheeler, K0DEW, CCA Advisor with Rockwell. President Emeritus Kharma & Jesse Palmer Staff Photographers Danielle Toynette Graphic Artist As it says in the Post Rockwell article, the Collins spirit prevailed and fate smiled on a great company. May that continue! The CCA is licensed by Rockwell Collins to reproduce and disseminate Collins copyrighted the CCA Board of Directors documents related to Collins products used in amateur radio applications.

The Collins Collectors Association A Quick Look in This Issue

P.O. Box 1269 Wimberley, TX 78676-1269 • Feature - The Rockwell Years Come Visit Our CCA Website • We hear from those who were there

www.collinsradio.org • The 51 Year Wonder Project - TACAMO

See our New Features & Members Area. • Significant Contributors to the Bottom Line You can renew your membership or join the CCA • 2013 CCA Business & 2014 Outlook on our website using the JOIN US link.

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email: [email protected] email:

Our Best 73s - Bill, K0CXX/N7OTQ & Don, W5QN W5QN Don, & K0CXX/N7OTQ Bill, - 73s Best Our

and the CCA management, We would like to wish everyone a safe and very joyous holiday season. season. holiday joyous very and safe a everyone wish to like would We management, CCA the and Magazine Signal For the entire staff of the the of staff entire the For

unfolding, we will all continue to share this journey for the rest of our lives. lives. our of rest the for journey this share to continue all will we unfolding,

d the stories stories the d an met, people the of result a As over. not is it that say to pleased are we and journey, a become has vision said….The we Like

. . . . Quality family oriented people! people! oriented family Quality . . . .

te) quality people. people. quality te) motiva then (and hire and find to ability unique a had he but excellence, quality and technical fostered that culture a led and

t only built built only t no He Collins. Arthur about volumes speaks also research nths mo 12 last the perspective, another from experience the at Looking

warming. warming.

. It is heart- is It . families and people quality of lomeration cong a such seen I have Never company. ful wonder a about more learn to opportunity the

ry . . . As well as for for as well As . . . ry sto your in sharing of privilege the for and people quality th wi working of joy the for enough you of all thank can’t us of All

ring. We had no idea what we were starting when we began. began. we when starting were we what idea no had We ring.

oorbells oorbells d and phones made and - catalyst a as somewhat served have re he efforts our and magazine the that fact the at smile only can We

of doing the research was astonishing. astonishing. was research the doing of

The social impact impact social The multiplied. and widened circle The visiting. then and phone, e th on talking started peers with touch lost had that folks those

talk with others that were involved. More names emerged. Slowly, but surely, the number of contributors multiplied. But….more i But….more multiplied. contributors of number the surely, but Slowly, emerged. names More involved. were that others with talk mportantly, mportantly,

hed out to to out hed reac people these cases, those of many In emerged. stories partial only and foggy re we memories their cases some In people. its

company and and company the of history the telling, and recovering, about excited became – exception without – people These occurred. miracle the Then

years ago. ago. years

far corners of the country. Many had lost touch with their peers of of peers their with touch lost had Many country. the of corners far

om Cedar Rapids, and were in the the in were and Rapids, Cedar om fr moved had retired, were cases,

or at least folks that knew first hand stories. These people, in many many in people, These stories. hand first knew that folks least at or

who had participated in the story – folks that had actually lived it - - it lived actually had that folks – story the in participated had who

retirees and current employees employees current and retirees of multitude a to out reached We

going to need a LOT of help. help. of LOT a need to going

learning a whole lot (always fun). We also realized that we were were we that realized also We fun). (always lot whole a learning

arch team – were going to be be to going were – team arch rese the – we but solve), to puzzle

that, not only was there this intriguing job to do (almost like a a like (almost do to job intriguing this there was only not that,

facts and stories straight and documented. We all soon realized realized soon all We documented. and straight stories and facts

e research required to get the the get to required research e th doing of job the on took that

history started, there was a small but enthusiastic core of people people of core enthusiastic but small a was there started, history

make us any happier. When the efforts to tell the story of Collins’ Collins’ of story the tell to efforts the When happier. any us make

e way too……and this could not not could this too……and way e th along happened else Something

will again be balanced. balanced. be again will

2014, the magazine will return to its normal size, and the budget budget the and size, normal its to return will magazine the 2014,

effort. That is one of the things that we hold reserves for. In In for. reserves hold we that things the of one is That effort.

was, and is, in a financial position to invest some funds in the the in funds some invest to position financial a in is, and was,

tinue to tell the story as it should be told. Fortunately, the CCA CCA the Fortunately, told. be should it as story the tell to tinue

in the magazine for 2013 and con- and 2013 for magazine the in bit a “invest” to board the by

and reminders about budget and workload, resulted in a decision decision a in resulted workload, and budget about reminders and

pages), we realized that we had lost control. Some good discussion, discussion, good Some control. lost had we that realized we pages),

Following the Q1 Prewar Issue (which quickly rose to contain 32 32 contain to rose quickly (which Issue Prewar Q1 the Following

relinquished control over the magazine, and turned that control over to the “story” itself. itself. “story” the to over control that turned and magazine, the over control relinquished

Little did we know that, by making that de that making by that, know we did Little cision on content - and by aiming more ge more aiming by and - content on cision t we had just just had we t tha adequately, story the telling at nerally

content . . . . content that would tell the Collins Radio story of the era, the equipment, the people, and the business. business. the and people, the equipment, the era, the of story Radio Collins the tell would that content . . . . content

All of us, including the editors, envisioned a result that was similar in size, but with a more (for the 80th anniversary year) anniversary 80th the (for more a with but size, in similar was that result a envisioned editors, the including us, of All standard format and and format standard

all were pretty happy with the membership’s acceptance of the content and the impact of the work. work. the of impact the and content the of acceptance membership’s the with happy pretty were all

Signal Magazine Signal was running 24 pages, and we we and pages, 24 running was four eras of Collins history, the idea had yet yet had idea the history, Collins of eras four to take solid form. When we closed out 2012, the the 2012, out closed we When form. solid take to

anniversary quarterly issues that focused on the the on focused that issues quarterly anniversary four doing discussed Directors, of Board CCA the and , Magazine Signal When we here at the the at here we When

What a year! What started out as a vision vision a as out started What year! a What (To tell the Collins Radio story), turned out to be a wonderful and educational journ educational and wonderful a be to out turned story), Radio Collins the tell (To ey. ey.

F rom the Desks of N7OTQ & W5QN ...... W5QN & N7OTQ of Desks the rom

by Bill Carns, N7OTQ & Don Jackson, W5QN W5QN Jackson, Don & N7OTQ Carns, Bill by

FROM THE STAFF STAFF THE FROM Issue No. 72

Forth Quarter 2013 Signal Magazine FEATURES

3 GREETING CONTENTS Honoring all the employees who turned the company around in those critical years

7 THE ROCKWELL YEARS & BEYOND 1971 to Date - A tale of talent, fate and hard work. Rockwell Collins focuses on its roots

10 TACAMO—51 YEARS Jaw dropping statistics & parameters of the longest running program at Collins

7 18 CCA BUSINESS REPORT Report 2013 & Looking Forward to 2014

24 20 AVIONICS - THEN & NOW 10 Art’s Vision - Now a reality beyond even his fondest dreams

24 UHF AT COLLINS 20 UHF Comm - A consistent Breadwinner at Collins - grows into the 21st Century

30 HF-80 - MY STORY Share Rod’s personal journey that continues today

30 36 HF-80 - CONCEPT to MARKET The new Rockwell P&L culture produces another key winner

42 CASPER & THE KWM-380 Rockwell steps off the HF-80 concepts to reenter the Amateur Radio Market

36 Regulars

4 FROM THE STAFF News from the Signal Staff and a glimpse At next year - Our Sapphire Anniversary

28 Service LINE - 30L-1 Instability 42 Don wrings out a very mysterious instability 20 that plagues the 30L-1 18 49 IN THE ROCKWELL SHACK The Signal visits several shacks brimming ON THE COVER: Beautiful Promotional with Rockwell era equipment Brochure for the last Rockwell International 52 PRESERVING HISTORY (Collins Division) Amateur Radio Transceiver We relive - and preserve - the past with the - The KWM-380 - presentation of this KWM-380 ad

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His work always reflects his thoroughness. thoroughness. his reflects always work His drills down on one of the mysteries of our famous little amp. amp. little famous our of mysteries the of one on down drills

Don Jackson shares some of his technical knowledge and and knowledge technical his of some shares Jackson Don

“30L-1 Instability?” Instability?” “30L-1 page 28 28 page

Don Jackson, W5QN W5QN Jackson, Don

Dave! Dave! Signal the to Welcome Church. Lutheran the with active

lives with his wife Pat in Saint Louis, Missouri where he is very very is he where Missouri Louis, Saint in Pat wife his with lives

name for the KWM/HF-380 and HF-280 series development. He He development. series HF-280 and KWM/HF-380 the for name

sible for planning the HF-80 program and CASPER, the code code the CASPER, and program HF-80 the planning for sible

Product Line Manager for the URG I & URG II and also respon- also and II URG & I URG the for Manager Line Product

well Collins, for 34 years before retiring in 1997. He was the the was He 1997. in retiring before years 34 for Collins, well

Dave Berner, BSEE Communications, served Collins, and Rock- and Collins, served Communications, BSEE Berner, Dave

Casper”, & HF-80 Market, to “Concept pg 36 pg

Dave Berner, Retired Rockwell Collins Collins Rockwell Retired Berner, Dave

projects. related Museum RC with

very active with the HF-80 systems in use today - as well as as well as - today use in systems HF-80 the with active very

e times at Collins. He is still still is He Collins. at times e thos as well as project HF-80 the

things Collins. Here he shares his personal experiences with with experiences personal his shares he Here Collins. things

, he is passionate about all all about passionate is he , Museum Collins Rockwell the of

worked as project lead on several HF-80 PAs. As past curator curator past As PAs. HF-80 several on lead project as worked

Rod retired from Rockwell Collins engineering where he had had he where engineering Collins Rockwell from retired Rod

Story”, My . . . “HF-80 pg 30 pg

Rod Blocksome, K0DAS K0DAS Blocksome, Rod

spective to this subject. subject. this to spective

flight Engineer and a pilot, so he brings a very interesting per- interesting very a brings he so pilot, a and Engineer flight

and for his own business. In addition, he is a Certified C-130 C-130 Certified a is he addition, In business. own his for and

run FAA approved avionics repair facilities for the Air Force Force Air the for facilities repair avionics approved FAA run

equipment. Professionally, he is an engineer, but he has also also has he but engineer, an is he Professionally, equipment.

avionics and military boxes, and operates a prolifa of this this of prolifa a operates and boxes, military and avionics

very “Welcome Back”. He is a significant collector of Collins Collins of collector significant a is He Back”. “Welcome very

in the past and is is and past the in Magazine Signal the for written has Scott

Collins”, at “UHF page 24 page

Scott Johnson, W7SVJ W7SVJ Johnson, Scott

opment Phase Team for the 787 Dreamliner. Dreamliner. 787 the for Team Phase opment

senting the Rockwell Collins Corporation on the Joint Devel- Joint the on Corporation Collins Rockwell the senting

spending most of 2004 at Boeing in Seattle, Washington repre- Washington Seattle, in Boeing at 2004 of most spending

Systems Group at Rockwell Collins. His experience includes includes experience His Collins. Rockwell at Group Systems

seum. He also is a Sr. Engineering Manager in the Government Government the in Manager Engineering Sr. a is also He seum.

Lawrence is currently the Curator of the Rockwell Collins Mu- Collins Rockwell the of Curator the currently is Lawrence

“Avionics—Then & Now” Now” & “Avionics—Then

page 20 page

Lawrence Robinson, KC0ODK KC0ODK Robinson, Lawrence

He is an avid Collins preservationist. preservationist. Collins avid an is He

Wilson and then Don Beall for many years – retiring in 1998. 1998. in retiring – years many for Beall Don then and Wilson

ing to R. Cattoi, Sr. VP of Engineering. He served under Bob Bob under served He Engineering. of VP Sr. Cattoi, R. to ing

promoted to VP, Electronic Technologies & Processes report- Processes & Technologies Electronic VP, to promoted

ters. After moving to Dallas in 1969 in this capacity, he was was he capacity, this in 1969 in Dallas to moving After ters.

coming Division Director of HF Equip. & High Power Transmit- Power High & Equip. HF of Director Division coming

in Engineering Development & Line Management before be- before Management Line & Development Engineering in

Loney joined Collins Radio, Cedar Rapids, in 1957. He served served He 1957. in Rapids, Cedar Radio, Collins joined Loney

“Fifty One Years of TACAMO” TACAMO” of Years One “Fifty

page 10 page

Loney Duncan, W0GZV W0GZV Duncan, Loney

CONTRIBUTORS OUR

Signal Magazine Signal 2013 Quarter Forth Issue No. 72 72 No. Issue The Rockwell Effect - Quieting Troubled Waters by Bill Carns, N7OTQ Prolog The story of the Post Rockwell era of the Collins Radio Company is a story that covers 40 years and the clock is still ticking – and very strongly ticking we must observe. This is a story that many of you have lived, and that many more of you have read about already. It is a fascinating story of survival and tri- umph – yes, and smiling fate - and has been well told by several excellent books. Both the Rockwell Collins “75 Years of Innovation” book by Braband and Smith (published by WDG Communications), and Ben Stearns’ wonderful book, Arthur Collins Radio Wizard published in 2002, tell this story quite well. They are highly recommended and it would serve no purpose to echo this work here.

What is worth revisiting is part of the story. So let’s take a look at the portion that has to do with the remark- able turn-around of a troubled company that contained a wealth of resources.

Everyone loves a story with a happy ending – particularly if that story is about people. In fact, the story worth delving into here is just that. It is the tale, not only of a few very talented managers that just happened to be at the right place at the right time, but also a story about all of the employees at Collins Radio. During a time when moral could have collapsed, and when – very easily – disappointed customers and poor perform- ance could have aggravated an already very tenuous situation, this did not happen.

You already can guess the ending, I am sure. There are some that would argue that the story has yet to end, and in a good sense that is true. Rockwell Collins is alive and well and growing and reporting good earnings – and long may it last.

But let’s go back to the perspective (the part of the story) that does have an ending. When we left off last quarter, and the Collins Radio Com- pany was awash in debt and having trouble making payroll, it was not a good time. Those that were there, and those that watched, or came soon after and heard the stories, usually use the words “Painful”, “Difficult” and “Desperate”.

Pain You remember from last quarter that Total Reported Liabilities as a percent of Sales had started to rise rapidly in 1967. These liabilities had long been higher than “well performing” companies – even in the 1950s and ‘60s. Read the conclusion of the Q3 Signal article on the Post War Collins Radio performance (p15). Then, with the essentially flat sales in 1968 and dramatic drop in sales in 1969 and 1970, this Liabilities vs. Sales Index had suddenly exploded and become the glaring sign of eminent doom. Starting in 1968, and more so in 1969, Collins had trouble meeting their obligations and great difficulty even making payroll.

The “pain” started in earnest in 1969. In response to these financial woes, and still trying to protect his “New Markets”, and the Computing side of the company, Art Collins and the management team at Collins Radio was forced to reduce payroll at an alarming rate. These layoffs, some- times getting as deep as 30% in one cut in some engineering groups, would go on until just after the first financial injection ultimately brought to the picture by North American Rockwell.

When Collins Radio went into the 1969 fiscal year, they had a little over 23,000 employees. By 1971, the time that Rockwell (November 23, 1971) was invested and involved in the management, this number was down to 14,500 and falling rapidly.

To keep this in perspective, the total sales had fallen from $447M in 1968 to $250M in 1972. This is a reduction in sales of 44% in 4 years. In response, both pre and post-merger, the headcount was cut by almost an even 50% over the same four years. Like the people that lived it say…. painful and desperate times.

It is very interesting to note, that with all that disruption, and all of the obvious potential morale issues that could, and in some case did, come up, that programs like TACAMO (See Loney Duncan’s comments about this period in his article in this issue) continued to meet objectives and the walls did not fall in. That says quite a bit about the people and the culture that was in place at the time.

But, we are getting the cart before the horse. Let’s refocus our attention on the period right before, and through, what is called one of the most astonishing turnarounds in the annuls US business mergers. History could have taken many paths then.. Easily, the entity “Collins” could have disappeared - been absorbed into Rockwell - never to be seen again. The fact that it remained physically, and in many ways culturally, intact is what makes the history so fascinating.

A great deal has been said about how Bob Wilson turned the company around in just over a year. Facts are facts - and that did happen, but there was a story behind the story. Fortune smiled and a good culture also prevailed.

When Collins Radio got in real trouble, the sharks had begun circling. Ross Perot, TRW, Hughes, and surely others, saw opportunity. In one form or another, they saw the opportunity to make money. Rockwell Collins was no different. One can only speculate on how that would have played out with the other potential investors, but some of the typical scenarios are not pretty. Often companies are acquired, pulled apart and sold for pieces, and nothing remains but the bones.

Fortune Smiles North American Rockwell prevailed as a suitor. More importantly, they had prevailed, not only because they came at the right time with a good offer, but because Arthur Collins and his management team were comfortable with the approach that Rockwell was taking.

Rockwell had clearly recognized the intrinsic value in the culture of quality and technology excellence that Arthur Collins had built at Collins Radio. They also realized that Collins Radio was the quality leader in almost every market that they had chosen to penetrate. And, they knew that it was the people of Collins Radio that had made that all a reality. This would have a lot to do with how the turnaround attempt would be managed and how the company would be impacted.

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invest in Collins Radio. Wilson was given the the given was Wilson Radio. Collins in invest

at the time of occurrence. Strict cost con- cost Strict occurrence. of time the at

Willard Rockwell in the original decision to to decision original the in Rockwell Willard

R&D and development costs are expensed expensed are costs development and R&D

R. Wilson Wilson R. this V. P. position that he was involved with with involved was he that position P. V. this

to the more conventional method where where method conventional more the to

cial improvement and successes. It was in in was It successes. and improvement cial

unpredictable margins. This was changed changed was This margins. unpredictable

He quickly developed a solid record of finan- of record solid a developed quickly He

made for inflated inventory costs and and costs inventory inflated for made

were carried forward pending sales. This This sales. pending forward carried were Commercial Products group. group. Products Commercial

engineering costs, costs, engineering development some and American Rockwell as the Director of the the of Director the as Rockwell American

system of Collins Radio. Previously R&D, R&D, Previously Radio. Collins of system CEO there – his ambition - and joined North North joined and - ambition his – there CEO

some critical changes in the accounting accounting the in changes critical some he left G.E. feeling he would never make make never would he feeling G.E. left he

Almost immediately, Bob (and Don) made made Don) (and Bob immediately, Almost Automation. In 1969, 1969, In Automation. Industrial of V.P being

to V.P. of Consumer Electronics following following Electronics Consumer of V.P. to

an organization. organization. an a ground level entry position before WW II, II, WW before position entry level ground a

importance of P&L control and visibility in in visibility and control P&L of importance years at General Electric where he rose from from rose he where Electric General at years

importantly he had a strong grasp of the the of grasp strong a had he importantly can Rockwell. His experience included 25 25 included experience His Rockwell. can

Division of North American Rockwell. More More Rockwell. American North of Division Commercial Products Group of North Ameri- North of Group Products Commercial

Beall. Don was the CFO of the Autonetics Autonetics the of CFO the was Don Beall. Bob Wilson was, at the time, the head of the the of head the time, the at was, Wilson Bob

Rockwell at the the time, was one Don Don one was time, the the at Rockwell

Radio Board. See A. A. Collins Inset. Inset. Collins A. A. See Board. Radio the story. Sitting in another division of of division another in Sitting story. the

1972, Art Collins resigned from the Collins Collins the from resigned Collins Art 1972, is part of the “fortune smiles” aspect of of aspect smiles” “fortune the of part is

isfied with this advisor role, in January of of January in role, advisor this with isfied that would prove very valuable - and that that and - valuable very prove would that

er 23, 1971. Dissat- 1971. 23, er Novemb occurred change Wilson quickly also turned to a resource resource a to turned also quickly Wilson

sory role – remaining on the Board. This This Board. the on remaining – role sory

The Partnership The

Collins Radio and move Arthur into an advi- an into Arthur move and Radio Collins

install Robert C. Wilson as the President of of President the as Wilson C. Robert install reduced projected sales levels. levels. sales projected reduced

positive), Rockwell made the decision to to decision the made Rockwell positive), valuation also was excessive in light of the the of light in excessive was also valuation

loss in spite of the economy turning more more turning economy the of spite in loss R&D charges. This This charges. R&D forward carried sive sive

fiscal Q1 1972 results came in (another $8M $8M (another in came results 1972 Q1 fiscal

value that bore the weight of the exces- the of weight the bore that value

ance issues were addressed. But, when the the when But, addressed. were issues ance also wrote down the bloated inventory inventory bloated the down wrote also

the management of Collins Radio relatively intact while the perform- the while intact relatively Radio Collins of management the of it down. This gave Wilson the breathing room that he needed. He He needed. he that room breathing the Wilson gave This down. it of

ard, the early plan was to leave leave to was plan early the ard, Bo the of Chairman Rockwell, Willard with Collins, as well as pay some some pay as well as Collins, with along came that debt mounting the

the Collins culture within the Rockwell management, particularly by by particularly management, Rockwell the within culture Collins the tant banking community’s heads and allowed Wilson to restructure restructure to Wilson allowed and heads community’s banking tant

loss of $46.6M on sales of $287M. Because of the strong respect for for respect strong the of Because $287M. of sales on $46.6M of loss and the strong outgoing personality of Wilson, soon turned the reluc- the turned soon Wilson, of personality outgoing strong the and

Remember that fiscal year 1971 (ended Aug. 3, 1971) had shown a a shown had 1971) 3, Aug. (ended 1971 year fiscal that Remember Rockwell’s investment in Collins, Collins, in investment Rockwell’s getting. time any waste not did Bob

and was completed by early September. Art had lost the company. company. the lost had Art September. early by completed was and

agement reputation. The decision was well founded. founded. well was decision The reputation. agement

ins shareholders August of 1971 1971 of August shareholders ins Coll the by approved was agreement

and product strengths) as well as because of his sound financial man- financial sound his of because as well as strengths) product and

ber of Rockwell members on the Collins Radio Board of Directors. This This Directors. of Board Radio Collins the on members Rockwell of ber

opinions about the value of the Collins Radio culture (and its market market its (and culture Radio Collins the of value the about opinions

y in return for a controlling num- controlling a for return in y econom Collins the into cash $35M of

President and CEO position at Collins because of his original strong strong original his of because Collins at position CEO and President

later they had an agreement signed that would facilitate the injection injection the facilitate would that signed agreement an had they later

sentatives from North American Rockwell Corporation. Two weeks weeks Two Corporation. Rockwell American North from sentatives

Honeywell followed by TRW, Collins sat down at the table with repre- with table the at down sat Collins TRW, by followed Honeywell

takeover attempt from Ross Perot, and then flirting briefly with first first with briefly flirting then and Perot, Ross from attempt takeover were in use. He was, as they say . . . “A game changer”. changer”. game “A . . . say they as was, He use. in were

off what amounted to a hostile hostile a to amounted what off fending after 1971, of mid-May In Boy Wonder to seeing a Moon Landing where his radios radios his where Landing Moon a seeing to Wonder Boy

He passed away in 1987 at the age of 77 having gone from from gone having 77 of age the at 1987 in away passed He

omer orientation. orientation. omer cust real of blance

“troops”. Only within the marketing organization was there a sem- a there was organization marketing the within Only “troops”.

his employees and peers. peers. and employees his

“deep” organization with a lot of layers between the leaders and the the and leaders the between layers of lot a with organization “deep”

future technologically, just as he never lost the respect of of respect the lost never he as just technologically, future

rticular market. This was truly a a truly was This market. rticular pa a addressed they when other each

Arthur never lost his passion for working toward a better better a toward working for passion his lost never Arthur

were 8 more levels of employees that were then forced to matrix with with matrix to forced then were that employees of levels more 8 were

tion to functional description. Reporting to these 23 officers, there there officers, 23 these to Reporting description. functional to tion

technology excellence were were excellence technology de rigor de . .

and they were organized into a mix of categories ranging from loca- from ranging categories of mix a into organized were they and

fostered where his work ethic and sense of quality and and quality of sense and ethic work his where fostered In all, there were 23 officers (including Arthur) running the company company the running Arthur) (including officers 23 were there all, In

One can only marvel at the stre the at marvel only can One ngth of the culture that he he that culture the of ngth

matrixed organization. organization. matrixed

guiding the company to a poin a to company the guiding t of necessary transition. transition. necessary of t Procurement and Industrial Relations). Bottom line, this was a highly highly a was this line, Bottom Relations). Industrial and Procurement

Then there were four more V.P.s (Marketing, International Marketing, Marketing, International (Marketing, V.P.s more four were there Then Some say he lost the company. It is better described as as described better is It company. the lost he say Some

defined as “Engineering and Sciences” – but identified by markets. markets. by identified but – Sciences” and “Engineering as defined influence on the future of Rockwell Collins. Collins. Rockwell of future the on influence

Controller and Treasurer) and six more V.P.s with responsibilities responsibilities with V.P.s more six and Treasurer) and Controller

of Collins Radio along its journey. . . Not to mention its its mention to Not . . journey. its along Radio Collins of

four more with control responsibilities (Counsel, Counsel & Secretary, Secretary, & Counsel (Counsel, responsibilities control with more four

ble for many of the achievements and the financial success success financial the and achievements the of many for ble

for facilities (International, Cedar Rapids, Dallas & Newport Beach), Beach), Newport & Dallas Rapids, Cedar (International, facilities for

clairvoyant and was responsi- was and clairvoyant

In addition, there were four other V.P. level officers with responsibility responsibility with officers level V.P. other four were there addition, In

times, proved to be almost almost be to proved times,

(Control & Finance). Finance). & (Control business return of his day at at day his of return business

(Telecommunications & Government) and E. A. Williams, Sr. V.P. V.P. Sr. Williams, A. E. and Government) & (Telecommunications in front of the technology and and technology the of front in

(Manufacturing & Engin & (Manufacturing eering), T. A. Campobasso – V.P. Marketing Marketing V.P. – Campobasso A. T. eering),

today. His vision, although out out although vision, His today.

dent, Wm. W. Roodhouse, - Exec. V.P., L. Morgan Craft - Sr. V.P. V.P. Sr. - Craft Morgan L. V.P., Exec. - Roodhouse, W. Wm. dent,

acy and a culture that endures endures that culture a and acy

Senior Management at Collins in in Collins at Management Senior 1969 included A.A. Collins, - Presi- - Collins, A.A. included 1969

He left behind a 40 year leg- year 40 a behind left He

multiple markets and are 35 years old. old. years 35 are and markets multiple

board in January of 1972. 1972. of January in board larly common, or successful, in $400M companies that are serving serving are that companies $400M in successful, or common, larly

from Collins Radio and left the the left and Radio Collins from single play companies th companies play single at focus on one market area. It is not particu- not is It area. market one on focus at

Arthur A. Collins A. Arthur

- retired retired - “technology” oriented company, and is more common in startups and and startups in common more is and company, oriented “technology”

In 1969, Collins Radio was was Radio Collins 1969, In organized functionally. functionally. organized This is typical of a a of typical is This trols were also implemented including “lights out when not needed” obvious assets and potential. It did, however, have a negative side kind of things, reduced long distance calling, reduced travel, and even that Rockwell had not anticipated. a temporary across the board salary cut.

Bob Wilson had long coveted the CEO position that he had achieved All of the changes were not systemic. There were also structural/ at Collins Radio. When the merger occurred on November 2, 1973, he organizational and cultural changes. He immediately attacked the very saw himself demoted from CEO of a growing and potentially success- wide and deep functional organization issue by reducing the number ful company, to being a Division President and GM embedded within a of management layers from 9 to 5 and restructuring the company into much larger company. In March of 1974 he resigned and was offered a flatter market and P&L focused organization. In the process, there a challenging CEO position of the then struggling Memorex Corpora- were an additional 2000 engineering and administrative positions tion. eliminated. The company was reorganized into four new market ori- ented divisions (Avionics & Telecommunications – Headquartered in Fate Cedar Rapids, Telecommunications and Switching Systems – Dallas Enter smiling fate again. Sitting on the Collins Radio Board of Direc- based, Special Telecommunication Systems – Headquartered in New- tors, and as Executive V.P. reporting to Wilson, is Don Beall. Don has port Beach, and International Opera- already been very instrumental in tions – Dallas). Just as importantly, helping orchestrate the financial and he made each of these organizations management changes that have P&L centers with typically 3 or 4 P&L Don Beall proven successful to date. He is im- groups within each division. These mediately made the President and changes clearly defined P&L respon- GM of the new Collins Division of sibility for the first time - and moved Rockwell International. visibility and financial control down into the organization. Looking at the past performance of Above all, Wilson emphasized that both men, and also at their future they needed to book, and service, careers at Rockwell, Rockwell Collins available orders. Amazingly, the last and afterwards (Don’s career at several years (’67-’69 especially) had Rockwell and beyond, and Bob’s at resulted in such emphasis on the Memorex), it is safe to say that Bob “Future of Computers”, that re- Wilson was the surgeon that skillfully sources were siphoned off of other came in and did the face lift, and that existing profitable businesses to the Don Beall was the therapist that point of severely impacting the com- made sure that the future of the pany’s ability to ship orders. patient was taken care of. . . Fate!

To foster these cultural changes, Wilson brought in an outside training Don Beal served as the head of the Collins Division for just 5 years. firm to develop the P&L management skills of a team that had previ- These were critical years that saw Collins grow stronger and ready for ously been focused only on engineering, technical excellence and the future. In 1979, Don was tapped to become the President and customer satisfaction. CEO of the entire Rockwell International family. He did not replace himself and stayed very close to the daily management of the Collins The result was a structure with less span, shorter communications Divisions. and control paths, and a real emphasis on both the customer and market penetration - while controlling the P&L. It all worked as During his tenure, slowly, the changing nature of several of the planned. Cash flow before write downs turned positive almost imme- served markets of Collins dictated that business changes were in or- diately. However, including the write downs and restructuring costs, der. First, the computer effort was severely (and quickly) cut back. the financial result was, as expected, still negative in FY 1972 (a loss Some vestiges of that business folded back into the core Avionics and of $64M on sales of $250M). 1973 was a better story. Telecommunications groups and much of Arthurs basic computer interface and data vision endured. In 1980, the Broadcast business Collins Radio navigated FY 1973 with 20 senior officers (Bob Wilson as was sold to Continental Electronics ending the Collins Division’s par- President & CEO, and 19 V.P.s). There were now three senior or ex- ticipation in this mature and difficult market. Then, following the end ecutive V.Ps – one was a vestigial Senior V.P. of Engineering, Bob of KWM-2A production in 1982 - and the final production of the HF/ Cattoi. There were now nine (P&L) Marketing V.Ps (three were inter- KWM-380 and the HF 280 family in the mid-80s - Rockwell Collins national markets) and seven were business/functional V.Ps (Corporate quietly ended its participation in the Amateur Radio and low end com- Operations -Washington, Corporate Development, Legal & Secretary, mercial HF Markets. Industrial Relations, Finance, Treasurer, and Manufacturing). Wm. Roodhouse, Exec. V.P., served as Don Beall’s #2 - playing a key role. The next (unexpected) served market change came in 1991 when

Rockwell International sold its Microwave Group to Alcatel for $625M. At this point in time, no fundamental changes had been made in the This came as a shock to almost everyone concerned, but was omnis- markets served by Collins Radio, or the basic businesses that they cient given the changes that would later come in those markets driven were in. That would change slowly over time. As part of the obvious by satellite and fiber data communications technologies. shift to a market and P&L focused organization, and a more balanced approach to “going to market” (Technology, Quality, Customer and The next and final big “streamlining” of the Collins Div. came spread P&L), there was a purposeful increase in the role of Marketing and across late 1998 & early 1999. Rockwell International first restruc- Planning. There was also an increased focus/expectation on interna- tured some of its Semiconductor Products Division (SPD) fabs. Then, tional business levels and a better balance of commercial and govern- finally, the remaining CMOS and GaAs Semiconductor & Microcircuit ment business. There was now a defined business strategy in place – operation was spun out as Conexant in 1999. The entire SPD opera- as opposed to just getting business any place that you could get it. tion had long been a problem child for Don Beall and the Rockwell The Jewel P&L. This SPD operation was a combination of the previous Collins In early FY 1974 (November of 1973), and having seen the positive Radio Microcircuits and Semiconductor (Newport Beach) and the results of FY 1973 (a profit of $13M on sales of $350.3M – up 40% Rockwell Autonetics Div. Semiconductor group located in Anaheim. It over previous year), Rockwell moved to use its control over the Collins was only in the later years following the mid-80s development of their Board of Directors to merge Collins into Rockwell International. This Modem business, that SPD became profitable. The Modem business was not unexpected given the “jewel” nature of Collins Radio and its was a huge success (Rockwell dominated this market for many years)

Continued on p 48 CCA SIGNAL Q4 2013 9

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arrays, each with a 3000 feet radius, one of the largest arrays in the the in arrays largest the of one radius, feet 3000 a with each arrays, 26 towers of 800-980 feet height arranged in two 6-point star pattern pattern star 6-point two in arranged height feet 800-980 of towers 26

three square miles of installation on this Maine peninsula. There are are There peninsula. Maine this on installation of miles square three

example to examine. Figure 2 is a plan view of NAA on 2000 acres, or or acres, 2000 on NAA of view plan a is 2 Figure examine. to example

photo for scale. scale. for photo

of the best of these and a good good a and these of best the of one is station Maine Cutler, NAA The

background of of background

Figure 1 - List of Naval VLF Stations in the mid– 60s 60s mid– the in Stations VLF Naval of List - 1 Figure Note the stairs in in stairs the Note

VLF transmissions. transmissions. VLF

arrays involved in in involved arrays

station antenna antenna station

tance of the shore shore the of tance

capacitive reac- capacitive

cancel very high high very cancel

Variometer used to to used Variometer

The Litz Wire Wire Litz The

Figure 3 - - 3 Figure

mutual inductance coupling between the two coils. coils. two the between coupling inductance mutual band vertical antenna would be only 4 feet high. high. feet 4 only be would antenna vertical band

Variable inductance is obtained by rotation of the inside coil and the the and coil inside the of rotation by obtained is inductance Variable or 5.5 miles, is electrically very short. An equivalent 75 meter ham ham meter 75 equivalent An short. very electrically is miles, 5.5 or

variometer used in a similar station at Northwest Cape in Australia. Australia. in Cape Northwest at station similar a in used variometer 900 feet tower at 17 kHz, where the half wavelength is 28,928 feet, feet, 28,928 is wavelength half the where kHz, 17 at tower feet 900

minimum RF loss at these frequencies. Figure 3 shows this type of of type this shows 3 Figure frequencies. these at loss RF minimum tances compared to RF resistances for ground and tuning losses. A A losses. tuning and ground for resistances RF to compared tances

cable contains thousands of individually insulted wires that result in in result that wires insulted individually of thousands contains cable vertical antennas and the resulting very low antenna radiation resis- radiation antenna low very resulting the and antennas vertical

ically short antennas. This litz litz This antennas. short ically electr these tuning for used are wire -50 %. This is because of the very short electrical heights of their their of heights electrical short very the of because is This %. -50

MW. Huge spherical variometers constructed of 4-inch diameter litz litz diameter 4-inch of constructed variometers spherical Huge MW. megawatt power range, but have rather low antenna efficiencies of 10 of efficiencies antenna low rather have but range, power megawatt

on site 60 Hz power usage is 11 11 is usage power Hz 60 site on total The MW. 2 of power total a the TACAMO program was launched. Note that they are in the 1-2 1-2 the in are they that Note launched. was program TACAMO the

are operated at the same time for for time same the at operated are pairs both Normally, winter. Maine these stations during the cold war years of the 1960s and 70s when when 70s and 1960s the of years war cold the during stations these

system and 60 Hz power during a a during power Hz 60 and system weight counter elaborate an by ice) 1 is a list of of list a is 1 Figure stations. e shor power high very requires volved,

ing de-iced (up to 3 in. radius of of radius in. 3 to (up de-iced ing be is array other the while operating and this, along with very geographically large broadcast areas in- areas broadcast large geographically very with along this, and

ter coax line. This allows for one transmitter/star array pairing to be be to pairing array transmitter/star one for allows This line. coax ter spheric 1/f noise compared to HF, HF, to compared noise 1/f spheric atmo high encounters VLF However,

for each of these star arrays, connected by one mile of 9-inch diame- 9-inch of mile one by connected arrays, star these of each for

ground losses for this station. There are two 1 MW transmitters, one one transmitters, MW 1 two are There station. this for losses ground ing wire antennas. antennas. wire ing

200 sea anchors to minimize the the minimize to anchors sea 200 and radials, ground wire copper ciently to allow broadcasts to submerged submarines with their trail- their with submarines submerged to broadcasts allow to ciently

of AGW-6 AGW-6 of miles 2,000 over are There reactance. capacitive their tly, it penetrates sea water suffi- water sea penetrates it tly, importan very And recover. to first

the vertical antennas to reduce reduce to antennas vertical the top-load heavily arrays These world. lear event, the last out and the the and out last the event, lear nuc a during range frequency stable

selective fading that is encountered so often with HF. It is the most most the is It HF. with often so encountered is that fading selective

s at the northern latitudes, and and latitudes, northern the at s outage auroral including turbances,

t susceptible to all ionospheric dis- ionospheric all to susceptible t leas is It propagation. guide wave

long distances by both ground wave and earth/ionosphere D-layer D-layer earth/ionosphere and wave ground both by distances long

broadcast applications. It provides very stable communications over over communications stable very provides It applications. broadcast

ion characteristics for these USN USN these for characteristics ion propagat useful very some has VLF

r DOD emergency communications. communications. emergency DOD r othe and submarines, to cation

fleet broadcasts, one-way communi- one-way broadcasts, fleet for VLF uses Navy the Presently,

Use of it peaked in the early 1920s early the in peaked it of Use before the Navy discovered HF. HF. discovered Navy the before

even rotating machine transmitters like the Alexanderson alternators. alternators. Alexanderson the like transmitters machine rotating even

early days of radio, with spark gap and Poulson arc transmitters, and and transmitters, arc Poulson and gap spark with radio, of days early

trum used by the US Navy. Actually, VLF has been used since the the since used been has VLF Actually, Navy. US the by used trum

VLF as we know it today is the 14 to 60 kHz part of the radio spec- radio the of part kHz 60 to 14 the is today it know we as VLF

US NAVY VLF VLF NAVY US

lights of this program that may astonish you. you. astonish may that program this of lights

program in the history of the company. The following are some high- some are following The company. the of history the in program

that still continues. To my knowledge, this is the longest running running longest the is this knowledge, my To continues. still that

of the spectrum with the TACAMO program for 51 years, a program program a years, 51 for program TACAMO the with spectrum the of

heavy involvement of Collins in the VLF, or Very Low Frequency part part Frequency Low Very or VLF, the in Collins of involvement heavy

in the Microwave Division. However, little known to many is the the is many to known little However, Division. Microwave the in

the low end, to EHF, and even to light - with the light wave products products wave light the with - light to even and EHF, to end, low the

trum that the Collins products an products Collins the that trum d systems embraced: from VLF at at VLF from embraced: systems d

well International, I was impressed with the range of the radio spec- radio the of range the with impressed was I International, well

During the 41 years that I was employed with Collins Radio and Rock- and Radio Collins with employed was I that years 41 the During

Loney Duncan, W0GZV W0GZV Duncan, Loney by - AC13-12852 -

The Longest Running Program at Collins Collins at Program Running Longest The Fifty One Years of TACAMO TACAMO of Years One Fifty submerged Polaris submarines. The proposed relay platform was a C- 130 turbo prop cargo aircraft. The VLF operation would use 14-30 kHz at a transmit power to the antenna of 25 kW. The system would be operated at 800 b/s MSK keying rate, an enormous increase over shore station capability, and would have a “Communications Central” with four operator positions providing complete VLF, HF and UHF coverage using Collins radios.

The antenna would be a variable length, trailing wire type (one half wavelength at 14 kHz) and therefore be 35,000 feet, or 6.7 miles, long. The aircraft would have to execute an orbiting maneuver to cause the normally straight-in-flight trailing wire to become substan- tially vertical, in order to have sufficient vertical polarization to pene- trate the sea water. This verticality was an absolute requirement, and the success of the TACAMO concept hung on this unique concept.

Collins (Richardson, TX) had experience during this period with straight-in-flight VLF trailing wire antennas for the USAF Airborne Command Post ARC-96 VLF system on EC-135s. These were for the 30-60 kHz frequency range that the Air Force used. I’m sure that this influenced the Navy to award the TACAMO prototype system to Figure 4– Typical 1 MW Antenna Equivalent Collins for quick delivery, but an orbiting (14 kHz) longer length an- Lumped Element Circuit tenna was far more difficult to design than the ARC-96 Air Force an- tenna. Nevertheless, Collins completed the prototype system only five Figure 4 illustrates some of the antenna characteristics of these mega- months after receipt of order, completed testing it on a Marine Corps watt VLF stations. While the circuit values are not NAA exact, they F-130, and delivered it to the Navy by the end of December 1962. are typical. Note that even with the elaborate, extensive top loading, This certainly exemplified the concept of Take Charge and Move Out! the antenna capacitive reactance is still 200 ohms. And with over This first prototype was called TACAMO I. 2000 miles of ground radials and 200 sea anchors, the ground loss is still 0.3 ohms compared to a radiation resistance of 0.5 ohms. The TACAMO I-III huge, high-Q tuning helix has an RF resistance of about 0.5 ohms. All The prototype transmitter was a 25 kW push-pull, Class AB linear of this results in a radiation efficiency of about 50% and the resulting type, using two Eimac 4CX15000 ceramic tetrode air cooled tubes. tremendous voltages and currents, and appreciable helix power Class AB linearity was required to reduce the RF harmonics and mini- losses, that are listed in figure 4. mize the output network complexity. The network only required two variometers and a fixed capacitor to tune the antenna. Note the high system Q of 200 and the resulting low 3-db bandwidth of 85 Hz. This is a fundamental limitation on information rates that The trailing wire antenna consisted of a hydraulic driven reel with a can be handled by these stations. As a result, they use the Collins special mechanism for perfectly spooling the 35,000 feet of 0.2 inch Radio invented Minimum Shift Keying, or MSK, type of modulation to diameter stranded steel cable that was double wrapped with copper maximize the bit rates. Even so, 50 b/s, or 75 words per minute is ribbon for better RF conductivity. The end of the trailing wire was the typical low keying rate for these high-Q VLF antennas. fastened to an 80 pound conical drogue for aerodynamic stability. The antenna unit, or “Group”, was constructed in pallet form for easy The Navy began to have great concern about these essential shore removal from a cargo C-130. Figure 5 below shows this 10,000 lb. stations. On July 20, 1960, the first ballistic missile was launched pallet antenna, which extended or retracted the 35,000 feet of wire in from a Polaris submarine, the USS George Washington. By 1962, just 45 minutes. Also, both the transmitter and the Communication there were eight of these subs containing 80 nuclear warheads, and Central were in pallet form - each with their own pallet. the 3rd part of the DOD nuclear triad of bombers, land based missiles, and submarine missiles was formed. Cold war tensions were very This end fed, half wave antenna had a low Q and high radiation resis- high, and the Cuban missile crisis occurred in October of that year. tance compared to the electrically short, shore station antennas. This allowed the much increased 800 b/s keying rate, and also resulted in It had become very apparent to Rear Admiral Bernard Roeder, Direc- relatively low ground (sea water), trailing wire, and matching network tor of Naval Communication, that none of the VLF shore stations listed losses. The antenna reeling machine was insulated from the aircraft, in Figure 1 could possibly survive a nuclear attack, and yet VLF com- and had to operate at a peak antenna voltage of 25 kV when fed with mand and control broadcasts were crucial to these nuclear subs sub- the 25 kW transmitter. merged for long periods of time. Moreover, it was difficult to have secure and jam resistant broadcasts to these subs with the low bandwidths of the existing shore stations. A paradyne shift for VLF emergency communications was badly needed.

In early 1962 Admiral Roeder assigned Lt. Jerry Tuttle to head a pro- ject that addressed this. As the story goes, Roeder handed Tuttle a scrap of paper with the words: Take Charge and Move Out. And the acronym TACAMO and a program name was born. Years later, (by then) Vice Admiral Tuttle verified this story in a public address. At any rate, Lt. Tuttle did immediately move out, and in May of 1962, the Navy rapidly awarded a contract to Collins Radio, Richardson, Texas for a prototype of a VLF system concept called TACAMO.

This basic concept was an airborne VLF relay platform, survivable and secure, that would receive emergency VLF, HF, and UHF transmis- sions from the USAF Airborne Command Post aircraft (EC-135s), proc- Figure 5 - EC-130 Antenna Pallet ess these, and relay command and control instructions by VLF to the

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was flattened in order to produce higher efficiency. efficiency. higher produce to order in flattened was of a 250 kW shortwave broadcast broadcast shortwave kW 250 a of

design of the second generation second the of design

8, along with the waveform that that waveform the with along 8, Figure in illustrated is supplies these dson. We had just finished the the finished just had We dson. Richar in engineers transmitter power

transmitter’s 400 Hz, 3-phase power supplies. The arrangement of of arrangement The supplies. power 3-phase Hz, 400 transmitter’s neers in Cedar Rapids, and high high and Rapids, Cedar in neers engi HF with K, Division neering

750 Vdc on the plates, from the the from plates, the on Vdc 750 10, by powered were 4CV50,000s the start of TACAMO III. I was the Division Director of Collins Engi- Collins of Director Division the was I III. TACAMO of start the

250 kW HF transmitter with its two 4CV100,000 tubes. The The tubes. 4CV100,000 two its with transmitter HF kW 250 My personal career with Collins intersected the TACAMO program with with program TACAMO the intersected Collins with career personal My

considerable experience with this type of tube because of the 821A-2, 821A-2, the of because tube of type this with experience considerable

two vapor cooled Eimac 4CV50,000 ceramic power tetrodes. We had had We tetrodes. power ceramic 4CV50,000 Eimac cooled vapor two antenna. In the next generation of TACAMO that drastically changed. changed. drastically that TACAMO of generation next the In antenna.

The Collins 200 kW transmitter was designed around around designed was transmitter kW 200 Collins The Transmitter: at the extending trailing wire wire trailing extending the at hole port a through peering operator

note the prostrate antenna reel reel antenna prostrate the note Also antennas. wire HF several had

applied voltages at the increased output power. power. output increased the at voltages applied and the high power transmitter and trailing wire antenna. The aircraft aircraft The antenna. wire trailing and transmitter power high the and

because of voltage limitations of the existing antennas and the higher higher the and antennas existing the of limitations voltage of because 4-position Communications Central, the racked up radio equipment, equipment, radio up racked the Central, Communications 4-position

antenna system. This new antenna design was definitely required required definitely was design antenna new This system. antenna the TACAMO III installation with the the with installation III TACAMO the of layout the illustrates 7 Figure

but also for a new trailing wire wire trailing new a for also but transmitter, kW 200 the only not for

This led to Collins winning the 1972 TACAMO IVB competitive contract contract competitive IVB TACAMO 1972 the winning Collins to led This aircraft in each squadron. squadron. each in aircraft

The demonstration worked superbly, and the Navy was impressed. impressed. was Navy the and superbly, worked demonstration The first sent to Patuxent River. This later changed to an equal number of of number equal an to changed later This River. Patuxent to sent first

were more Polaris subs in the Atlantic, 8 of the 12 new systems were were systems new 12 the of 8 Atlantic, the in subs Polaris more were

better efficiency. efficiency. better much a for losses plate

am for the Pacific. Since there there Since Pacific. the for am Gu Agana, at VQ3 and patrol, Ocean

sine wave voltage during the tube conduction period, and reduce reduce and period, conduction tube the during voltage wave sine

III aircraft. VQ4 was formed at Patuxent River, MD for the Atlantic Atlantic the for MD River, Patuxent at formed was VQ4 aircraft. III

the plate circuit. This arrangement would flatten the top of the plate plate the of top the flatten would arrangement This circuit. plate the

The Navy created two new squadrons to receive the twelve TACAMO TACAMO twelve the receive to squadrons new two created Navy The

form driving the PA tubes, and then a second harmonic series trap in in trap series harmonic second a then and tubes, PA the driving form

th a 180 degree rectangular wave- rectangular degree 180 a th wi accomplished was this Briefly,

certainly a first for the Navy. Navy. the for first a certainly

90% at VLF. VLF. at 90% of efficiency ate pl a provide to circuit Tyler unique

computer and A/D converters and Mux/De-mux circuits. This was was This circuits. Mux/De-mux and converters A/D and computer

) using a a using ) Kludge Old demonstration transmitter ( affectionately named named affectionately ( transmitter demonstration

toring was installed in the transmitter using the Collins 8311 mini- 8311 Collins the using transmitter the in installed was toring

class-c plate efficiency of about 75%, it quickly designed a 25 kW kW 25 a designed quickly it 75%, about of efficiency plate class-c Also, at the insistence of Arthur Collins, processor control and moni- and control processor Collins, Arthur of insistence the at Also,

Although Collins had never produced a transmitter with better than than better with transmitter a produced never had Collins Although

improved, and auto tuning was installed. installed. was tuning auto and improved,

to a Collins alternate approach employing vacuum tubes in the PA. PA. the in tubes vacuum employing approach alternate Collins a to

reception 5 kHz from the transmitter signal. The variometers were were variometers The signal. transmitter the from kHz 5 reception

transmitter. The Navy was then open open then was Navy The transmitter. reliable a deliver to able not was

to the -120 dB level for better VLF VLF better for level dB -120 the to noise transmitter reduced also This

rrect position when Westinghouse Westinghouse when position rrect co a be to proved This now”. not

dB of feedback to reduce harmonics to the FCC required -80 dB level. level. dB -80 required FCC the to harmonics reduce to feedback of dB

for this TACAMO application. We told the Navy, “Someday, but but “Someday, Navy, the told We application. TACAMO this for ) time

reliability. The transmitter was considerably improved by applying 30 30 applying by improved considerably was transmitter The reliability.

at that that at transistors being practical ( practical being transistors power about dubious very was

Improvements were made on the trailing wire antenna to increase its its increase to antenna wire trailing the on made were Improvements

the 200 kW level. Not surprisingly, they won the contract. Collins Collins contract. the won they surprisingly, Not level. kW 200 the

smitters, and bid this approach at at approach this bid and smitters, tran state solid kW 20 with aircraft

ties were expanded. expanded. were ties

Westinghouse had supplied the Air Force Airborne Command Post Post Command Airborne Force Air the supplied had Westinghouse

system was installed. And….. for the first time the crew comfort facili- comfort crew the time first the for And….. installed. was system

diversity reception, and a processor controlled in-flight monitoring monitoring in-flight controlled processor a and reception, diversity

efficiency, TACAMO I-III transmitters. transmitters. I-III TACAMO efficiency,

HF antennas were installed for for installed were antennas HF Dual modes. receive and transmit

very high efficiency type, certainly not like the linear, relatively low low relatively linear, the like not certainly type, efficiency high very

was expanded to include more HF and UHF radios, and increased increased and radios, UHF and HF more include to expanded was

this, but it was evident to all that the transmitter would have to be a a be to have would transmitter the that all to evident was it but this,

systems on EC-130G/Q aircraft. The airborne Communication Central Central Communication airborne The aircraft. EC-130G/Q on systems

90 KVA, 400 Hz, 3-phase alternators on the C-130s to accommodate accommodate to C-130s the on alternators 3-phase Hz, 400 KVA, 90

awarded a contract to design, build and install twelve TACAMO III III TACAMO twelve install and build design, to contract a awarded

17-30 kHz instead of the original 14-30 kHz. Navy would install four four install would Navy kHz. 14-30 original the of instead kHz 17-30

placed with a totally integrated aircraft approach, and Collins was was Collins and approach, aircraft integrated totally a with placed

The USN requested TACAMO IV bids for a 200 kW VLF transmitter for for transmitter VLF kW 200 a for bids IV TACAMO requested USN The

By 1968, the Navy concluded that the pallet concept should be re- be should concept pallet the that concluded Navy the 1968, By

the TACAMO IV program and enormous technical challenges. challenges. technical enormous and program IV TACAMO the

Figure 6 - C-130G TAC II Pallet Load Configuration Configuration Load Pallet II TAC C-130G - 6 Figure needed TACAMO systems with substantially more power. This led to to led This power. more substantially with systems TACAMO needed

power level of the TAC III systems. The Navy concluded that it it that concluded Navy The systems. III TAC the of level power

became more difficult to adequately control them with the 25 kW kW 25 the with them control adequately to difficult more became

bs, and greater areas to patrol, it it patrol, to areas greater and bs, su Polaris of number the in increase

operation of having some aircraft flying 24/7. With the continuing continuing the With 24/7. flying aircraft some having of operation

The Navy attempted to mirror the USAF Airborne Command Post Post Command Airborne USAF the mirror to attempted Navy The

TACAMO IV IV TACAMO

through the fourth generation system. system. generation fourth the through

the design of TACAMO III. I was a part of the TACAMO program program TACAMO the of part a was I III. TACAMO of design the

transmitter, the 821A-2, and shortly after - in 1968 - we launched into into launched we - 1968 in - after shortly and 821A-2, the transmitter,

Figure 7 - TAC III VLF Load Configuration Configuration Load VLF III TAC - 7 Figure

the pallet concept in the C-130Gs designated TACAMO II units. units. II TACAMO designated C-130Gs the in concept pallet the

were flown for four years as VLF op VLF as years four for flown were erational relays. Fig. 6 displays displays 6 Fig. relays. erational

were considered to be Operational Evaluation Production units, and and units, Production Evaluation Operational be to considered were

pallet prototype, but with certain improvements. These four aircraft aircraft four These improvements. certain with but prototype, pallet

contracted with Collins to build and install four systems based on the the on based systems four install and build to Collins with contracted

concept. There were valuable lessons learned. In 1964 the Navy Navy the 1964 In learned. lessons valuable were There concept.

general proving out the VLF relay relay VLF the out proving general in and aircraft, the orbit to how

The Navy flew the TACAMO I prototyp I TACAMO the flew Navy The e system for two years, learning learning years, two for system e

Figure 10 - 200 KW Transmitter PA Tubes - Figure 8 - 200 KW Achieved with Supply Stacking (Above) Obtaining high plate efficiency was one thing, but simultaneously being able to reduce transmitter harmonics to the FCC’s required minus 80dB, from a highly non-linear transmitter, was quite another. The only practical way was with a very complex output network, which would also tune the antenna. We used a 3-node, synchro- nously tuned, band-pass network consisting of five large variometers and three extremely low loss ceramic fixed capacitors. These were in addition to the second harmonic trap which also contained a variome- ter and ceramic capacitor. The efficient variometers were constructed of litz wire and were in the low millihenry range. The low loss ceramic capacitors were 8000 pf each with astonishingly low losses at VLF.

Figure 8 also illustrates the output network approach. From the left, the second harmonic trap variometer and the next two shunt units were prepositioned with frequency information. The series variometer between the two shunt units was servo controlled by a 90 degree phasing discriminator for node synchronous tuning, and the series and shunt output variometers by phasing and loading discriminators for impedance matching the antenna. All of the variometers were totally auto-tuned for any 17-30 kHz frequency in a maximum of 30 seconds, and continuously matched the antenna during flight, including the orbit maneuver. Collins was more skilled than any other company in auto-tuning transmitters and impedance matching antennas.

The 200 kW airborne transmitter is shown in Figure 9. With the front covers off in Figure 10, the power tubes are shown in the upper cen- ter connected to a vapor cooling heat exchanger on top, which in turn was connected to a heat exchanger in the aircraft slipstream. Large power supply components are in the lower right compartments, and the computer components (adapted from TAC III) are shown installed below the tubes. Remember—This is an airborne aircraft transmitter!

Figure 11– One of six large Litz wire silastic impregnated variometers

Figure 9 - 200 KW Class F Transmitter All of the band pass network components were in several compart- ments on the back side of the transmitter. Figure 11 shows one of the six large, litz wire spherical variometers, and one of the ceramic capacitors above it. Both carried over 20 KV peak voltages and 70 Amps of RF current. The variometers had to be air cooled.

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disc was 220 degrees F, temperature on the outside surface which which surface outside the on temperature F, degrees 220 was disc of wire spooled out from a drum in 6 minutes can only be admired. admired. be only can minutes 6 in drum a from out spooled wire of

cooling for two complete full extends. While temperature inside the the inside temperature While extends. full complete two for cooling with a huge tangle of line, the accomplishment of getting 28,000 feet feet 28,000 getting of accomplishment the line, of tangle huge a with

llons of water which allowed such such allowed which water of llons ga 15 were There overboard. steam aggressive cast with an old style open fishing reel, only to wind up up wind to only reel, fishing open style old an with cast aggressive

by injecting water into the hollow disc, and venting the resulting resulting the venting and disc, hollow the into water injecting by done without endangering the wire. For anyone who has tried an an tried has who anyone For wire. the endangering without done

high extension rate of 6,000 feet/minute, this brake was vapor cooled cooled vapor was brake this feet/minute, 6,000 of rate extension high Linear positioning accuracy was typically 10 to 15 feet….And this was was this feet….And 15 to 10 typically was accuracy positioning Linear

brake was used. Because of a peak dissipation of 220 kW at the very very the at kW 220 of dissipation peak a of Because used. was brake

controlled disc disc controlled servo large a e, cycl extend 6-minute rapid the For total extension cycle was accomplished in less than 6 minutes. minutes. 6 than less in accomplished was cycle extension total

command given, and the hands-off hands-off the and given, command Extend dialed into the unit, the the unit, the into dialed

the incoming wire that assures that wire on reel placement is exact. exact. is placement reel on wire that assures that wire incoming the

shown in figure 14, was exceptional. Typically, a wire length was was length wire a Typically, exceptional. was 14, figure in shown

1) The LEBUS mechanism is a complex geared and servo driven guide for for guide driven servo and geared complex a is mechanism LEBUS The 1)

The operation of the complete 17 kHz long wire antenna unit as as unit antenna wire long kHz 17 complete the of operation The

Figure 12 - LEBUS high speed wire guide wire speed high LEBUS - 12 Figure

on a pallet ready to install install to ready pallet a on

Figure 14 - Complete Antenna Group for TACAMO III III TACAMO for Group Antenna Complete - 14 Figure

Pad Assembly under test test under Assembly Pad

Figure 13– High Speed Reel Brake Disc and and Disc Brake Reel Speed High 13– Figure

both retract, and slowly extend, the antenna. antenna. the extend, slowly and retract, both

used a 60 HP hydraulic motor to to motor hydraulic HP 60 a used reel The below. 12 Figure in shown

ing 42 layers of wire for a 28,000 foot length. The reel and Lebus are are Lebus and reel The length. foot 28,000 a for wire of layers 42 ing

ism for perfectly spool- perfectly for ism mechan guide wire a as angle compensator compensator angle

1)

The long wire antenna was wound on a huge reel with a Lebus fleet fleet Lebus a with reel huge a on wound was antenna wire long The

ch proved to be very sound. sound. very be to proved ch approa this and agreed, again Navy

ter. All of this was a radical and costly departure from TAC I-III. The The I-III. TAC from departure costly and radical a was this of All ter.

be grounded to the aircraft, and the short wire be fed by the transmit- the by fed be wire short the and aircraft, the to grounded be

reduced the max antenna voltage. It It voltage. antenna max the reduced was proposed that the long wire wire long the that proposed was

- which was much lower than that of an end-fed single wire, and thus thus and wire, single end-fed an of that than lower much was which -

wire lengths could be adjusted for about a 900 ohm source resistance resistance source ohm 900 a about for adjusted be could lengths wire

substantially off-center fed dipole, where the ratio of short and long long and short of ratio the where dipole, fed off-center substantially

instead of the single one of TAC I-III. TAC of one single the of instead In principle, this was like a a like was this principle, In

antenna voltage could only be met by employing two trailing wires wires trailing two employing by met be only could voltage antenna

Additionally, Collins maintained that, with 200 kW, the 25 KV max max KV 25 the kW, 200 with that, maintained Collins Additionally,

the reel operators essentially out of the loop. The Navy agreed. agreed. Navy The loop. the of out essentially operators reel the

wire, would be with a totally automatic, servo controlled system, with with system, controlled servo automatic, totally a with be would wire,

this high extend speed could be be could speed extend high this accomplished without breaking the the breaking without accomplished

reduced from 0.2 to 0.16 inches. Collins insisted that the only way way only the that insisted Collins inches. 0.16 to 0.2 from reduced

minutes. Also, the wire diameter was was diameter wire the Also, minutes. 6 to 45 from reduced be to

the trailing wire length, but at the same time required the extend time time extend the required time same the at but length, wire trailing the

operating frequency limit from 14 kHz to 17 kHz in order to reduce reduce to order in kHz 17 to kHz 14 from limit frequency operating

Trailing Wire Antennas: Wire Trailing The Navy raised the lower VLF airborne airborne VLF lower the raised Navy The

major technical breakthrough for the transmitter project. project. transmitter the for breakthrough technical major

venting inter-winding RF voltage arcs on these variometers. It was a a was It variometers. these on arcs voltage RF inter-winding venting

to develop, but exceptionally successful over several decades in pre- in decades several over successful exceptionally but develop, to

units to handle these high RF voltages. This process was very costly costly very was process This voltages. RF high these handle to units material. Figure 13 shows the disc brake and its pad in a test fixture. fixture. test a in pad its and brake disc the shows 13 Figure material.

a silastic material. This removed all possible air bubbles enabling the the enabling bubbles air possible all removed This material. silastic a quiring the pad to be constructed of a very durable high temperature temperature high durable very a of constructed be to pad the quiring

All of the variometer litz wire windings were vacuum impregnated with with impregnated vacuum were windings wire litz variometer the of All was in contact with the servo cont servo the with contact in was rolled pad was 565 degrees F, re- F, degrees 565 was pad rolled Critical to the successful development and testing of these long wire TAC IVB System Deliveries: Starting in 1974, Collins installed 16 antennas was a very complex, high-speed test reeling machine named of the newly developed and manufactured TAC IVB systems into Navy “Mother Nature”. Shown in Figure 15, this system used a servo con- EC-130G/Q aircraft. These aircraft were brought to the Collins aircraft trolled 300 HP DC motor to run a take-up reel for the antenna. With installation facility at Addison, TX in the Dallas metroplex. The trans- its processor smarts, the system at any moment in the extend cycle mitters and antennas were thoroughly tested and burned in before echoed the aircraft speed, altitude, and resulting aerodynamic drag on installation. Figure 16 illustrates the TAC IVB aircraft configuration. the wire. This allowed accurate duplication & testing to the airborne To the rear of the 4-position Communication Central, was the racked conditions we experienced. It was indispensable to the program. up VLF, HF and UHF equipment. Aft of the comm rack was the 200 kW transmitter, and then the long wire and short wire antennas. Note that the short wire exits the aircraft level with the horizontal stabilizer, while the long wire exits much lower. Conspicuously absent with these auto-controlled antennas, is the prostrate reel operator shown in Figure 7 for the TAC III antenna.

Figure 15 - “Mother Nature” - The test fixture for wire deployment from the Reel & LEBUS Assembly Figure 16 - Complete TACAMO IVB Installation The 0.16 inch diameter wire was constructed of 19 strands of steel rocket wire that was double wrapped with copper ribbon. It had a The EC-130G/Q is shown in flight (below) in Figure 17 - - one of my breaking strength of 2550 pounds, and under normal conditions, no favorite photos. Note the two 80 pound conical drogues just exiting more than a max 1900 pounds was applied. The short wire antenna the aircraft and the slow speed pitched up attitude. These 16 aircraft wire was of the same construction but with only a single layer of alu- were delivered to Guam and Patuxent River in equal numbers, and minum ribbon wrap. With a total antenna system source impedance performed the TACAMO mission faithfully and successfully for many of about 900 ohms resistance, the antenna radiation efficiency was years. There’s no doubt that the increase in transmitter power and close to 85%. This was significantly higher than that of the shore the additional engineering effort was justified. station antennas of Figure 1.

The Orbit Maneuver: As previously discussed, the normally straight flying long wire had to be vertically oriented to effect sufficient vertical polarization to penetrate the sea water. Briefly, this was accomplished by a somewhat complex orbital (or turning) maneuver.

Normally, the C-130 aircraft flew at 220 knots for a fast extend, and 170 knots for a retract. But for the orbit, it would slow to about 130 knots, fly in a large circle, and reduce the circle radius to about 1/3 the long wire length, which at 17 kHz was about 8,000 feet. With the aircraft flying at a bank angle of about 22 degrees, and this 8,000 feet radius, the normally flying long wire would stall into a partial spiral. This would increase the normal 800 pounds of wire tension to about 1200, and increase antenna verticality to about 70%. At the same time, the aircraft crew would pull a fatiguing incre- EC-130G/Q Deploying its drogues prior to orbit mental 0.5 Gs.

The bottom line out of all of this was that, from the product of the During this same period, four modified TAC IVB systems were deliv- 85% radiation efficiency and the 70% verticality, the effective vertical ered to Boeing for installation on four E4B (Boeing 747) aircraft for radiation efficiency was about 60%. Thus, for 200 kW into the an- USAF Advanced Airborne Command Post installations. tenna, about 120 kW was vertically radiated for submarine broad- casts. Referring back to Figure 1 on page 12, while the 120 kW does These advanced Air Force systems operated over the 17 to 60 kHz not come close to the radiated power of Cutler, Maine, it is only 3 dB frequency range, and at a 1600 b/s keying speed. These four aircraft down from Jim Creek, WA, and well on par with some of the other systems are still in use by the Air Force today. A testimony to their more inefficient shore stations. effectiveness.

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confirmed TACAMO’s effectiveness. effectiveness. TACAMO’s confirmed

Transmitter Design Concept Concept Design Transmitter

time, numerous Defense Nuclear Agency reports throughout the DOD DOD the throughout reports Agency Nuclear Defense numerous time, Figure 18 - 200 KW Modular MOSFET High efficiency efficiency High MOSFET Modular KW 200 - 18 Figure

borne Command Post EC-135s as originally intended. During that that During intended. originally as EC-135s Post Command borne

of a VLF relay - receiving emergency messages from the USAF Air- USAF the from messages emergency receiving - relay VLF a of

TACAMO IVB and HPTS flew for many years in the conventional mode mode conventional the in years many for flew HPTS and IVB TACAMO

eventually become a relic of that era. Interestingly, it did not. Both Both not. did it Interestingly, era. that of relic a become eventually

One might expect that, with the end of the cold war, TACAMO would would TACAMO war, cold the of end the with that, expect might One

TACAMO Today Today TACAMO

tion TACAMO. TACAMO. tion

ing. HPTS and the E6B configuration can be considered a 5th genera- 5th a considered be can configuration E6B the and HPTS ing.

shows the E6B in flight with the HPTS dual trailing wires just extend- just wires trailing dual HPTS the with flight in E6B the shows

different electronics configuration. On the next page, Figure 20 20 Figure page, next the On configuration. electronics different

installed in E6B aircraft which were similar to the E6A, but with a a with but E6A, the to similar were which aircraft E6B in installed

Starting in 1991, sixteen of the HPTS Systems were were Systems HPTS the of sixteen 1991, in Starting Delivery: HPTS

for the 400 deg. F spec and the futile Air Force EC-135 requirement. requirement. EC-135 Force Air futile the and spec F deg. 400 the for

that, although an excellent one, would have been unnecessary except except unnecessary been have would one, excellent an although that,

minutes max of TAC IVB - but at the high cost of a brand new design design new brand a of cost high the at but - IVB TAC of max minutes

tanks. The “extend rate” performance was essentially the same - 6 6 - same the essentially was performance rate” “extend The tanks.

extend energy into existing heat exchangers in the aircraft’s fuel fuel aircraft’s the in exchangers heat existing into energy extend

motor which largely dissipated the the dissipated largely which motor hydraulic HP 80 an with extended

a new design for HPTS that fast fast that HPTS for design new a with up came Collins result, a As

20 Amps for each module. module. each for Amps 20

four module with 270 Volts and and Volts 270 with module four every powered supply Hz 400 phase,

their requirement for the EC-135s. EC-135s. the for requirement their

series for 200 kW. A 208 V, 3- V, 208 A kW. 200 for series in connected were MOSFETs, power

but after the new design was completed, the Air Force would cancel cancel would Force Air the completed, was design new the after but

mitter. Thirty-two of the 7.5 kVA plug-in modules, each containing 32 32 containing each modules, plug-in kVA 7.5 the of Thirty-two mitter.

cause of that aircraft’s space limitations. Later, due to lack of funds, funds, of lack to due Later, limitations. space aircraft’s that of cause

Figure 18 illustrates the strategy for the trans- the for strategy the illustrates 18 Figure Transmitter: HPTS

Post EC-135s, resulting in undesirable dimensions on the reels be- reels the on dimensions undesirable in resulting EC-135s, Post

ade of the Airborne Command Command Airborne the of ade upgr the accommodate would which

and strangely, a new antenna system, which will be explained shortly. shortly. explained be will which system, antenna new a strangely, and

grees F. In addition, Navy agreed with the USAF to a common design design common a to USAF the with agreed Navy addition, In F. grees

the 1987 High Power Transmit Set (HPTS) contract for a 200 kW unit, unit, kW 200 a for contract (HPTS) Set Transmit Power High 1987 the

mentioned, the disc brake outside surface temperature was 565 de- 565 was temperature surface outside brake disc the mentioned,

200 kW transmitter, but not now”, was vindicated. Our success led to to led success Our vindicated. was now”, not but transmitter, kW 200

brake temperature spec of 400 degrees F for the similar E6B. As I I As E6B. similar the for F degrees 400 of spec temperature brake

“that the day would come when solid state would be feasible for a a for feasible be would state solid when come would day the “that

transferred to the Boeing E6A, the Navy later came out with a max max a with out came later Navy the E6A, Boeing the to transferred

again, which surprised us. Our original position in the early 1970s 1970s early the in position original Our us. surprised which again,

HPTS. Although the TAC IVB antenna system had worked well when when well worked had system antenna IVB TAC the Although HPTS.

ged, successful demonstration unit. Westinghouse was not successful successful not was Westinghouse unit. demonstration successful ged,

requirements that resulted in a new dual trailing wire system for for system wire trailing dual new a in resulted that requirements

higher power levels. Using five of these in series, Collins built a rug- a built Collins series, in these of five Using levels. power higher

There were unfortunate, new Navy Navy new unfortunate, were There Antennas: Wire Trailing HPTS

Collins developed a 7.5 kVA MOSFET module as a building block for for block building a as module MOSFET kVA 7.5 a developed Collins

Construction - Front View View Front - Construction the bipolar transistor. transistor. bipolar the

FET Power Amplifiers. We saw many advantages of the MOSFET over over MOSFET the of advantages many saw We Amplifiers. Power FET Figure 19 - 200 KW Modular MOSFET Modular Modular MOSFET Modular KW 200 - 19 Figure

e laminate glue and employed MOS- employed and glue laminate e th dry to heating RF used industry

supply, and strangely enough, the plywood industries. The plywood plywood The industries. plywood the enough, strangely and supply,

driven largely by both the power power the both by largely driven level, power in increased stantially

TAC IV contract for a solid state transmitter, the MOSFETs had sub- had MOSFETs the transmitter, state solid a for contract IV TAC

In the years since the original original the since years the In MOSFETs. power employed contrast,

house again used silicon bipolar transistor technology. Collins, in in Collins, technology. transistor bipolar silicon used again house

completing 200 kW units. From what we could determine, Westing- determine, could we what From units. kW 200 completing

both Westinghouse and Rockwell Collins, with the intent of again again of intent the with Collins, Rockwell and Westinghouse both

In 1985 the Navy asked for 35 kW demonstration transmitters from from transmitters demonstration kW 35 for asked Navy the 1985 In

The Navy never lost its interest in a solid state TACAMO transmitter. transmitter. TACAMO state solid a in interest its lost never Navy The

HPTS and Solid State State Solid and HPTS

HPTS. HPTS. by replaced being were they

TAC IVB on E6As operated successfully into the mid to late 1990s as as 1990s late to mid the into successfully operated E6As on IVB TAC

coupled to the autopilot to aid the pilot during this more difficult orbit. orbit. difficult more this during pilot the aid to autopilot the to coupled

the Orbit Enhancement System, wher System, Enhancement Orbit the e the wire tension sensors were were sensors tension wire the e

higher 0.9 G level during orbit. This resulted in the development of of development the in resulted This orbit. during level G 0.9 higher

angle at 17 kHz, and subjected the the subjected and kHz, 17 at angle aircraft crew to a considerably considerably a to crew aircraft

but were much more difficult to orbit, requiring a 40 degree bank bank degree 40 a requiring orbit, to difficult more much were but

course these aircraft had greater speed and range than the EC-130s, EC-130s, the than range and speed greater had aircraft these course

16 TAC IVB systems were transferred to E6A jets, starting in 1985. Of Of 1985. in starting jets, E6A to transferred were systems IVB TAC 16

many years of successful service service successful of years many on the EC-130G/Q turbo props, the the props, turbo EC-130G/Q the on

Navy decided to use the Boeing E6A (707) for TACAMO IVB. After After IVB. TACAMO for (707) E6A Boeing the use to decided Navy

design has been very robust and reliable. reliable. and robust very been has design This approach. MOSFET In order to reduce aircraft deployment time, the the time, deployment aircraft reduce to order In EC-130G/Q: Post

structing up to one megawatt VLF shore stations using the HPTS HPTS the using stations shore VLF megawatt one to up structing

neers did a superb job of designing and delivering this system. system. this delivering and designing of job superb a did neers Rockwell Collins later developed 30 and 60 kVA modules for con- for modules kVA 60 and 30 developed later Collins Rockwell

ture, were paramount. Notwithstanding all of this, our Division’s engi- Division’s our this, of all Notwithstanding paramount. were ture, -in RF modules and their 8 power supplies. It is noteworthy that that noteworthy is It supplies. power 8 their and modules RF -in

many of our key engineers. Rockwell cost controls, and the new cul- new the and controls, cost Rockwell engineers. key our of many tubes. Figure 19 is a front view of the transmitter showing the 32 plug 32 the showing transmitter the of view front a is 19 Figure tubes.

worse, newly formed Electro Space, Electro formed newly worse, Inc. (nearby) was hiring away away hiring was (nearby) Inc. “solid state”. We simply could not do this at 200 kW with vacuum vacuum with kW 200 at this do not could simply We state”. “solid

Rockwell completely taken over. Moral was low, and to make matters matters make to and low, was Moral over. taken completely Rockwell dous advantage in weight, space space weight, in advantage dous and cost, and a key attribute of of attribute key a and cost, and

staff for many calendar quarters. Arthur had lost the company and and company the lost had Arthur quarters. calendar many for staff ously had for the TAC I-III linear tr linear I-III TAC the for had ously ansmitters. This was a tremen- a was This ansmitters.

very worst period of Collins history. We had consistently reduced reduced consistently had We history. Collins of period worst very reduced to only 2 variometers and 1 capacitor, the number we previ- we number the capacitor, 1 and variometers 2 only to reduced

delivery, with its enormous technical challenges, coincided with the the with coincided challenges, technical enormous its with delivery, to the point that the 6 variometers and 4 capacitors of TAC IVB were were IVB TAC of capacitors 4 and variometers 6 the that point the to

I should say here; this period of the TACAMO IVB development and and development IVB TACAMO the of period this here; say should I Very skillful waveform control gr control waveform skillful Very eatly reduced transmitter harmonics harmonics transmitter reduced eatly

Figure 20 - TAC IVB HPTS E6B in Flight with Drogues Coming Out (Rear Drogue Inset)

Then, on October 1, 1998, the unusual happened. The Airborne Com- mand Post mission was completely transferred from Air Force to Navy TACAMO. A Navy Air Wing was formed at Tinker Air Force base, Oklahoma City, and the whole consolidated mission was centered there. Over 1100 military and civilian personnel at Tinker supported this new mission. And the same two Navy TACAMO squadrons, VQ3 and VQ4, were stationed at Tinker.

The E4B aircraft was reconfigured to accommodate this new DOD Triad mission with a general officer and battle staff aboard. Air crews consisted of 2 pilots, 3 flight officers, and 10 sailors. Communication electronics on this aircraft ranged from VLF to EHF. And …… the Navy stated that there was more communication equipment aboard this E6B than on an aircraft carrier. Figure 21 illustrates the general con- figuration of this aircraft.

Figure 21 - NAVY Command Triad E4B TACAMO Aircraft Configuration

So we see today that TACAMO no longer is just a VLF communications relay to submarines, but is the total emergency Command and Control Comm for the DOD Nuclear Triad - a vital mission indeed and one that is both survivable and enduring. The TACAMO saga has played out for 51 years, and Rockwell Collins personnel continue to support this program, a worthy legacy, and one of which they can be justly proud. Editor’s Comment: We are fortunate indeed to have the perspective and This is not only the longest running program at Rockwell Collins or writing contribution here from one of the key executives of Collins Radio during Collins Radio but may also be the longest running program in the US the transition time to Rockwell stewardship. His article provides us with a Armed Forces. unique window into the TACAMO program and the operation of Collins during this period….and, did you notice the units—I mean... “miles of antenna - 70

Amps of RF current….. 10,000 pound “airborne” transmitters . . .and spooling de Loney Duncan, W0GZV out 6 miles of wire in 6 minutes. Now...THAT is engineering.

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who spent hours on the phone or visiting in person and the year went went year the and person in visiting or phone the on hours spent who only folks still working at Rockwell Collins, but also the many retirees retirees many the also but Collins, Rockwell at working still folks only We all are looking forward to 2014 and beyond. beyond. and 2014 to forward looking are all We

k you so much. This includes not not includes This much. so you k than again, material, provided and

out you. To the people at Rockwell Collins who helped with research research with helped who Collins Rockwell at people the To you. out Year. Year.

d never could have happened with- happened have could never d an effort big a was It Thanks. nal so I think I can safely say that 2014 is going to be another Very Good Good Very another be to going is 2014 that say safely can I think I so

– My Eter- My – Magazine Signal helped with the Anniversary issues of the the of issues Anniversary the with helped The membership growth rate shows no signs of abating at this point, point, this at abating of signs no shows rate growth membership The

help from a lot of people. First, to the many people who wrote and and wrote who people many the to First, people. of lot a from help

Without a doubt, this could all not have happened without a lot of of lot a without happened have not all could this doubt, a Without the newly reshaped team. team. reshaped newly the

very good thing. Bottom line, I am looking forward to working with with working to forward looking am I line, Bottom thing. good very

will be trying to coordinate good 40 meter AM QSO activity with FIFI. FIFI. with activity QSO AM meter 40 good coordinate to trying be will ain in that future - and that is a a is that and - future that in ain ag them see will we that it has Word

“Challenges” to get that older gear back on the air and of course we we course of and air the on back gear older that get to “Challenges” tions and for their help during the transition period and in the future. future. the in and period transition the during help their for and tions

ers and fun times for all. We will continue to try and have more fun fun more have and try to continue will We all. for times fun and ers ank them for their past contribu- past their for them ank th we and group the supporting hand

The nets will continue as they have been – run by quality net manag- net quality by run – been have they as continue will nets The Karl Bowman, W4CHX) have assured me that they will be close at at close be will they that me assured have W4CHX) Bowman, Karl

ey all (Jim Stitzinger, WA3CEX and and WA3CEX Stitzinger, (Jim all ey th but aside, move team good a of

material. material. friends and we are looking forward to that. It is sad to see members members see to sad is It that. to forward looking are we and friends

to tell, or a technical or historical perspective to share. We need good good need We share. to perspective historical or technical a or tell, to hearing from new, or maybe old, old, maybe or new, from hearing and faces new seeing be will we

along with the regular fair. Don’t be shy if you think you have a story story a have you think you if shy be Don’t fair. regular the with along section just ahead, but looking at the coming year, year, coming the at looking but ahead, just section 2014 – Elections

Signal Magazine Magazine Signal will also be carrying some “past” oriented stories stories oriented “past” some carrying be also will The The ll be covered separately in the the in separately covered be ll wi details The group. the into come

election process that assures that new blood and fresh perspectives perspectives fresh and blood new that assures that process election

liked Sapphire – Good color…. color…. Good – Sapphire liked are starting our every two year year two every our starting are we quarter this know, you as Also,

celebratory nature with great entertainment and speakers. I always always I speakers. and entertainment great with nature celebratory

That will be our central theme for the year and the events will be of a a of be will events the and year the for theme central our be will That dues. dues.

anniversary of the founding of the Collins Collectors Association. Association. Collectors Collins the of founding the of anniversary 20 Please understand and be patient. We are trying not to raise the the raise to not trying are We patient. be and understand Please

th

you can look forward to a busy and exciting year. It is, after all, the the all, after is, It year. exciting and busy a to forward look can you mit mailing was the Q3 issue and we did see delivery spread out a bit. bit. a out spread delivery see did we and issue Q3 the was mailing mit

bership at an all-time high, and the association very financially sound, sound, financially very association the and high, all-time an at bership impact the delivery time of the magazine. Our first run with this per- this with run first Our magazine. the of time delivery the impact

what we see ahead. With the mem- the With ahead. see we what is here 2014, into go we as So, the magazine, we have decided to go to “Permit Postage” which can can which Postage” “Permit to go to decided have we magazine, the

I should say here that, because of rising postage costs and the size of of size the and costs postage rising of because that, here say should I

activities. activities.

rt of the site and other various various other and site the of rt suppo his for KE1RR, Kerr, Scott guru, stay right up there and we hope you will enjoy! enjoy! will you hope we and there up right stay

ous models of equipment that we love. My continued thanks to our IT IT our to thanks continued My love. we that equipment of models ous about you, but I missed the little inserts. Don’t worry, the quality will will quality the worry, Don’t inserts. little the missed I but you, about

continue our efforts to increase the detailed information on the vari- the on information detailed the increase to efforts our continue of two during the year. Don’t know know Don’t year. the during two of insert occasional an as well as

and the like) and also we will will we also and like) the and (biographies information people more mix of Association Business, historical material and technical articles articles technical and material historical Business, Association of mix

r. The 2014 changes will include include will changes 2014 The r. bette even website the making on will be back to its more normal format with a a with format normal more its to back be will Magazine Signal The The

Anniversary issues, we will again be able to focus more attention attention more focus to able be again will we issues, Anniversary zine zine

Signal Maga- Signal Only area of the website. Once the smoke clears on the the on clears smoke the Once website. the of area Only events, then for sure come and see us on the nets. nets. the on us see and come sure for then events,

included in the website data and you are able to use the Member’s Member’s the use to able are you and data website the in included come to at least one of the events. If you can not make the “live” “live” the make not can you If events. the of one least at to come

big deal is that our database for members is now automated and and automated now is members for database our that is deal big for the details. We are counting on seeing a lot of you newcomers newcomers you of lot a seeing on counting are We details. the for

The website has again grown this year by leaps and bounds, and the the and bounds, and leaps by year this grown again has website The events. Like I said, please see the website and our Events Calendar Calendar Events our and website the see please said, I Like events.

plain having a great big yearlong birthday party at our 5 coming coming 5 our at party birthday yearlong big great a having plain

Jim Green for picking up the ball. ball. the up picking for Green Jim ders and our President Emeritus, Bill Wheeler, K0DEW, as well as just just as well as K0DEW, Wheeler, Bill Emeritus, President our and ders

cle on United Airlines. Thank you you Thank Airlines. United on cle deba complete a of because was that ar. We will be honoring our foun- our honoring be will We ar. ye special very a be to going is 2014

Memories! I only missed one and and one missed only I Memories! Great ARRL. at MO Lebanon, the Ahead Look A – 2014

Bottom line – We saw you at Dayton, Dallas, Rochester, Pacificon and and Pacificon Rochester, Dallas, Dayton, at you saw We – line Bottom

staff staff Magazine Signal of you! …. from your CCA Management and and Management CCA your from …. you! of

Calendar will be up on the website and the details will be filled in. in. filled be will details the and website the on up be will Calendar

health and happiness of you and your families. Happy New Year to all all to Year New Happy families. your and you of happiness and health

your mailbox, the new 2014 Events Events 2014 new the mailbox, your hits this time the By announced.

Holiday Greetings Greetings Holiday

and a wish for the the for wish a and To all of you, our best best our you, of all To r and program at a venue to be be to venue a at program and r dinne a then and 2) (Building arena

have the standard fair – A nice booth and hospitality area at the show show the at area hospitality and booth nice A – fair standard the have

nicer group of folks I have not met. You all will enjoy this one. We will will We one. this enjoy will all You met. not have I folks of group nicer

Orlando HamCation. We have alread have We HamCation. Orlando y started the arrangements and a a and arrangements the started y

of February at the the at February of East Coast/South Event on the weekend of the 7 the of weekend the on Event Coast/South East

th

It is our pleasure to announce that the CCA will be holding their first first their holding be will CCA the that announce to pleasure our is It

East and the South have long been long have South the and East clamoring for their own meeting. meeting. own their for clamoring

for us), we will be replacing that that replacing be will we us), for event with a new one. Folks in the the in Folks one. new a with event

for now. Since ARRL Midwest was a one time meeting (for them and and them (for meeting time one a was Midwest ARRL Since now. for rence Robinson, for his tolerance of my constant questions. questions. constant my of tolerance his for Robinson, rence

(Dayton & Dallas) to five, and the intention is to hold at that number number that at hold to is intention the and five, to Dallas) & (Dayton Museum folks, and specifically Law- specifically and folks, Museum

Scan to see more about the CCA CCA the about more see to Scan

avoid superlatives. The number of annual events has grown from two two from grown has events annual of number The superlatives. avoid ments. Also special thanks to the the to thanks special Also ments.

From an activity standpoint, it has been a super year. It is hard to to hard is It year. super a been has it standpoint, activity an From Rockwell Collins current advertise- current Collins Rockwell

financial data and reports, and the the and reports, and data financial

equipment and the “Collins Aura” of Aura” “Collins the and equipment quality – People and Equipment. Equipment. and People – quality Group for the wonderful help with with help wonderful the for Group

members are young hams intrigued by the vintage nature of the the of nature vintage the by intrigued hams young are members and to the Brand Management Management Brand the to and

the economy, and I am really pleased to see that many of our new new our of many that see to pleased really am I and economy, the Collins Investment Relations Group, Group, Relations Investment Collins

the beginning of the year. Retention is excellent, particularly given given particularly excellent, is Retention year. the of beginning the Special thanks go to the Rockwell Rockwell the to go thanks Special

bership is at an all-time high with more than 100 new members since since members new 100 than more with high all-time an at is bership

2013 will go down in our history as history our in down go will 2013 a “Very Good Year”. The mem- The Year”. Good “Very a bered here, and always. always. and here, bered

ing the year, and they are remem- are they and year, the ing

Looking Back on 2013 on Back Looking

by. Sadly, we lost several folks dur- folks several lost we Sadly, by. CCA Business & Activities Activities & Business CCA CCA Board Elections - 2013/2014 - As announced in the Q3 issue of the Signal and posted on the CCA reflector, nominations for the two open Board of Directors positions were open during the months of October and November. During that period, there were two nominations posted. Paul Kluwe, W8ZO was nominated for Karl Bowman’s board position and Dennis Kidder, W6DQ, was named as the candidate for the slot held currently by Jim Stitzinger who is our Secretary. Due to, again, having only one nominee for each position, we will not be mailing member ballot forms with this issue. Following a meeting of the board to be held in late December, these two candidates will be ratified and the results posted in the Q1 2014 magazine and on the website. We would like to encourage anyone who is interested in participating in the management of the association to start the process by helping us and volunteering, as well as letting us give you the necessary visibility to run as a candidate in the future. We are very fortunate to have two very excellent and experienced candidates this term. They both have great credentials and we know they will be significant contributors to the continued success of your organization. We also want to thank both Karl Bowman and Jim Stitz- inger for their help and participation on the management team. We are blessed that they both intend to stay involved and help in the future.. CCA .

Paul Kluwe, W8ZO, is a past Dennis Kidder, W6DQ, has previously served President & Member of the CCA as President, Vice President and Director of Board. He was responsible for one of the most well-known clubs in the world, many of the improvements in the The Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach, CCA that have made the recent W6RO (Queen Mary), and as President of the growth we have enjoyed possible. San Bernardino Microwave Society, a highly specialized, technical group whose mission is Paul has served on numerous to advance communications above 1 GHz. boards, founded, grown and then sold his own company, started Professionally he has worked as a hardware twelve 501(c)3 foundations, and is currently involved in designer, software developer and system engineer. He spent the majority of his the development of several charities. time at Hughes Aircraft Company (eventually Raytheon) where he worked on

He is an avid Collins and Rockwell Collins collector and programs that did everything from flying satellites to building airports. feels quite passionate about the importance of preserving the history and technology stories of the company. Dennis has had his affection for Collins Radio since his first exposure as a twelve- year-old when his Elmer-to-Be showed him his station and said; "Collins ... this Following a brief respite involving a spinout from the 2008 is the gear you want when you get your license. It's the best." Dennis then GM breakup, Paul has again expressed his interest in serv- bought his first 75S-3 in 1969 and has been fine tuning his Collins knowledge and ing the CCA. He is more than welcome back. his station ever since – some 44 years.

CCA Events News This past quarter has seen the CCA complete its original 2013 goal of expanding the num- ber of official events that we hold around the country from two to five. During Q4, we established our new West Coast Event at PACIFICON 2013 – holding our first one in the Bay Area. It was a great success and many thanks need to go to the west coast team of Billy Yates (N6YW), Werner Vavken (WB6RAW) and Tom Bonomo (K6AD). Special thanks also to Dennis Kidder, W6DQ, for holding down the fort on Sunday and tearing down when our plans took the setup crew to Southern California. The event could not have happened without them. We had a nice booth right (shown to the right) at the entrance to the show and Friday evening there was the group dinner and talk at Pedro’s Restaurant & Cantina and it was a great social time. There was a talk given on the History of Receivers at Collins Radio. The decision has been made by the planning group to have the west coast event each year, but to rotate its location up and down the coast. Keep watching the website - and the 2014 Events Calendar for the announcement of next year’s festivities. PACIFICON

ARRL Midwestern, Lebanon, MO This new CCA event was spe- cially planned around the Leba- non, MO ARRL Convention. The CCA had a very nice double booth and hospitality area donated by the Lebanon Ama- teur Radio Club, for which we thank them. Scott Kerr, KE1RR, ARRL and your editor drove from Wimberley and Dallas and set up shop. The event was our first central Midwestern show and we saw a lot of faces there that could not make Dayton or Dallas. There was a social dinner on Friday night at Dowd’s Catfish Restaurant and we had a great time – as always. Big thanks to Scott on this one. The CCA and Electric Radio Magazine co- sponsored the Vintage Radio Beauty Contest and thanks to owner Ray Osterwald, N0DMS, for his donations. See web report for contest photos.

2014 – ORLANDO Since the ARRL Lebanon show was a one time show, we are taking advantage of this opening and responding to the clamor to hold an East Coast & South Event. We have contracted for space at the Orlando HamCation show (www.hamcation.com) and a nicer and more hospitable group of folks I have never found. The show is February 7-9, 2014 - so it is coming up pretty soon... and gives you East Coast winter folks a chance to go south. We will have a double booth and hospitality the area know as Commercial 3 - Building 2, and then a nice dinner on Friday night where there will be a feature talk and the usual shenanigans and drawings. By the time you get this, information on Orlando 2014 should be up on our new 2014 Events Calendar page on the website – so stay tuned. We hope to see you there. If not Orlando, then perhaps we see you at one of the other shows at Dayton, Dallas, Rochester or California. ------CCA ------

CCA SIGNAL Q4 2013 19

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CCA SIGNAL Q4 2013 Q4 SIGNAL CCA

1) 1) performance or worthwhile contribution to the design.” design.” the to contribution worthwhile or performance

equipment where we feel we can make some improvement in in improvement some make can we feel we where equipment airplane. In addition there is corresponding equipment for the ground part of the system. We plan to develop and manufacture su manufacture and develop to plan We system. the of part ground the for equipment corresponding is there addition In airplane. ch items of of items ch

carried in the the in carried be may these of all or Some equipment. related and radar of s type many and altimeters equipment, landing blind receivers, izer

eceivers, local- eceivers, r marker receivers, beacon finders, direction include may This communication. than other purposes for equipment electronic need

: “We expect to expand our work in this field, but airplanes and their associated ground control stations stations control ground associated their and airplanes but field, this in work our expand to expect “We : see and shape the future of technology of future the shape and see

’s uncanny ability to to ability uncanny ’s Arthur revealed rther fu 1944 late in fering of stock public first its made Collins when underwriters to speech a in Davis, Frank

the allocation of one such airplane…” airplane…” such one of allocation the

purpose we would like to purchase an airplane such as the Beechcraft commercial type 18S… We request your favorable considerat favorable your request We 18S… type commercial Beechcraft the as such airplane an purchase to like would we purpose ion of of ion

se in aircraft. For this this For aircraft. in se u and installations actual by s design our proving and testing ht flig for facilities local establish to us for necessary… is “It

ircraft; ircraft; a test a purchase to ission perm for Pentagon the asked thur Ar 1944), 15, (July day same the very the composed letter another In

for installing and flight testing this equipment in aircraft in order to prove out its designs.” designs.” its out prove to order in aircraft in equipment this testing flight and installing for

Army and Navy requirements. It is necessary for this company to establish local facilities facilities local establish to company this for necessary is It requirements. Navy and Army

“After the war… equipment will be built for commercial and private airplanes in addition to to addition in airplanes private and commercial for built be will equipment war… the “After

Cedar Rapids airport, he wrote; wrote; he airport, Rapids Cedar

real-estate for a hangar at the the at hangar a for real-estate Seeking sorts. all of equipment electronic aircraft in vancements

Long before the war ended, Arthur had set his sights on the coming need for post-war ad- post-war for need coming the on sights his set had Arthur ended, war the before Long

Permeability Tuned Oscillator (PTO). (PTO). Oscillator Tuned Permeability

t product implementation of Ted Hunter’s new new Hunter’s Ted of implementation product t firs the by possible made was which stability

transmitter technology. In addition to its five Autotune controls, it was notable for its frequency frequency its for notable was it controls, Autotune five its to addition In technology. transmitter

forward in airborne airborne in forward leap quantum a presented re which ART-13 / ATC famous the by filled was

responding to the winds of war, sought a modern airborne transmitter. Ultimately, this need need this Ultimately, transmitter. airborne modern a sought war, of winds the to responding

D. In 1939 the US Navy, Navy, US the 1939 In D. 17- the after refined and utilized be to continued technology Autotune

Airlines was the launch customer for these revolutionary radios, but Braniff was quickly followed by American Airlines. Airlines. American by followed quickly was Braniff but radios, revolutionary these for customer launch the was Airlines

ins product incorporating the Autotune was the Model 17-D trans 17-D Model the was Autotune the incorporating product ins Coll significant first The positions. preset programmable easily mitter. Braniff Braniff mitter.

al control device, capable of moving rotary radio controls to controls radio rotary moving of capable device, control al electro-mechanic ingenious an was above to referred “Autotune” The any one of 10 10 of one any

1) From Arthur Collins: Collins: Arthur From 1) by Ben Stearns Stearns Ben by Wizard Radio he took the tablecloth with him. him. with tablecloth the took he

pilots should be able to operate radios. Arthur made some sketches on the tablecloth to show Braniff his Autotune ideas, and wh and ideas, Autotune his Braniff show to tablecloth the on sketches some made Arthur radios. operate to able be should pilots en they left left they en

ios. He thought thought He ios. rad tune but nothing do and ight fl every on along ride to erator op radio a pay to have to neck the in pain a was it Arthur told

founded Braniff Airways in 1930. Braniff Braniff 1930. in Airways Braniff founded

restaurant with Tom Braniff, who had had who Braniff, Tom with restaurant

Arthur was in Dallas again, dining in a a in dining again, Dallas in was Arthur

captured in the following: following: the in captured

Columbian military, an important milestone is is milestone important an military, Columbian

day. After the sale of airborne radios to the the to radios airborne of sale the After day.

milestones between 1934 and the present present the and 1934 between milestones

for now, let’s look at a few other interesting interesting other few a at look let’s now, for

ly consume a book. But But book. a consume ly easi could avionics and

The story of Collins Radio, Rockwell Collins, Collins, Rockwell Radio, Collins of story The

s to the present day. day. present the to s continue that aircraft

plying equipment to both civilian and military military and civilian both to equipment plying

tablished the company on a trajectory of sup- of trajectory a on company the tablished

Blimp “Defender” around the same time, es- time, same the around “Defender” Blimp

Collins transmitter installed in the Goodyear Goodyear the in installed transmitter Collins

mate of 1934. The Columbia sale, along with a a with along sale, Columbia The 1934. of mate

business, especially given the economic cli- economic the given especially business,

date. This was serious revenue for a fledgling fledgling a for revenue serious was This date.

est order the company had received as of that that of as received had company the order est

Newt” letter, valued at $52,677, was the larg- the was $52,677, at valued letter, Newt”

The Columbian sale referenced in the “Uncle “Uncle the in referenced sale Columbian The

ment for aircraft to be installed in the army planes and frontier land communications stations of the Republic of Columbia, Sou Columbia, of Republic the of stations communications land frontier and planes army the in installed be to aircraft for ment th America.” America.” th

ment, a large portion of which in dollars goes into the export trade. For instance, we are just completing a very large order o order large very a completing just are we instance, For trade. export the into goes dollars in which of portion large a ment, f radio equip- radio f

There is nothing in the way of “invention” that Arthur has made made has Arthur that “invention” of way the in nothing is There but he is designing and constructi and designing is he but tting equip- tting transmi superior very some ng

29th of that month, Merle “MH” Collins writes: writes: Collins “MH” Merle month, that of 29th

In September of 1934, Collins Radio had been been had Radio Collins 1934, of September In incorporated for just one year. In a lett a In year. one just for incorporated er to “Dear Uncle Newt” Newton Dickenson, Newton Newt” Uncle “Dear to er dated on the the on dated

days of Collins Radio...... Radio. Collins of days

maiden voyage. It is December 15th, 2009, an an 2009, 15th, December is It voyage. maiden impressive landmark in the story of avioni of story the in landmark impressive cs at Rockwell Collins. This story dates story This Collins. Rockwell at cs back to the early early the to back

and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, carrying the la the carrying Dreamliner, 787 Boeing the and rgest amount of Rockwell Collins equipmen Collins Rockwell of amount rgest t of any airliner ever (see sidebar), st sidebar), (see ever airliner any of t arts to roll on its its on roll to arts

were all forced to wait in the chilly drizzle for the cloud ce cloud the for drizzle chilly the in wait to forced all were iling to lift to acceptable levels. Finally the Rolls Royce Trent Royce Rolls the Finally levels. acceptable to lift to iling 1000 engines spooled up, up, spooled engines 1000

Runway 34L was covered in rain on a typical winter day at Paine Paine at day winter typical a on rain in covered was 34L Runway Field near Seattle. Test pilots, ground engineers, and a large large a and engineers, ground pilots, Test Seattle. near Field anxious crowd crowd anxious

Lawrence Robinson, Curator, Rockwell Collins Museum Museum Collins Rockwell Curator, Robinson, Lawrence by - AC12-12658/KC0ODK AC12-12658/KC0ODK -

Avionics at Collins—Then and Now Now and Collins—Then at Avionics Avionics—This is where it may have started

The following passage recounts Roy Olson’s story of the radio he designed for Arthur’s first airplane, a Rearwin Sportster. Olson and Collins took delivery of that aircraft in October of 1936.

Olson recalled that the weather was warm when they went to Kansas City, Kansas, but when they were ready to start home on a Sunday afternoon they learned a cold front and snowstorm were moving toward Cedar Rapids. They borrowed cold weather flight clothing from the aircraft factory and took off.

The new radio proved to be a good unit, with a trailing wire antenna, let out to the appropriate length to match the desired frequency. When they got within range, contact was made with the Civil Aeronautics Administration ground station at Davenport. At one point the station operator asked: "What type of aircraft are you? You have such a strong signal we thought you must be an airliner of some kind." Olson recalled.

As they neared Cedar Rapids, with Olson flying and Arthur operating the radio, they ran into the snow storm about 30 miles southwest of the city. Olson remembered that while Arthur was on the radio talking about a possible landing at Iowa City, he flew on, passing over downtown Cedar Rapids about the height of the tallest buildings, and made a safe landing at the Hunter airfield.

Roy Olson said it was about that time that Arthur decided Collins Radio Company should become the main source for commercial aircraft equipment, because he saw a good markup in building and selling to airlines. 1)

A Beech 18 was acquired and the hanger - built as a result of the Situation Indicator (HSI) and the Flight Director (FD) firmly estab- 1944 letter - remains in use by Rockwell Collins to the present day. lished the company’s leadership role in flight instrumentation technol- Arthur’s vision of the future, painted by Frank Davis for the invest- ogy. Arthur Collins’ name appears on both patents as co-inventor, ment community, quickly became reality for the company and has along with Horst Schweighofer for the HSI and Rolf Wollan on the FD. remained so for more than six decades. The continuous stream of Wirkler’s breakthrough, “Aircraft Course Stabilizing Means” patent, airborne radio innovation (both military and commercial) also contin- applied for in 1949, defined what would became known as the ues to the present day and is deserving of its own article. This list “Complementary Filter”. It describes analog computing techniques for includes the ARC-27 (the first “modern” UHF tactical radio) along with creating steering commands enabling either human pilots (through HF radios such as the 18S, 618S, the ARC-58 (the first SSB radio steering instructions presented on the Flight Director), or autopilot designed exclusively for airborne use), and the 618-T, a commercial systems, to execute smooth intercepts of electronic navigation signals follow-on to the ARC-58. The 618-T, representing the company’s (outer loop flight control). The Collins “V Bar” Flight Director became successful campaign to drive SSB technology into the commercial popular in the early 1960s. (See DC-6 to left) The FD and HSI prod- market, became ubiquitous for airliners around the world - remaining ucts were intricate electro-mechanical designs, assembled in clean in wide use for decades. A steady stream of military airborne radios rooms with watchmaker precision. Like the 618-T, SSB airborne trans- followed the ARC-27 (designed in 1946) leading up to the ARC-210, mitters and HSI/FD systems (such as the FD-108 and FD-109) be- found today on virtually every US Navy and Marine aircraft. came ubiquitous, spawning many copies from competitors. To stu- dents of Arthur Collins and his post-war innovation machine, there is Frank Davis told the investment community, “Airplanes and their as- no surprise that due to their intuitive and elegant presentation, the sociated ground control stations need electronic equipment for pur- HSI and FD motifs remain the industry standard for advanced flight poses other than communication”. instrumentation systems, even in the most modern glass cockpits.

All three of the patents discussed, along with many others, we’re signed by Marvin Moody, who joined Collins Radio as patent attorney in 1949. Trained as a Hellcat Pilot by the US Navy during WWII, then completing an Electrical Engineering degree prior to law school, Moody’s resume gave him the perfect profile for his role in the inno- vation factory that was Collins Radio. Moody left the company on good terms to enter private practice in the Chicago area where he still resides with his wife, Alice.

The flight director work also spawned a number of business aircraft autopilots in the ‘50s and ‘60s, but no larger airliner autopilots. That changed when Collins partnered with Lear-Siegler to create the Auto Flight Control System (AFCS), which included fail-operational auto- matic landing capability for the Lockheed L-1011. This was to be the last major avionics innovation while Arthur was leading the company. The AFCS was the first fully-automatic Category III “Auto-land” sys- tem to achieve FAA certification as part of a basic aircraft type certifi- cation. Although commercial popularity of the L-1011 was marginal, The organic the AFCS success, combined with Collins’ internal R&D advances, led aspect of how directly to future autopilot systems on a long list of larger platforms, Arthur brought including regional jets and large airliners. For example, Boeing air- this vision into planes featuring Collins autopilot / automatic landing systems include reality involves the 767, 757, 747-400, 747-8, recent 737s, and the 777. a think-tank of geniuses such Digital technology and smaller microprocessors finally drove a purely as Walter electronic, CRT-based solution for primary flight and navigation dis- Wirkler, Alex- plays. In the 1970s, Collins was selected by Boeing to create the ander Lippisch, Horst Schweighofer, Rolf Wollan, Francis Mosely, John “glass” EFIS, (Electronic Flight Instrumentation System) for the Shanklin, Marvin Moody and others. Collins “bet the company” on 757/767 flight decks. This project also marked the introduction of the productizing the emerging standard for Very-High-Frequency Omnidi- Engine Indicating and Crew Alerting System (EICAS). During the rectional Range (VOR) technology, becoming the first company to 1980s, Rockwell Collins was successful in steering its customers away achieve CAA certification on an Air Transport VOR system. Two semi- from the electro-mechanical FD-108, 109 and derivative systems to nal patents, applied for in 1951, and now known as the Horizontal “glass” (CRT) systems such as the EFIS-85 for business and regional

CCA SIGNAL Q4 2013 21

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CCA SIGNAL Q4 2013 Q4 SIGNAL CCA

deck include the Agusta Westland AW609 Tiltrotor, Bombardier’s Bombardier’s Tiltrotor, AW609 Westland Agusta the include deck

these patents. patents. these

announced aircraft that have selected the Pro Line Fusion™ flight flight Fusion™ Line Pro the selected have that aircraft announced

the issues he was prosecuting for for prosecuting was he issues the

Radar System to make the flight deck of the future. The list of publicly publicly of list The future. the of deck flight the make to System Radar

enabling him to well understand understand well to him enabling

legacy features such as IFIS and MultiScan Threat Detection Weather Weather Detection Threat MultiScan and IFIS as such features legacy

has a EE Degree from Iowa State State Iowa from Degree EE a has

touch-enabled main displays and windowing features, combine with with combine features, windowing and displays main touch-enabled

private practice in 1967. He also also He 1967. in practice private

cursor control of display features including pilot-customizable sizing, sizing, pilot-customizable including features display of control cursor

Collins from 1949 until he left for for left he until 1949 from Collins

Guidance System (HGS™), synthetic and enhanced vision, graphical graphical vision, enhanced and synthetic (HGS™), System Guidance

then as a Patent Attorney for for Attorney Patent a as then

aircraft size. New features offered such as an integrated Heads-Up Heads-Up integrated an as such offered features New size. aircraft

an F6F pilot during WW II, and and II, WW during pilot F6F an

software capable of serving large variations of flight deck layouts and and layouts deck flight of variations large serving of capable software

Moody served, first our country as as country our first served, Moody

Line Fusion raises the bar in design flexibility, making its feature-rich feature-rich its making flexibility, design in bar the raises Fusion Line

in the “Glass Cockpit” era. M. M. era. Cockpit” “Glass the in

computing resources, as opposed to application-specific hardware, Pro Pro hardware, application-specific to opposed as resources, computing

the 50s are still in use today—even today—even use in still are 50s the

deck architecture: Pro Line Fusion™. With emphasis on common common on emphasis With Fusion™. Line Pro architecture: deck

were developed by Collins Radio in in Radio Collins by developed were

the first airplane to enter service with Rockwell Collins’ latest flight flight latest Collins’ Rockwell with service enter to airplane first the

(and Flight Director) motifs that that motifs Director) Flight (and

ery of a brand new Bombardier Global 5000 on March 30th, 2012 - - 2012 30th, March on 5000 Global Bombardier new brand a of ery

marvels at the fact that the HSI HSI the that fact the at marvels

line magnate Niki Lauda took deliv- took Lauda Niki magnate line air and legend racing One Formula

years ago on August 18, 1953. He He 1953. 18, August on ago years

that he helped patent well over 60 60 over well patent helped he that

Marvin sits and ponders advances advances ponders and sits Marvin

Photo by Juan Segal, KC4JTR KC4JTR Segal, Juan by Photo

maps, and 2D terrain maps into the main flight deck displays. displays. deck flight main the into maps terrain 2D and maps,

onic approach charts, enroute navigation navigation enroute charts, approach onic electr graphics, weather

the first avionics system to integrate features such as ground-sourced ground-sourced as such features integrate to system avionics first the

Marvin Moody - Patent Attorney (retired) Attorney Patent - Moody Marvin

1. Pro Line 21’s “Integrated Flight Information System” (IFIS) was was (IFIS) System” Information Flight “Integrated 21’s Line Pro 1.

150, and the Beechcraft Premier Premier Beechcraft the and 150, G- Gulfstream 55, Learjet 2000, con

200 and 700), The Dassault Fal- Dassault The 700), and 200 100, (models Jet Regional Canadair

------not surprised. He knows the flight will go smoothly. ------smoothly. go will flight the knows He surprised. not CCA

aircraft. Examples include the the include Examples aircraft. jet regional and business of els

man sitting in the jump seat. Leaning forward, he is smiling - but he is is he but - smiling is he forward, Leaning seat. jump the in sitting man

Pro Line 21 systems which have found their way into numerous mod- numerous into way their found have which systems 21 Line Pro

takes the runway. One can almost see the shadow of a graying older older graying a of shadow the see almost can One runway. the takes

cost. This architecture evolved into the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 4 and and 4 Line Pro Collins Rockwell the into evolved architecture This cost.

for takeoff”. Then, all eyes forward, the big Boeing starts to roll and and roll to starts Boeing big the forward, eyes all Then, takeoff”. for

inging advantages in size, weight, power, and and power, weight, size, in advantages inging br architecture "cabinet"

. “… Zero-zero-one, you’re cleared cleared you’re Zero-zero-one, “… . hand at task the to back us brings

previously requiring numerous individual "black boxes", into a single single a into boxes", "black individual numerous requiring previously

phrase buried in a steady stream of chatter from the VHF-2100s VHF-2100s the from chatter of stream steady a in buried phrase

(IAPS) was a paradigm shift approach that combined functionality, functionality, combined that approach shift paradigm a was (IAPS)

. . . . .Up front, in the business end of the new Dreamliner, a short short a Dreamliner, new the of end business the in front, .Up . . . .

flight deck. Rockwell Collins' Integrated Avionics Processing System System Processing Avionics Integrated Collins' Rockwell deck. flight

boasted the first highly integrated glass cockpit with 14 CRTs in the the in CRTs 14 with cockpit glass integrated highly first the boasted

The Beechcraft Starship (above), Starship Beechcraft The in development during the 1980s, 1980s, the during development in

and the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ). . . . Back to Paine Field ...... Field Paine to Back . . . (MRJ). Jet Regional Mitsubishi the and

acy 450, Legacy 500 and KC-390 refuel KC-390 and 500 Legacy 450, acy ing tanker; Gulfstream’s G280, G280, Gulfstream’s tanker; ing integration in the flight deck as deck flight the in integration well as in the “black boxes” boxes” “black the in as well

Global Series 5000 through 8000; Le 8000; through 5000 Series Global arjet 85, CSeries; Embraer’s Leg- Embraer’s CSeries; 85, arjet aircraft. The industry soon realized there was a need for ever more more ever for need a was there realized soon industry The aircraft.

Navigation Advancements

Navigation technology evolved in parallel with the flight decks. As part of this evolution, one July night, a young engineer found himself sta- tioned on the roof of Rockwell Collins’ building 106. It was his job to, every five minutes, manually aim a “junk-box” L-Band antenna (a subcon- tractor had not yet delivered the exotic high-tech antenna) in tests of a new navigation system. A bootleg telephone line was strung to the youngster’s rooftop perch so his wife could reach him if she needed to be taken to the hospital to deliver their second child. In this manner, Rockwell Collins received and decoded the first “NAVSTAR” (GPS) signal at 11:35 PM CDT on July 19, 1977. The engineer’s second child, a daughter, was successfully delivered on August 6th. In 1983, Rockwell Collins made the first transatlantic flight utilizing GPS navigation. Flight legs were limited to 2 or 3 hours due to the small size of the GPS constellation at the time. Landing at the Paris Air Show, the record-making flight was also the first use of differential GPS when a local offset was radioed to the aircraft shortly before landing. Upon landing the aircraft even used GPS exclusively to taxi to its predetermined parking space. Flash forward to this century……

During Operation Desert Storm, it is believed that Rockwell Collins GPS equipped MH-53’s “Guides” assisted the initial waves of Apache Attack Helos (with no GPS) to squash air defenses that first night. Today, tens of thousands of Rockwell Collins hand-held (PLGR and DAGR) GPS re- ceivers have been delivered to the US DoD. More recently, the Rockwell Collins Digital Integrated GPS Anti-jam Receiver (DIGAR) was selected by the US Navy for the Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS). According to USNI News article dated November 22, 2013, the “U.S. Navy has completed the initial development of the Joint Precision Approach and Landing System”. Quoting NAVAIR spokeswoman Marcia Hart, the article describes, “Highly successful shipboard auto-land testing on USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71),” and emphasizes the specific demonstration of the system’s ability to support automatic “hands-off” landing – with GPS.

Rockwell Collins Content - Boeing 787 Dreamliner

During the 787’s development and design process, Rockwell Collins served on Boeing's 787 Partner Council and had employees working onsite at the Boeing facility partici- pating in day-to-day program de- sign, integration and production activities. Rockwell Collins provides the following systems for the 787.

Components Supplied

* An integrated display system fea- turing five 15.1-inch diagonal LCD displays, as well as dual LCD head- up displays (HUD). The Rockwell Collins Head-up Guidance System (HGSTM) provides the most advanced display capabilities available in the air transport market, including pri- mary flight, advanced navigation and complete crew alerting functionality. The system utilizes cursor control devices and a multi-function key pad for data entry and retrieval.

* Rockwell Collins VHF-2100, SAT-2100 and HFS 900D state-of-the-art communications capabilities including the lighter weight, highly reliable VHF-2100 that is VDL Mode 2 capable with future growth to VDL Mode 3 and 4. The new, smaller and more reliable SAT-2100 supports the International Civil Aviation Organization's safety services, as well as three channels of voice communications and offers growth to support future Inmarsat Swift Broadband high-speed data capabilities. As part of the communications package, Rockwell Collins is also providing a state of the art digital flight deck audio system, and the cockpit voice and flight data recording system.

* Rockwell Collins' newly developed Integrated Surveillance System (ISS) including weather and hazard detection, traffic alert and collision avoidance, Mode S surveillance, and terrain awareness and warning capabilities.

* The latest generation of pilot controls with a control stand that includes auto throttles, and pitch, roll, yaw and primary flight controls, as well as their interfaces to the aircraft's fly-by-wire systems. The modular design of the pilot controls will simplify installation and maintenance. This new system meets Boeing's objective of providing operators with a look and feel similar to the Boeing 777, while achieving significant weight savings. This was a key factor in allowing Boeing to achieve dual type rating certification for the two aircraft.

* The Core Network, offered as standard on the 787, which plays a key role in Boeing's objective to 'e-enable' the entire aircraft. Utilizing com- mercial open standard computing servers and networks, the Core Network hosts a wide range of third-party applications and manages onboard information flow to improve airline operational efficiency.

* The Common Data Network (CDN), which advances Rockwell Collins' leadership as a supplier of advanced networking technologies. As a key component of the 787 Common Core System, the CDN is a high integrity, bi-directional fibre optic and copper network that uses ARINC 664 protocols and standards to manage the information flow between the aircraft's onboard systems. Based on commercial Ethernet technology adapted to the Avionics environment, the integrity and deterministic characteristics of Rockwell Collins' CDN allows systems integrators to utilize this network for systems requiring a high level of data criticality. The CDN offers significant improvements over current generation data buses including expanded connectivity, higher data rates and significant reductions in aircraft weight when compared with point to point topologies.

CCA SIGNAL Q4 2013 23

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CCA SIGNAL Q4 2013 Q4 SIGNAL CCA

being the C-1904 (See Figure 3 above). above). 3 Figure (See C-1904 the being was quite a marvel of miniaturi- of marvel a quite was

The ARC-27 (figure 1a - above & 1b) 1b) & above - 1a (figure ARC-27 The

and programming of preset channels, the most common and compact compact and common most the channels, preset of programming and

allowed direct frequency selection selection frequency direct allowed that developed were units control

in the case of fighters meant out of the pilot’s reach. Later, additional additional Later, reach. pilot’s the of out meant fighters of case the in

out-of-the-way space, which which space, out-of-the-way an in mounted typically was C-626 The

Figure 3 - C-1904 C-1904 - 3 Figure

war era. era. war

AN/ARC-27, and the most produced military aircraft radio of the post post the of radio aircraft military produced most the and AN/ARC-27,

come. That model would become the the become would model That come. to years for militaries allied and

manufacturable, much improved, model that would sustain the US US the sustain would that model improved, much manufacturable,

and endeavored to turn it into a a into it turn to endeavored and design, ARC-19 the up picked Collins

would be introduced as the AN/ARC-33 sometime around 1949. 1949. around sometime AN/ARC-33 the as introduced be would

Navy, Bendix was working on a UHF radio design for the USAAF that that USAAF the for design radio UHF a on working was Bendix Navy,

sensitivity was 20 uV. Simultaneously to the work being done by the the by done being work the to Simultaneously uV. 20 was sensitivity

readily selected. Power output was a nominal 4 watts, and receiver receiver and watts, 4 nominal a was output Power selected. readily

channels, spaced 200 KHz apart. Ten preset frequencies could be be could frequencies preset Ten apart. KHz 200 spaced channels,

search Laboratories, which covered the 225-400 MHz range in 876 876 in range MHz 225-400 the covered which Laboratories, search

formed the impetus for the AN/ARC-19, a product of the Naval Re- Naval the of product a AN/ARC-19, the for impetus the formed

allowed the pilot to select those presets. presets. those select to pilot the allowed ARC-1, even sharing the same rack and control box. These radios radios These box. control and rack same the sharing even ARC-1,

frequencies, and the C-625, which which C-625, the and frequencies, preset eighteen store to positioners about 1947. The AN/ARC-12 was essentially a UHF version of the the of version UHF a essentially was AN/ARC-12 The 1947. about

control units, the C-626 (shown top of next column), which used auto auto used which column), next of top (shown C-626 the units, control followed by the ARC-12, which seems to have seen the light of day in in day of light the seen have to seems which ARC-12, the by followed

Early on, the ARC-27 configuration was rather clumsy, having two two having clumsy, rather was configuration ARC-27 the on, Early the US Navy - and in service until the early seventies. The ARC-1 was was ARC-1 The seventies. early the until service in and - Navy US the

later (1944) effort was the AN/ARC-1 ten channel VHF set utilized by by utilized set VHF channel ten AN/ARC-1 the was effort (1944) later

guard audio is common with the main receiver. receiver. main the with common is audio guard d USAAF service in the pacific. A A pacific. the in service USAAF d an naval into pressed then and lines

talled to 243.0 MHz), which has its own IF and detector stages. Only Only stages. detector and IF own its has which MHz), 243.0 to talled set (WE-233) which was a pre-war design commissioned for the air- the for commissioned design pre-war a was which (WE-233) set

guard receiver (normally crys- (normally receiver guard independent an employs ARC-27 The early example is the AN/ARC-4 VHF VHF AN/ARC-4 the is example early An II. War World during nications

ormer type modulation reactor. reactor. modulation type ormer autotransf an through 829B an via is Western Electric had led in the development of VHF and UHF commu- UHF and VHF of development the in led had Electric Western

d 2C39 driver and PA. Modulation Modulation PA. and driver 2C39 d an pre-driver, 2C43 a employing fier

transmit. Power output is 8-10 watts from a three stage power ampli- power stage three a from watts 8-10 is output Power transmit. simultaneously being developed. developed. being simultaneously were that aircraft

oscillator provides a frequency comb for mixing in both receive and and receive both in mixing for comb frequency a provides oscillator the new generation of jet powered powered jet of generation new the with requisite was which antennas,

mixing crystals for down-conversion in the receivers). A spectrum spectrum A receivers). the in down-conversion for crystals mixing measure of security. An added bonus was physically small, low drag drag low small, physically was bonus added An security. of measure

to synthesize 1750 channels (not counting the few injection oscillator oscillator injection few the counting (not channels 1750 synthesize to aracteristics, a a aracteristics, ch propagation ght line-of-si and power low relatively

employs a crystal mixing scheme employing only twenty crystal total total crystal twenty only employing scheme mixing crystal a employs ric; and finally, because of the the of because finally, and ric; atmosphe and manmade both ference,

aligning the radio, which made servicing relatively easy. The ARC-27 ARC-27 The easy. relatively servicing made which radio, the aligning the early years would net 1750 discrete channels; freedom from inter- from freedom channels; discrete 1750 net would years early the

dules could be replaced without re- without replaced be could dules mo most practice, In screws. tive 175 MHz of bandwidth, which in in which bandwidth, of MHz 175 clear: were sense communications

dules, easily removable with cap- with removable easily dules, mo functional eleven into arranged The advantages of what would be called “UHF” in the tactical aircraft aircraft tactical the in “UHF” called be would what of advantages The

assistance from ground radio technicians. Internally, the ARC-27 is is ARC-27 the Internally, technicians. radio ground from assistance with the surrender of Japan. Japan. of surrender the with halted been had development equipment

the aircrew, and 18 preset channels could be set by the crew with no no with crew the by set be could channels preset 18 and aircrew, the (225-400 MHz) had been contemplated, but government funding for for funding government but contemplated, been had MHz) (225-400

around 72 pounds. For the first time, all channels were available to to available were channels all time, first the For pounds. 72 around spectrum to accommodate operations. The high VHF/low UHF range range UHF VHF/low high The operations. accommodate to spectrum

MHz into a package that was less than 2 cubic feet and weighed in in weighed and feet cubic 2 than less was that package a into MHz to VHF (118-136 MHz), the military needed to occupy new, wider wider new, occupy to needed military the MHz), (118-136 VHF to

capable of operating on 1750 discrete channels from 225 to 399.9 399.9 to 225 from channels discrete 1750 on operating of capable world committed committed world

zation for the time. Collins managed to pack a complete transceiver transceiver complete a pack to managed Collins time. the for zation trol systems of the the of systems trol

the air traffic con- traffic air the

Figure 1b - ARC-27 Top View (open) (open) View Top ARC-27 - 1b Figure

ARC-27 ARC-27

the airlines and and airlines the

bounds, and with with and bounds,

by leaps and and leaps by

power had grown grown had power

crossroads. Air Air crossroads.

cations was at a a at was cations

aircraft communi- aircraft

tactical military military tactical

World War II that that II War World

closing days of of days closing

clear during the the during clear

It was abundantly abundantly was It

Scott Johnson, W7SVJ W7SVJ Johnson, Scott by - AC04-11696 AC04-11696 -

- An Overview - - Overview An - Airborne UHF Comm at Collins Radio Radio Collins at Comm UHF Airborne The ARC-27 was in service long Navigation/Identification) systems Collins was developing for the cen- enough to receive the usual modi- tury series fighters for the USAF and new generation naval fighters fications that improved perform- (See Figure 5 below left column). ance and/or reliability. Chief among those was the PP-2100 By the sixties, solid state technology had become more mature, and solid state power supply that the majority of a radio’s circuitry could be produced using transistors. replaced the dynamotor. This had In order to further reduce volume and weight, Collins produced a the effect of lowering power con- plethora of hybrid integrated circuit modules, usually a functional sumption, internal heat, and elimi- block, these little black cubes were made as amplifiers, limiters, nating the troublesome carbon squelch circuits, and digital functions, just to name a few. The next brush dust from the sealed case. generation of Collins UHF radios would benefit from the inclusion of A solid state guard receiver was the modules, namely the AN/ARC-109. (See Figure 6a) also procured in the early sixties, but use was not widespread. Later production also had improved coupling and bypass capacitors in the RF sections. A non-pressurized, cost reduced version was produced for the US Army as the ARC-55. The ARC-27, with all of its modifica- tions and updates, soldiered on well into the seventies, although not in front line tactical aircraft. Ground variants of the ARC-27, such as the AN/GRC-32 would see use around the world well into the eighties!

Figure 6a- ARC-109 UHF 25 Watt XCVR 1963 to 1981 Figure 4 - ARC-52 Developed for the NAVY in 1952 and manufactured until circa 1963 The ARC-109 was a high water mark in UHF communications, and was installed in the F-111, C-5, and F-15/16, all new designs out of By the mid 1950s, the requirement for higher reliability, lighter and the late sixties. It was lighter and more compact than the ARC-51, more compact equipment was starting to render the ARC-27 obsolete. and boasted the highest output power for a UHF airborne transceiver Work was proceeding on the US Navy’s AN/ARC-52 (figure 4), which to date, at typically 25-30 watts. The ARC-109 saw the reduction in looked much like a miniaturized ARC-27, but with a few fundamental the number of mechanical tuning assemblies in the radio due to differences. The biggest was the inclusion of the revolutionary Hub- broadband circuitry in low level stages and in the frequency synthe- bard coaxial tuners which were then driven by a massively complex sizer. With 3500 channels spaced at 50 KHz increments, it was a gear train. These tuners added to complexity, but were compact and marvelous job of engineering. Preset channels are stored in the C- had very high “Q”. The ARC-52 also featured uniform modular con- 6364 (Figure 6b) control head in nonvolatile magnetic core memory. struction and employed Oldham couplers to facilitate decoupling the Later units even had early seven segment digital frequency readouts mechanical assemblies. Another fundamental change was the use of of the incandescent filament variety. The ARC-109 would be the last a single high gain cermet tetrode in the final amplifier stage. The series of Collins UHF aircraft radio to utilize a vacuum tube in the final resulting Collins designed ARC-52 became the Navy’s standard UHF amplifier and, based on its modular architecture, would form the basis transceiver from the late fifties through the mid-Vietnam era. (The for the Naval Growth Radio program in the late sixties and seventies. USAF had chosen the Magnavox AN/ARC-34).

At almost the same time as the ARC-52 Figure 5 - was being finished up, Collins CNI work was also pro- Figure 6b - C-6364 Offering ceeding on a transis- ARC-109 Control 1965 torized UHF trans- Head ceiver for the USAF and US Army that was even more compact than the ARC-52.

This would enter ser- The early seventies saw a new generation of war fighting machines, vice as the ARC-51 but with orders of magnitude more computing power for comm, weapons never achieve the high direction, and navigation. Aircraft such as the F-14 Tomcat leveraged volume production of much of this technology, and to ease the crew’s workload, man ma- the ARC-52. Both the chine interfaces needed to improve. ARC-51 and ARC-52 modules would form the basis of the com- Centerfold Credit: Rockwell Collins Pro Line - Fusion TM - munications elements Product Line. Photo provided by Rockwell Collins, Inc. for the various CNI Read about the install aircraft in this issue’s Avionics article. (Communications/

Continued on p 44 CCA SIGNAL Q4 2013 25

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CCA SIGNAL Q4 2013 Q4 SIGNAL CCA

input input Ω 50 broadband a with even present was ion oscillat the that showed experiments unit,

exhibited the same basic phenomenon. In my my In phenomenon. basic same the exhibited all, some with 811A and some with 572B tubes) 572B with some and 811A with some all,

s not the case. All units we checked out (5 in in (5 out checked we units All case. the not s wa this (K5IU), Weber Dick and (KF6BC) Jefferis

At first I assumed this was an anomaly unique to my 30L-1, but after consulting with Bob Bob with consulting after but 30L-1, my to unique anomaly an was this assumed I first At

ripple. ripple.

mined to be caused by interaction of the 120 Hz HV supply ripple and the 60 Hz grid bias bias grid Hz 60 the and ripple supply HV Hz 120 the of interaction by caused be to mined

envelope frequency is 60 Hz. The difference in alternating peak shape was eventually deter- eventually was shape peak alternating in difference The Hz. 60 is frequency envelope

scale of 2ms/division. Notice that although the 800 kHz bursts occur at a 120 Hz rate, the true true the rate, Hz 120 a at occur bursts kHz 800 the although that Notice 2ms/division. of scale

oscillation frequency was about 800 kHz. Figure 1 is a photo of the waveform with a horizontal horizontal a with waveform the of photo a is 1 Figure kHz. 800 about was frequency oscillation

periodic burst oscillation. The burst rate was synchronous with the AC line frequency. The The frequency. line AC the with synchronous was rate burst The oscillation. burst periodic

pop up when the PTT was activated, but no RF drive applied. Further inspection revealed a a revealed inspection Further applied. drive RF no but activated, was PTT the when up pop

(about 15V peak) that would would that peak) 15V (about signal low-level a noticed I n, operatio 15m normal during scope

Figure 1 - MF Oscillation Oscillation MF - 1 Figure

second 30L-1 stability issue surfaced. While monitoring the output of my 30L-1 with an oscillo- an with 30L-1 my of output the monitoring While surfaced. issue stability 30L-1 second

- During my normal shack operation, a a operation, shack normal my During - Oscillation Frequency) (Medium MF #2: Scenario

to read what Tom has to say on the subject. subject. the on say to has Tom what read to www.w8ji.com to Go port. output the at provided

t a good load is is load good a t tha ensure you if necessary really isn’t 30L-1 the of neutralization However, required. be would plate mounting socket tube the

though a hole in in hole a though al 30L-1, the to added be conceivably could neutralization that s appear It stability. HF improving in helpful be might feedback

plate-to-cathode plate-to-cathode the of neutralization reasons, these For grounded. truly not are grids 30L-1 the and leads, internal long undesirably has 811A

de. However, the the However, de. catho the and plate the between isolation provides grid ounded gr truly a because neutralization require not do usually plifiers

rounded grid am- grid rounded G amplifiers. cathode common grid-driven, in capacitance feedback plate-to-grid the out cancel to used is neutralization cally,

1A tubes. Typi- tubes. 1A 81 with designed amplifiers grid grounded neutralizing of fan a is amplifier), AL811 Ameritron the of (designer W8JI Rauch, Tom

initially called out use of the 20.5 foot cable connecting the 32S-3 to the 30L-1. 30L-1. the to 32S-3 the connecting cable foot 20.5 the of use out called initially

in the case of Dave’s unit, which required a length of cable on its input port. Perhaps this is what Collins engineers first no first engineers Collins what is this Perhaps port. input its on cable of length a required which unit, Dave’s of case the in ticed and why they they why and ticed

most important item to ensure HF stability is a good termination on the 30L--1 output at the operating frequency, but even that even but frequency, operating the at output 30L--1 the on termination good a is stability HF ensure to item important most was not enough enough not was

worse than 2:1, which usually takes care of HF instability, as well as making sure the amplifier is not damaged by operating in operating by damaged not is amplifier the sure making as well as instability, HF of care takes usually which 2:1, than worse to a bad load. The The load. bad a to

put load VSWR VSWR load put out an with operated be not it that specifies manual The goal. necessary a as stability unconditional with 30L-1 the design not

enable a particular 30L-1 to oscillate. Another unit may oscillate under a different set of conditions. In any case, it is fair is it case, any In conditions. of set different a under oscillate may unit Another oscillate. to 30L-1 particular a enable ly clear that Collins did did Collins that clear ly

nation of input/output complex impedances. However, there may be only a single set of input/output terminations and Tune/Tune s Tune/Tune and terminations input/output of set single a only be may there However, impedances. complex input/output of nation ettings that that ettings

months, it is clear that the 30L-1 is not unconditionally stable. An “unconditionally stable” amplifier is one that will not os not will that one is amplifier stable” “unconditionally An stable. unconditionally not is 30L-1 the that clear is it months, cillate under any combi- any under cillate

tubes installed. It too, displayed the same oscillation although at the slightly lower frequency of 23 MHz. From all the data g data the all From MHz. 23 of frequency lower slightly the at although oscillation same the displayed too, It installed. tubes athered over several several over athered

To ensure that this oscillation was not an anomaly unique to my 30L-1, I borrowed Bob Kellow’s (W5LT) 30L-1, which is a WE unit WE a is which 30L-1, (W5LT) Kellow’s Bob borrowed I 30L-1, my to unique anomaly an not was oscillation this that ensure To with 811A 811A with

tion, similar to Dave’s, was still present, appearing about the same as with the input unterminated. unterminated. input the with as same the about appearing present, still was Dave’s, to similar tion,

ing frequency was always in the neighborhood of 26 MHz. Next I tried the same test but with a 50 a with but test same the tried I Next MHz. 26 of neighborhood the in always was frequency ing termination on the input only. The oscilla- The only. input the on termination Ω

was. The oscillat- The was. setting control Tune the what matter no present was oscillation The do. others 10m, on instability no saw I Although so. or 9.7

as set to around around to set as w control Tune the when 15m on oscillate did 30L-1 my that und fo I it. tried and teeth my gritted I So, harm. no be would there

made me very nervous, but Dave said he had done this and as long as any oscillatory condition was allowed to last for only a se a only for last to allowed was condition oscillatory any as long as and this done had he said Dave but nervous, very me made cond or so, so, or cond

ut unterminated unterminated ut outp the leaving of idea The unterminated. left were circuit output and input the th bo which in scenario worst-case a created I

. For the next test, test, next the For . oscillation any detect I did cases these of none In terminated. un input 30L-1 the with again then and cable), ft 4 (using input

tored with a spectrum analyzer. During this test I never saw any any saw never I test this During analyzer. spectrum a with tored onnected to the the to onnected c 32S-3 my with test the repeated I Next, oscillation. of sign

cover every possible combination of settings. If the amplifier breaks into oscillation, you should see the plate current move. move. current plate the see should you oscillation, into breaks amplifier the If settings. of combination possible every cover As well, I also moni- also I well, As

ate current while varying the Tune and Tune controls randomly in randomly controls Tune and Tune the varying while current ate pl the observed and drive) RF (without amplifier the keyed then an effort to to effort an

1 output and input ports with dummy loads. I I loads. dummy with ports input and output 1 30L the terminated I First, hard. very looked r neve had but operation, normal during band any ‑

I ran a couple of tests on my own 30L-1 (WE), which has Cetron Cetron has which (WE), 30L-1 own my on tests of couple a ran I his amplifier on on amplifier his t with issues stability any noticed never had I installed. 572Bs

ated with the cable elimination. If anyone has more knowledge of this, please let m let please this, of knowledge more has anyone If elimination. cable the with ated associ were changes inductance these that be e know. know. e

edition refers to the 20.5 ft cable, but the 8 the but cable, ft 20.5 the to refers edition 5 the in diagrams wiring the Also, manuals. edition 8 and edition doesn’t. So, it may may it So, doesn’t. edition in the 5 the in

th th th th

but I do not have knowledge of details and timing of component ch component of timing and details of knowledge have not do I but are different different are inductances network input the of some that noticed I’ve anges.

was in stock, so they used it. Sometime later, engineers changed the input matching networks so that the 20.5 foot cable was no was cable foot 20.5 the that so networks matching input the changed engineers later, Sometime it. used they so stock, in was longer needed, needed, longer

length, but engineers found that this cable cable this that found engineers but length, improved 30L-1 stability when Collins exci Collins when stability 30L-1 improved art number and and number art p a had already cable The used. were ters

works. Apparently, however, the cable also improved 30L-1 stabilit 30L-1 improved also cable the however, Apparently, works. y. My belief is that there is probably nothing magic about th about magic nothing probably is there that is belief My y. e exact 20.5 foot foot 20.5 exact e

since the cable would have to be a different length to simply to length different a be to have would cable the since account for the phase delay difference between the 30L-1 & 30S-1 30S-1 & 30L-1 the between difference delay phase the for account matching net- matching

-1 amplifier. The theory behind use of the 20.5 foot cable with the 30L-1 is not clear, but it is unlikely that it was just int just was it that unlikely is it but clear, not is 30L-1 the with cable foot 20.5 the of use behind theory The amplifier. -1 ended to improve IMD IMD improve to ended

application of the 20.5 foot cable was to improve IMD in a specific system using a KWM-2 (or 32S- (or KWM-2 a using system specific a in IMD improve to was cable foot 20.5 the of application original the that known is It X) driving the 30S the driving X)

curred, but said Collins changed the 30L-1 input matching matching input 30L-1 the changed Collins said but curred, components to eliminate the need for the long cable. cable. long the for need the eliminate to components

tween the exciter and amplifier. This is especially important with earlier amplifiers but is recommended with all 30L-1s." Denn 30L-1s." all with recommended is but amplifiers earlier with important especially is This amplifier. and exciter the tween is Brothers con- Brothers is

nally supplied for use with 30L-1s: "This length was determined th determined was length "This 30L-1s: with use for supplied nally rough comprehensive laboratory testing at Collins to reduce i reduce to Collins at testing laboratory comprehensive rough nstabilities be- nstabilities

this problem. Section 1 has this statement concerning the 20.5 foot RF cable origi- cable RF foot 20.5 the concerning statement this has 1 Section problem. this

- The Hi-Res Communications 30L-1 video mentions mentions video 30L-1 Communications Hi-Res The - Oscillation HF #1: Scenario

1 and found two independent oscillation scenarios. scenarios. oscillation independent two found and 1

going on here. Becoming curious, I began some experiments with my own WE 30L- WE own my with experiments some began I curious, Becoming here. on going

has two 30L-1s that are unstable on 15m and 10m, so there has to be something something be to has there so 10m, and 15m on unstable are that 30L-1s two has

1 on 10m, 15m - or both. Dave, an experienced Collins technician, technician, Collins experienced an Dave, both. or - 15m 10m, on 1 30L the with ‑

K6XYZ, and Rick Williams, W1RIK, who have both experienced stability problems problems stability experienced both have who W1RIK, Williams, Rick and K6XYZ,

cussed on the CCA reflector. The proble The reflector. CCA the on cussed ms were brought up by Dave Harmon, Harmon, Dave by up brought were ms

Recently some stability issues with the 30L-1 have come to light and been dis- been and light to come have 30L-1 the with issues stability some Recently

Don Jackson, W5QN W5QN Jackson, Don by - AC03-11523 AC03-11523 -

30L-1 INSTABILITY - Cause & Cure Cure & Cause - INSTABILITY 30L-1 termination, but was somewhat dependent on output load. The oscillation was not present with a broadband dummy load, or with my 15m di- pole antenna, but did occur with my 15m vertical antenna. This was initially puzzling since both antennas had excellent VSWR on 15m. I then realized that the dipole antenna included a voltage balun which is a DC short at the antenna feedpoint, whereas the vertical has a current balun, which is a DC open, so there was likely to be a significant impedance difference at medium frequencies. This medium frequency oscillation (MFO) is more troubling to me than the HF oscillation of Scenario #1 because it can occur even when the 30L-1 is terminated with an antenna having low VSWR at the desired operating frequency. How many antennas do we use that have good VSWR in the medium frequency band? It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to say the answer is “zero”. I turned on an AM radio, and sure enough, I was transmitting a loud buzzy signal at 800kHz when I keyed the PTT.

From initial experiments, it appeared likely that the 30L-1 needed to have a low impedance output termination at low (around 800kHz) frequen- cies in order to suppress this oscillation. I constructed a highpass-lowpass diplexer network for the 30L-1 output to test the theory. This network provides a 50Ω termination at frequencies below 2MHz, without interfering with the normal antenna termination impedance at the operating frequency. This approach worked well, eliminating the undesired oscillation. A schematic of the diplexer is shown in Figure 2 and a photo of the “junk box” diplexer is shown in Figure 3. The diplexer design was generated using free software available at www.tonnesoftware.com.

Figure 2 – Diplexer Schematic (Left)

However, although the diplexer approach works well, it re- quires building an add-on as- sembly, and is only suggested as a possibility for those who really do not wish to modify their 30L-1. For the rest of us, a 30L-1 internal modification would be a better solution.

Figure 3– Diplexer (Above)

At this point, the team of Bob, Dick and I set about determining the cause of this oscillation. Looking at the schematic diagram of the 30L-1, it didn’t take long to realize that if the circuit was viewed at medium frequencies, it looked much like a Tuned Input Tuned Output, common cath- ode oscillator. The grid is tuned to about 860 kHz by L3 (39uH) and the four grid bypass capacitors, each having a value o 220pF. M e a n w h i l e , the plate resonant frequency is set primarily by the plate choke L12 (44uH), blocking cap C31 (1000pF), and the Tune and Load variables, C32 and C33. With the 30L-1 RF output port terminated in a high impedance in the medium frequency range, a rough calculation of the plate reso- nant frequency revealed it can be varied from about 900 kHz to 2.9 MHz, depending on band and the settings of the Tune and Load controls. Feedback for the oscillation is provided by the plate-grid parasitic capacitance (Cpg) of the 811A tubes. Each tube has a Cpg of 5.6 pF resulting in a total feedback of 22.4 pF. This was enough of a “smoking gun” to investigate the TITO oscillation mechanism further. A Spice simulation was created using the best 811A tube model I could find on the web. Sure enough, the Spice model oscillated just as in the real world. Using the model, it was clear that the oscillation could be stopped by changing the grid choke (L3) characteristics. L3 is 39 uH in most units, but is 22 uH in some later units. Fortunately, Dick has a 30L-1 with the 22 uH choke, and it displayed the MFO as well. One strategy to quell the oscillation was to increase the value of L3 to lower the grid resonance to a frequency well below the lowest possible plate resonance. However, by itself, this was an impractical solution, because an L3 with sufficiently high inductance created self-resonant frequency (SRF) issues with actual components. It was then found that placing a resistor (Rp) in parallel with L3 stopped the oscillation. Unfortunately, the initial Spice model just showed a “go or no-go” state for the MFO. What we needed was a technique to quantify the level of stability improvement for each of many possible choices for L3 and Rp.

A very successful technique was provided by a modification of the Spice model in which the amplifier/feedback loop was opened up, and the open-loop gain and phase characteristics investigated. This is a classic technique often used in the stability analysis of operational amplifiers, but can be applied to any feedback system. As we know, a feedback system will be unstable if the voltage gain around the loop is unity (or greater) at a frequency in which the phase shift is zero, or a multiple of 360º. In the Spice simulation, the gain at zero degrees phase shift was recorded for a wide range of L3 and Rp values. This gain/phase analysis was a consistent predictor of oscillation when L3/Rp values were installed in ac- tual units. Just as importance, the “gain margin” for each set of components quantified the degree of stability for each L3/Rp combination. Using this information, it was determined that an L3 value of 56 uH and an Rp of about 3k should do the trick, even in the worst-case scenario of 30L-1 tuning and input/output termination. All five 30L-1s were modified with these values. In every case, the MFO could not be reproduced under any tuning or termination conditions. The MFO Fix The new 56 uH choke can’t be your typical molded choke. After considerable research, I found the Epcos 82111EC24, a choke that has a self resonant frequency (SRF) of 70 MHz, well above the HF operating band. I measured its SRF, and found it to be 77 MHz. The resistor value, Rp, isn’t critical, and can be 3.3k if you wish. Although 1/4W dissipation value should be enough, Bob and I used 3.3k 1/2W because we happened to have some on hand, and Dick used a 3k, 1W. Be sure to use a carbon composition, or a low inductance film design.

For space reasons, Bob suggested mounting the resistor on the choke leads before installing. This makes the job a lot easier as the terminals for connecting L3 are already crowded. Figures 4 and 5 are Bob’s “before” and “after” installation photos. You can also see the Littelfuse TZS Diode (20KPA204CA) grid protection device. Bill Carns highly recommends installing this device (the TZS is recommended over the MOV) in his 1st Qtr 2010 Signal article. The Littelfuse TZS Diode and Epcos choke are both available from Mouser.

While you have the 30L-1 opened up, I would suggest checking out R28. As mentioned by WB7ODD recently on the CCA reflector, this resistor is underrated at 1/2W when drive is applied to the 30L-1. It should be replaced with a 1W or 2W resistor.

Continued on p 45 CCA SIGNAL Q4 2013 29

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CCA SIGNAL Q4 2013 Q4 SIGNAL CCA Remote Control over Phone Lines Lines Phone over Control Remote

Address the International/Commercial Markets Markets International/Commercial the Address Automatic Tuning Tuning Automatic High Reliability Reliability High

Plug-in Cards and Modules for Easy Maintenance and Logistics Logistics and Maintenance Easy for Modules and Cards Plug-in High Performance Technical Specifications Specifications Technical Performance High

Building Block Equipment Components for Flexible System Configurations Configurations System Flexible for Components Equipment Block Building Recurring Cost Targets Targets Cost Recurring

mblies and Components Components and mblies Subasse of Commonality Built-in Test Test Built-in

HF-80 Design Objectives Objectives Design HF-80

e early features that I recall were: were: recall I that features early e thes of Some competitive. be to r orde in achieve to needed we features

the critical design design critical the secondly and quiet project whole the keep to was it important how first length at talking Dave remember I Corporation. Harris

Sideband. The reason for all the secrecy was to accomplish a market coup against our strongest competitor - The RF Communicati RF The - competitor strongest our against coup market a accomplish to was secrecy the all for reason The Sideband. ons Division of of Division ons

r Independent Independent r fo stood which "ISB" as to referred simply was and Private" "Company kept be to was project e Th assignments. project and gets,

ules, cost tar- cost ules, sched levels, funding specifications, pment equi requirements, design containing plan engineering complete the revealed was Here

room of Building 107. 107. Building of room

May 1, 1975 in the upstairs conference conference upstairs the in 1975 1, May

Day and Dave Berner that was held on on held was that Berner Dave and Day

planned by Dave Berner) led by Dennis Dennis by led Berner) Dave by planned

ing kick-off meeting (organized and and (organized meeting kick-off ing

ment and I well remember the engineer- the remember well I and ment

project was approved by Senior Manage- Senior by approved was project

written starting in January 1975. The The 1975. January in starting written

design plans were were plans design engineering as well

ducted and detailed business plans as as plans business detailed and ducted

so extensive market research was con- was research market extensive so

a large project, funded by the company, company, the by funded project, large a

and Gary Jost, VP & GM. This was to be be to was This GM. & VP Jost, Gary and

Maury Vandewalle, Marketing Manager, Manager, Marketing Vandewalle, Maury

gram Manager after HF-80 introduced, introduced, HF-80 after Manager gram

program approval, Ed Rathgeber, Pro- Rathgeber, Ed approval, program

Carter, assigned Program Manager after after Manager Program assigned Carter,

Planning & Program Manager, Jerry Jerry Manager, Program & Planning

sive planning were Dave Berner, Futures Futures Berner, Dave were planning sive

besides Dennis Day involved in the exten- the in involved Day Dennis besides

ground communications systems. Others Others systems. communications ground

pletely new family of HF products for for products HF of family new pletely

ning a secret ground-up design of a com- a of design ground-up secret a ning

management who had been busy plan- busy been had who management

This caught the attention of engineering engineering of attention the caught This

enclosure and PCBs of the new design design new the of PCBs and enclosure

older design laid out behind the small small the behind out laid design older

the period. We see the components of the the of components the see We period. the

LEFT: An internal promotional photo from from photo promotional internal An LEFT:

"sell" my prototype PA control design. design. control PA prototype my "sell"

was $3,300 compared to $15,000 for the system it replaced. My bo My replaced. it system the for $15,000 to compared $3,300 was ing photo to to photo ing follow the shoot photographer y compan the had Heidt, Marv ss,

servo tuning. Many months later I had a prototype system design system prototype a had I later months Many tuning. servo of my design design my of cost standard estimated The lab. the in working and built, ed,

neering expert on on expert neering engi the - Anema Chuck with visit go to told was and quickly ry theo control servo learn to had I motors. servo four with tuned

As the months went by I was assigned a pr a assigned was I by went months the As oject to redesign the control systems of th of systems control the redesign to oject e 208U-10A 10kW HF PA. This transmitter is transmitter This PA. HF 10kW 208U-10A e automatically automatically

The "ISB" Design & Development Project Development & Design "ISB" The

out there with all the other junior engineers. engineers. junior other the all with there out

instruction books on current production HF PAs - and visited with with visited and - PAs HF production current on books instruction Syl. Soon a desk opened up out in the department "bull pen" pen" "bull department the in out up opened desk a Soon Syl. and I was moved moved was I and

work, I was given a desk in an office shared office an in desk a given was I work, with Syl Dawson, one of the seasoned HF HF seasoned the of one Dawson, Syl with design engineers. For the first couple we couple first the For engineers. design eks, I studied the the studied I eks,

larly their willingness to take time to explain details and answer the many questions of a new hire fresh out of college. Now Now college. of out fresh hire new a of questions many the answer and details explain to time take to willingness their larly reporting back to to back reporting

Years earlier I had met Dennis and several other seasoned HF de HF seasoned other several and Dennis met had I earlier Years sign engineers and was impressed impressed was and engineers sign , and particu- and , skills and knowledge their with

was exactly where I found myself - in the HF Power Amplifier grou Amplifier Power HF the in - myself found I where exactly was p of the HF Engineering Department headed by Dennis Day, W0ECK Day, Dennis by headed Department Engineering HF the of p . .

a crack at joining the HF design engineering department. Afte department. engineering design HF the joining at crack a wanted I that - further and me, for company the was this that me r my return, this this return, my r

Communications Systems (much of it using Collins equipment) and and equipment) Collins using it of (much Systems Communications a fresh MSEE degree. My earlier experiences at Collins Radio h Radio Collins at experiences earlier My degree. MSEE fresh a ad convinced convinced ad

By some stroke of fate, I missed all the trauma at Collins duri Collins at trauma the all missed I fate, of stroke some By ng those years and at the same time accumulated a wealth of expe of wealth a accumulated time same the at and years those ng rience in USAF USAF in rience

sence Collins Radio Company had gone through a dark financial peri financial dark a through gone had Company Radio Collins sence Collins Division of Rockwell I Rockwell of Division Collins the as emerging now was and od nternational. nternational.

In January of 1974 I returned to Collins after an extended leave leave extended an after Collins to returned I 1974 of January In and a year of graduate school. graduate of year a and service military for absence of During my ab- my During

Background

Dave had a slide that I will always remember (and he used it fre- quently) as he continually worked to change the cultural mindset of HF engineers in order to make ISB a technical and financial success. It showed a house fly in the center with a large steam roller labeled "Collins" coming to smash the fly from the right. But on the left was a fly swatter labeled "ISB" coming down on the fly. The implication was use a carefully tuned technical and cost effective “Fly Swatter” ap- proach instead of the typical “Make it as good as you possibly can.”

Toward the end of the meeting, the engineering assignments were shown. There were to be four design teams lead by four Project Engi- neers: Syl Dawson, Paul Ziegelbein, Doug Rhodes, and myself. I was the youngest least seasoned of the four and felt honored to be picked. The meeting ended with a room full of "super charged" engi- neers - all eager to tackle their job assignments. At the risk of leaving out a name, I think it fitting to list the main design team members.

The Receiver, Exciter, and Transceiver Sylvan Dawson – Project Engineer Bill Sabin – RF translators Joe Vanous – Exciter circuits Darrell Hennesy – Decade Synthesizer Gerry Erickson – Electrical Engineer Dave Church – Electrical Engineer Keith Wallace – Mechanical Engineer Steve Harmening – Lab Technician, Lead

The Remote Controls Paul Zieglebein – Project Engineer Keith Wallace – Mechanical Engineer Gerry Erickson – Electrical Engineer

The 1kW Power Amplifier & Power Supply Doug Rhodes – Project Engineer Wayne Kalinsky – Power Supply Design Original rendering of the 1 KW Tube PA Don Herr – Driver Amplifier Design in original colors Don Fee – Mechanical Engineer Art Roderick – Mechanical Engineer, Servo Drives The design teams worked feverishly throughout 1975 and by early Bill Anderson – PA Lab Technician, Lead 1976 a few pre-production models were built and tested and we were Tony Wilhelm – PS Lab Technician ready to lift the veil of secrecy and introduce what was now called the Gene Mick – Lead Draftsman "HF-80 Product Line". Dave Berner explained that this equipment was The 3kW and 10kW Power Amplifiers going to carry through the decade of the 1980's. I remember think- Rod Blocksome – Project Engineer ing that's a really long time....and still four years away. Ralph Jensen – Design Engineer Ray Beason – Mechanical Engineer Dave invited all the major Collins dealers and subsidiary marketing Art Roderick – Mechanical Engineer, Servo Drives people to Cedar Rapids for a 4-day conference on HF-80. Each of us Duane "Gus" Gustafson – Lab Technician, Lead project engineers made detailed presentations on our equipment. I Bob Smiley – Lead Draftsman remember it as a grand time but we were still feeling the pressure to "iron out remaining bugs" and get the factory production running The engineering plans also included artist renderings of what the new smoothly. equipment should look like. The styling and control layout was care- fully designed by our industrial designer and human factors expert Darryl Schultz. The renderings for the transceiver and 1kW PA & PS are shown below. You will notice that we had not yet decided to abandon the "Collins Gray". This would come later when all the equipment was to be painted with textured black epoxy paint

Dennis Day and the author (right) describing the new HF-80 Product Line to the Collins worldwide market- ing team assembled at the Long Branch Convention Original rendering for the First Receiver/Exciter Center in Cedar Rapids Feb. 9-12, 1976

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nance features of the new Power Amplifiers Amplifiers Power new the of features nance

was taken to advertise the "built-in-test" and mainte- and "built-in-test" the advertise to taken was

Ken Wolleat, PA Draftsman Draftsman PA Wolleat, Ken

(1978 Photo) (1978

The original 10 KW PA Engineering Unit. This photo photo This Unit. Engineering PA KW 10 original The

Vern Komenda, PA ME; Bill Andersen, PA Lab Tech Tech Lab PA Andersen, Bill ME; PA Komenda, Vern

Rod Blocksome, PA EE & Proj. Eng. Eng. Proj. & EE PA Blocksome, Rod

Tony Wilhelm, PS Lab Tech; Wayne Kalinski, PS EE EE PS Kalinski, Wayne Tech; Lab PS Wilhelm, Tony

Dennis Juve, PS Draftsman; Keith Wallace, PS ME ME PS Wallace, Keith Draftsman; PS Juve, Dennis

HF-8031 PS Design Team Team Design PS HF-8031 PA 1kW THF-8023 (L to R) R) to (L &

- Rod Blocksome, PA EE & Proj Eng Eng Proj & EE PA Blocksome, Rod - PS & PA SS 1kW HF-8023

Art Roderick – Mechanical Engineer, Servo Drives Drives Servo Engineer, Mechanical – Roderick Art

Ray Beason – Mechanical Engineer Engineer Mechanical – Beason Ray

Steve Johnson - Lab Tech Tech Lab - Johnson Steve

"Gus" Gustavson - Lab Tech Tech Lab - Gustavson "Gus" "Comm '76" in Brighton, England - June 8-11, 1976 1976 8-11, June - England Brighton, in '76" "Comm

Ralph Jensen - Electrical Engineer Engineer Electrical - Jensen Ralph England where it was publically introduced at at introduced publically was it where England

The prototype 1kW system above was shipped to to shipped was above system 1kW prototype The

- Rod Blocksome, Proj Eng Eng Proj Blocksome, Rod - HF-8151A (AN/FRT-96) 10kW Transmitter 10kW (AN/FRT-96) HF-8151A

- Paul Zieglebein - Project Engineer Engineer Project - Zieglebein Paul - 851S-1 Receiver 851S-1

- Sylvan Dawson, Project Engineer Engineer Project Dawson, Sylvan - HF-8014/8054 4-Channel ISB 4-Channel HF-8014/8054

- Walt Roth, Project Engineer Engineer Project Roth, Walt - HF-8060 Pre/Post-Selector HF-8060

- Glenn Snyder, Project Engineer Engineer Project Snyder, Glenn - Coupler Antenna 1kW HF-8040

ons and engineers were: were: engineers and ons additi major The ties.

80 equipment designs were thus funded to provide additional capabili- additional provide to funded thus were designs equipment 80

and deliveries were made. HF-80 became a huge success. More HF- More success. huge a became HF-80 made. were deliveries and

Soon orders were coming in, factory production rates ramped upward, upward, ramped rates production factory in, coming were orders Soon

neer. neer.

our HF customers was valuable expe valuable was customers HF our rience for me as a design engi- design a as me for rience

whom later bought large HF-80 systems. This first hand contact with with contact hand first This systems. HF-80 large bought later whom

tions in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, and Israel - all of of all - Israel and Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, in tions

Later in 1977 I was the engineerin the was I 1977 in Later HF-80 demonstra- HF-80 for component g

returned home full of ideas for future improvements. improvements. future for ideas of full home returned

showing off our newly designed HF-80 equipment. I learned a lot and and lot a learned I equipment. HF-80 designed newly our off showing

the foreign travel, meeting custom meeting travel, foreign the ers and colleagues, and proudly proudly and colleagues, and ers

brations on French television that summer. But I thoroughly enjoyed enjoyed thoroughly I But summer. that television French on brations

ber watching (and missing) the US bi-centennial fourth of July cele- July of fourth bi-centennial US the missing) (and watching ber

England who would take it through three more countries. I remem- I countries. more three through it take would who England

zerland, we were to hand it off to two fellows from our subsidiary in in subsidiary our from fellows two to off it hand to were we zerland,

keting) in Paris, France, Rome, Italy, Rome, France, Paris, in keting) and Bern, Switzerland. In Swit- In Switzerland. Bern, and

neering. Dennis asked me to do the demos with Bob Hoke (HF mar- (HF Hoke Bob with demos the do to me asked Dennis neering.

demonstration tour conducted by a member of marketing and engi- and marketing of member a by conducted tour demonstration

was to continually move the demo equipment around the world on a a on world the around equipment demo the move continually to was

then shipped it to our subsidiary in Paris, France. The marketing plan plan marketing The France. Paris, in subsidiary our to it shipped then

Dennis Day demonstrated the new HF equipment in England, and and England, in equipment HF new the demonstrated Day Dennis

with the new equipment. equipment. new the with

department intern, Nancy Anderson, Anderson, Nancy intern, department then a high school senior, posed posed senior, school high a then page) appeared in the AFCEA magazine. magazine. AFCEA the in appeared page)

When the first prototype equipments prototype first the When were completed, our part-time part-time our completed, were At the same time the first advertisement (shown on the opposing opposing the on (shown advertisement first the time same the At

As before, I made many trips abroad with Bob Hoke demonstrating But the start-up in the Toronto plant was accomplished and the pro- the new solid state HF-80 transmitter. In early 1983 we took two duction personnel became experts at assembling, testing, and selling complete systems to Abu Dhabi, UAE. We installed one system in the the HF-80 equipment. Many innovative production techniques were customers' shabby, dusty, two room concrete building. It had a flat introduced to hold costs in line. I remember many trips to the To- concrete roof which was ideal for a 35-ft whip antenna and the HF- ronto plant over the years and made many close friends in the proc- 8040 antenna coupler. In a few days we had everything installed and ess of solving technical problems. running perfectly and held several "show & tell" sessions with the UAE military. They wanted to keep the equipment for a "few weeks of During the mid-1980's HF-80 10kW transmitter production reached an operational trials". Bob and I went on to Egypt for another customer unheard of rate of 1 per day. I remember seeing a delivery semi- demo. Three months later they still had our demo equipment when truck at the dock unloading the 400 lb. HV transformers and creating we received a call "stating that our equipment had failed". There was a "sea" of these beasts covering the entire dock area. Nearby, the a large order promised, so we quickly dispatched a senior field service 10kW production line was running like an automobile assembly line. engineer to Abu Dhabi. Upon arrival, it was obvious what caused the The 10kW PA's mounted on wheeled skids would roll down the line as failure - the building roof over the equipment had collapsed and large each assembly operator would install his/her assigned parts. At the chunks of concrete had hit the transmitter. The HF-8031 power sup- end of the line would emerge a completed PA to be taken over to a ply took a heavy blow to the front panel breaking off most of the cage for final testing and a 48-hour "burn-in". It was a memorable circuit breaker handles. sight I'll never forget.

Remarkably, after cleaning up the mess and resetting the circuit One large HF-80 customer was the US Air Force who modernized their breakers with a screwdriver, the equipment came alive and worked! global HF Ground Station network with HF-80 10kW transmitters and The customer was impressed. I believe this near disaster was at least receivers. It was always a source of personal satisfaction to visit one partially responsible for that order. of their transmitter sites and see the long rows of the PA's I had de- signed years earlier. An example shown below is only a small portion HF-80 Production History of the HF-8022 10kW PA's installed at the USAF Davis, California site. Production of HF-80 equipment started in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1977. A very few units had come off the production line when a high level Another large HF-80 order came from the US Navy. They completed decision was made to transfer all HF-80 production to our facility in a procurement for 475 10kW transmitters. They had to be Toronto, Canada. This decision was driven by facility and labor utiliza- "transmitters" and not separate exciter and PA boxes. Plus, there tion and not by direct cost analysis. were several other requirements not part of our standard HF-80 prod- uct line. This was a huge potential order and competition was stiff. With this announcement came a collective "groan" from the design The Navy procurement process included submitting your "candidate" engineers as we had just gotten most of the inevitable production equipment to be subjected to a series of tests in a formal Technical start-up problems solved and now we had to go through it all over Evaluation. There were strict rules on how the Tech Eval was con- again with different people in a different facility located an airline trip ducted. We quickly designed and built a prototype HF-8151 10kW away. transmitter and delivered it into the Tech Eval - while at the same

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history of his company, its people and its equipment. equipment. its and people its company, his of history

shipped in from Cedar Rapids, and thus delay the start of Op Eval. I I Eval. Op of start the delay thus and Rapids, Cedar from in shipped

often and is passionate about preserving the the preserving about passionate is and often Magazine Signal the the ansmitter, requiring parts to be be to parts requiring ansmitter, tr a damage might they that concern

um in Cedar Rapids. He writes for for writes He Rapids. Cedar in um Muse Collins Rockwell the of curator gineers from Norfolk expressed expressed Norfolk from gineers en procurement Navy the However,

: Rod is retired from Rockwell Collins and is also the past past the also is and Collins Rockwell from retired is Rod : Editors Note Editors

attention in a big way. way. big a in attention

and award a prize to the winning team at the end. This got their their got This end. the at team winning the to prize a award and

de Rod Blocksome, K0DAS K0DAS Blocksome, Rod de peatedly with progressively more difficult faults. I would keep score score keep would I faults. difficult more progressively with peatedly

the transmitter operating correctly. We would do this exercise re- exercise this do would We correctly. operating transmitter the

and privileged to have been a part of it all. all. it of part a been have to privileged and to: a) identify the fault and b) repair the fault and then demonstrate demonstrate then and fault the repair b) and fault the identify a) to:

teams backed by the skilled Collins support functions. I was fortunate fortunate was I functions. support Collins skilled the by backed teams would measure how long each took took each long how measure would I and transmitter a got team Each

leadership at Collins and to the dedicated design and development development and design dedicated the to and Collins at leadership break while I would introduce a fault into two of the transmitters. transmitters. the of two into fault a introduce would I while break

HF-80 success was due, first of all, to the experienced and skilled skilled and experienced the to all, of first due, was success HF-80 going to divide the class into two teams. They could go have a coffee coffee a have go could They teams. two into class the divide to going

amount of worldwide sales and the variety of systems produced. The The produced. systems of variety the and sales worldwide of amount g morning I announced we were were we announced I morning g followin The different. something

ign of HF-80, I'm amazed at the the at amazed I'm HF-80, of ign re year 15 this over back Looking awake session for the young troops. That night I decided to try try to decided I night That troops. young the for session awake

r. It was a boring, hard-to-stay- boring, a was It r. transmitte the in circuit every behind

ous reasons. reasons. ous story. The first day I gave them an 8-hour lecture on the theory theory the on lecture 8-hour an them gave I day first The story.

revive HF-80 production back in Cedar Rapids but all fizzled for vari- for fizzled all but Rapids Cedar in back production HF-80 revive intenance folks were a different different a were folks intenance ma the However complicated. very

the plant. In the next couple years there were occasional attempts to to attempts occasional were there years couple next the In plant. the Training the operators went smoothly as it was easy to learn and not not and learn to easy was it as smoothly went operators the Training

ings. It was a sad time - particularly for the dedicated personnel in in personnel dedicated the for particularly - time sad a was It ings.

sion was made to close the Toronto plant and sell the land and build- and land the sell and plant Toronto the close to made was sion the new equipment was critical. critical. was equipment new the with performance their as sonnel

80 equipment declined and the deci- the and declined equipment 80 HF- for Orders ended. War Cold provide on-site training to the Navy operators and maintenance per- maintenance and operators Navy the to training on-site provide

Berlin Wall came down and the the and down came Wall Berlin The changing. was world the 1990 By were properly installed and operating up to spec. Second was to to was Second spec. to up operating and installed properly were

Eval. The first task was to check and certify that all eight transmitters transmitters eight all that certify and check to was task first The Eval.

This process was drawn out over a period of several years. years. several of period a over out drawn was process This struction Books, etc. I spent several weeks in Spain preparing for Op Op for preparing Spain in weeks several spent I etc. Books, struction

production facility named Pionir and located just outside Belgrade. Belgrade. outside just located and Pionir named facility production cal performance, Logistics, Maintenance, Operations, Training, In- Training, Operations, Maintenance, Logistics, performance, cal

HF-80 equipment followed by a gradual ramping up of a licensed licensed a of up ramping gradual a by followed equipment HF-80 covers all aspects of introducing a new system into the Navy: Techni- Navy: the into system new a introducing of aspects all covers

The Yugoslavian HF-80 program initially involved the outright sale of of sale outright the involved initially program HF-80 Yugoslavian The were just as keen to expeditiously pass this test as we were. Op Eval Eval Op were. we as test this pass expeditiously to keen as just were

site near Morón de la Frontera, Spain. The Navy procurement folks folks procurement Navy The Spain. Frontera, la de Morón near site

had a big laugh. laugh. big a had ducted with eight production transmitters to be installed at the Navy Navy the at installed be to transmitters production eight with ducted

only at wedding ceremonies" Of course, afterwards I did tell, and we we and tell, did I afterwards course, Of ceremonies" wedding at only for "full rate production" of 475 transmitters. Op Eval was to be con- be to was Eval Op transmitters. 475 of production" rate "full for

pered "Don't tell anyone, but in Yugoslavia this is a special drink used used drink special a is this Yugoslavia in but anyone, tell "Don't pered successfully pass an Operational Evaluation. This would clear the way way the clear would This Evaluation. Operational an pass successfully

paint thinner. The Yugoslavian engineer standing next to me whis- me to next standing engineer Yugoslavian The thinner. paint The next technical hurdle after winning the Navy contract, was to to was contract, Navy the winning after hurdle technical next The

toast was made with everyone standing in a circle. It reminded me of of me reminded It circle. a in standing everyone with made was toast

expounded on his difficulties in finding this special liquor in Iowa. A A Iowa. in liquor special this finding in difficulties his on expounded Tech Eval radio contained a Radio Shack resistor. resistor. Shack Radio a contained radio Eval Tech

a bottle of Yugoslavian liquor and and liquor Yugoslavian of bottle a produced fanfare, much with ager, on to eventually win the contract with very few people knowing our our knowing people few very with contract the win eventually to on

ior to dinner, our marketing man- marketing our dinner, to ior Pr Belgrade. from customers five resistor, and had the transmitter going again the next day. We went went We day. next the again going transmitter the had and resistor,

dinner at the Cedar Rapids Country Club with our marketing hosting hosting marketing our with Club Country Rapids Cedar the at dinner resistor out of tolerance. I went to Radio Shack, bought the proper proper the bought Shack, Radio to went I tolerance. of out resistor

signed. I remember a celebration celebration a remember I signed. finally were contracts negotiations, Virginia and in the course of trouble-shooting our problem found a a found problem our trouble-shooting of course the in and Virginia

equipment and, after a long series of trips back and forth and tedious tedious and forth and back trips of series long a after and, equipment holiday for Independence Day. I caught the first plane out to Norfolk, Norfolk, to out plane first the caught I Day. Independence for holiday

Yugoslavia was keen to buy and produce a large quantity of HF-80 HF-80 of quantity large a produce and buy to keen was Yugoslavia respond and fix it. I remember getting such a call during our 4-day 4-day our during call a such getting remember I it. fix and respond

failed a test, the company would be notified and had 72 hours to to hours 72 had and notified be would company the test, a failed

trips to Australia. Australia. to trips any's product suffered a failure or or failure a suffered product any's comp a if rules, Eval Tech the Per

new transformer venders in Australia - which we did after a couple couple a after did we which - Australia in venders transformer new

as much, or more, than the transformer. The solution was to qualify qualify to was solution The transformer. the than more, or much, as same: Harris, Marconi, and Continental. It was a very intense time. time. intense very a was It Continental. and Marconi, Harris, same:

to Australia. But shipping the heavy transformers was going to cost cost to going was transformers heavy the shipping But Australia. to time bidding and writing the proposal. Three other companies did the the did companies other Three proposal. the writing and bidding time

qualified venders and shipped from the US US the from shipped and venders qualified

using components purchased from our our from purchased components using USAF Davis, California HF-8022 10kW PAs in service service in PAs 10kW HF-8022 California Davis, USAF

semble the HF-8022 10kW transmitters transmitters 10kW HF-8022 the semble

subsidiary in Melbourne geared up to as- to up geared Melbourne in subsidiary

requirement for in-country content. Our Our content. in-country for requirement

Australian government that included a a included that government Australian

via. We landed a large contract with the the with contract large a landed We via.

bourne, Australia and Belgrade, Yugosla- Belgrade, and Australia bourne,

took place in two other locations - Mel- - locations other two in place took

During the 1980's limited HF-80 production production HF-80 limited 1980's the During

rarely happens on the first attempt. attempt. first the on happens rarely

we had passed Op Eval - something that that something - Eval Op passed had we

Three months later we were notified that that notified were we later months Three

mentos from this time period. period. time this from mentos

Award". It is one of my most prized me- prized most my of one is It Award".

the "Seat of your Pants Engineering Engineering Pants your of "Seat the

That night at dinner dinner at night That he presented me with with me presented he

neer constructed a home-made award. award. home-made a constructed neer

the hotel outside Seville, the Navy engi- Navy the Seville, outside hotel the

to study. At the end while driving back to to back driving while end the At study. to

trainees to take the books home at night night at home books the take to trainees

was a success - even spurring several several spurring even - success a was

risk. Over the next week the competition competition the week next the Over risk.

but thought the benefits outweighed the the outweighed benefits the thought but

was worried about this possibility as well, well, as possibility this about worried was The Pat Fox Story

From the pages of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, Did You October 27, 2013

“Patricia “Pat” Jeanne (Colton) Fox, born Oct. 23, 1946, Know? passed away at St. Luke’s Hospice, Cedar Rapids, on Oct. 26, 2013, after a very short battle with cancer. Services Most of the readers of this Signal Magazine are members of the Ama- 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Morgan Funeral Choices, teur Radio community. We, and almost everyone else, all know the Mount Vernon, by Celebrant Mary Morgan. The family stories of young Art and his ham radio exploits. We know how he will greet friends from 5 until 7 p.m. Tuesday at the built his own first equipment - and we know how he helped make the funeral home. Burial: Rose Hill Cemetery, Mechanicsville. MacMillan, and then the Byrd, expeditions the successes that they were by supplying communication support in one form or another. Pat worked at Rockwell Collins for 45 years, retiring in 2011. While there, she took every test she could to ad- Few know though that Art Collins was not a ham.….Ready to argue? vance her employment opportunities and served as IBEW ….. Read on.

Union Steward. She was a volunteer at Treasures/ We do know that Art Collins was first licensed as 9CXX as a young Bridgehaven and WRAP (Wheelchair Ramp Accessibility man of 14 in 1923. Later, in 1937, when the prefix call signs were Program). Pat was also a member of The Red Hat Soci- adopted, Art became W9CXX. So….What am I talking about? ety.” Let’s fast forward to 1941. Arthur is up to his neck in new develop- I encountered Pat Fox a number of months ago while I was on a ments, engineering work, and the expansion of his new company. trip to Cedar Rapids to do some research for an article. She was a Just around the corner, the war is looming, and Art knows this well person that made a quick impression - very active and quick to enough. In the Q1 2013 issue of this magazine, we all read about the smile… and definitely a woman of her own mind. I liked her right preparation and foresight that ruled at Collins during these years away. Short and wiry…. the Spanish descriptive word “pistolero” before the war officially started. There was little time for ham radio at wants to come to my lips. Collins.

We met at a retirement group lunch meeting. She had worked in Sometime during 1941 – we do not know the exact date – Art Collins production at Collins Radio for some 45 years, went on to drive a let his (then) W9CXX license expire. Art Collins, boy wonder, founder delivery truck on Collins campus business and retired finally in of the premier ham radio equipment supplier in the world, wasn’t a 2011. For her personal transportation, she also chose a pickup ham. truck. Times at Collins did not get any more relaxed for many years. Art and She told me a story that still makes me laugh, is typical of her I his company continued to prepare for, then support, the war effort think, and also sheds some light on Collins management. and grow the company. Then, after the war, the company and Art had a whole new set of challenges.

When she went to work for Collins in 1966, and after some initial During the late 40s, amateur radio continued to evolve at Collins – training, she was put on the line “on probation” for six weeks. This The 30K, the 32V and 75A series were added to the catalog. How- was customary then. On her very first day, and nervous about her ever, at the same time (you will remember from the last issue) finan- performance, she was working at her assigned task when she felt cial recovery from the loss of business after the war continued to be a the presence of someone standing behind her. She turned to find pressing issue with the management of Collins Radio. It was not until her foreman, accompanied by a man in a lab coat. They were peer- 1949 that sales and financial performance started to turn around. ing over her shoulder and watching her work. She quickly turned back to her work and continued. But….she could feel those eyes So, let’s look at early 1949. The backlog is up significantly for the first watching her. She turned again, only to find the man in the lab time since the war’s end. Things are feeling a little better to Mr. coat even closer and leaning in studying her work. Collins. Noteworthy also is the fact that in January of 1949 John Fos- ter had just started work on that beautiful KW-1. Again she looked back to her job – now feeling even more self- conscious. Finally, not able to stand the stress, she turn to Mr. Lab Art renewed his ham license sometime mid-year in 1949. He was Coat, and in the presence of her foreman, announced: “Get the again a ham. But, there is another facet of interest to this story. Hell out of here. I am on probation and you are making me very nervous.” In 1949, there was no vanity call-sign program. When you became a licensed ham, you received the next call sign that came up on the Well, Mr. Lab Coat made a short apology and hustled his coat right unassigned list. Let’s ignore the fact that 8 years had passed since Art out of there. After they had left, Pat returned to her work. Later in lost his call. What is relevant is that sometime during that 8 years, the day, at her break, the foreman walked over to her and com- one William Kennedy living in Chicago had been assigned W9CXX. mented: “You know that man that you told to leave? Well, that Art’s call sign was gone. It was too late to renew it anyway. In addi- was Arthur Collins !” Now fearing for her job, she was then told tion the call sign boundaries now placed Cedar Rapids Iowa in “zero” that Mr. Collins had actually appreciated the fact that he was asked land. And, call sign boundaries meant something in those days. to leave so she could do a better job without being watched. Now we get a little peek at Art’s influence and the connections that Art had in our government. We also get a peek at what those govern- Like I said…..Pistolero! ment folks thought of his contributions to the war efforts and commu-

th nication technology. Pat Fox passed away on October 26 of this year after a short bout with cancer. She was 67 years young. We have lost another fine Mysteriously, Art is issued W0CXX. And, that is the rest of the story. Collins employee. Art could now use “CXX” with that beautiful KW-1 that was soon to be Bill Carns introduced.

Printed with Pat’s prior permission from an earlier interview. ------CCA ------

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avionics businesses tied to cyclical airframe market demands and and demands market airframe cyclical to tied businesses avionics

processes manufacturing related and

were not sustainable. Commercial Commercial sustainable. not were good business contributors but but contributors business good

The development of multilayer printed circuit boards boards circuit printed multilayer of development The mands for the Vietnam conflict and the manned space program were were program space manned the and conflict Vietnam the for mands • •

s. Communications equipment de- equipment Communications s. market traditional in croachment

The development of higher power rf semiconductors semiconductors rf power higher of development The • •

e (recession) and competitive en- competitive and (recession) e shrinkag market to due sales and

The development of the first microprocessor microprocessor first the of development The

• • from ongoing core businesses followed significant declines in orders orders in declines significant followed businesses core ongoing from

Systems Systems underwrite the ongoing C-System development. Declines in profit profit in Declines development. C-System ongoing the underwrite

The development of integrated computer control of HF HF of control computer integrated of development The g business was insufficient to to insufficient was business g ongoin from resources development • •

costs. As development progressed over many years, research and and research years, many over progressed development As costs. related manufacturing processes processes manufacturing related

hours and related infrastructure infrastructure related and hours development engineering of sands

The development of large scale integrated circuits and and circuits integrated scale large of development The • •

known as the Collins C-System. This broad vision would require thou- require would vision broad This C-System. Collins the as known

tions architecture. It was this forward thinking concept that became became that concept thinking forward this was It architecture. tions

number of underlying advancements. advancements. underlying of number architecture, overlaid on control architecture, overlaid on communica- on overlaid architecture, control on overlaid architecture,

nications. This giant shift in communication strategy was related to a a to related was strategy communication in shift giant This nications. the importance of the data base. He talked about what he called data data called he what about talked He base. data the of importance the

satellites brought the reality of near instantaneous long haul commu- haul long instantaneous near of reality the brought satellites ted, the way we use communication and computers.’ He talked about about talked He computers.’ and communication use we way the ted,

ork integration of geostationary geostationary of integration ork netw and launch development, The communication --- we have to look at the way information is format- is information way the at look to have we --- communication

sions. We have to have more than just a computer, more than just just than more computer, a just than more have to have We sions.

in particular Collins HF communications business. business. communications HF Collins particular in

To manage it we have to compute it, control it and make some deci- some make and it control it, compute to have we it manage To

company that would prove to have an impact on Collins business and and business Collins on impact an have to prove would that company

with what we are really trying to do --- that’s to manage information. information. manage to that’s --- do to trying really are we what with

there were several significant technology advances external to the the to external advances technology significant several were there

projects). Art said: ‘Let’s start start ‘Let’s said: Art projects). computer of development and ment

ncial turmoil in the early 1970’s, 1970’s, early the in turmoil ncial Fina Collins of period the During

captured recollections of Bob Cattoi (Head of engineering manage- engineering of (Head Cattoi Bob of recollections captured

Advances Technology Electronic

Ben Stearns Stearns Ben Wizard, Radio Collins Arthur System vision. In his book book his In vision. System

1970’s was influenced by the direction of Arthur Collins and his C- his and Collins Arthur of direction the by influenced was 1970’s expand and impact mankind. mankind. impact and expand

during the late 1960’s and early early and 1960’s late the during activity development product All communications, computation, and control technologies continue to to continue technologies control and computation, communications,

Transition Environment Business Collins he foresaw, the use of digital digital of use the foresaw, he As concepts. the implement fectively

were futuristic and ahead of the technology it would take to cost ef- cost to take would it technology the of ahead and futuristic were

itable competitive success. success. competitive itable prof yield to culture new the

As one reflects back today, some forty years later, Arthur’s visions visions Arthur’s later, years forty some today, back reflects one As

ized and how we would react in in react would we how and ized recogn be would environment the how

pany across all of its businesses. Success would be determined by by determined be would Success businesses. its of all across pany merger that raised another round of cash. cash. of round another raised that merger

or failure. This environment set the stage for the future of the com- the of future the for stage the set environment This failure. or of Rockwell International in a a in International Rockwell of part became Radio Collins 1973, 2,

uence future business success success business future uence infl would 1970’s early and 1960’s late s’ business model. On November November On model. business s’ Collin to changes the began and CEO

That being said, the environment in which we were operating in the the in operating were we which in environment the said, being That nical advisory position. Robert C. Wilson was named as president and and president as named was Wilson C. Robert position. advisory nical

1971 when he was asked to relinquish his position and offered a tech- a offered and position his relinquish to asked was he when 1971

URG II as Product Line Manager. Manager. Line Product as II URG board. Arthur Collins remained president and CEO until November 23, 23, November until CEO and president remained Collins Arthur board.

lack of profitability. My direct responsibilities related to URG I and and I URG to related responsibilities direct My profitability. of lack in return for newly issued stock, and elected seven members to the the to members seven elected and stock, issued newly for return in

responsibilities. This was in the midst of the decline in business and and business in decline the of midst the in was This responsibilities. vestment of $35 million in Collins Collins in million $35 of vestment in an made Rockwell American North

to Cedar Rapids along with the Surface Communications Product Line Line Product Communications Surface the with along Rapids Cedar to stock. On September 2, 1971, 1971, 2, September On stock. convertible new issuing and members

In the fall of 1970, several in our group were asked to transfer back back transfer to asked were group our in several 1970, of fall the In

included increasing the size of the Board of Directors from 12 to 13 13 to 12 from Directors of Board the of size the increasing included

between Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Richardson, Texas. Texas. Richardson, and Iowa Rapids, Cedar between

and production of the functional “slices” was disbursed disbursed was “slices” functional the of production and

the newly developed URG II product line. Development Development line. product II URG developed newly the

our group was assigned management responsibility for for responsibility management assigned was group our

System HF (URG II) and and II) (URG HF System C- marketing started company

production. This was about the same time that the the that time same the about was This production.

Richardson, Texas facility along with product systems systems product with along facility Texas Richardson,

ment moved our product management group to the the to group management product our moved ment

As part of the company’s growth, in 1967 manage- 1967 in growth, company’s the of part As

able insight that became helpful as time passed. passed. time as helpful became that insight able

when I was transferred to Texas but provided valu- provided but Texas to transferred was I when

finance and marketing. This track was interrupted interrupted was track This marketing. and finance

accepted into the program and began with studies in in studies with began and program the into accepted

night extension MBA courses in Cedar Rapids. I was was I Rapids. Cedar in courses MBA extension night

During this period the Univ. of Iowa was offering offering was Iowa of Univ. the period this During

support. support.

posals, marketing literature, and customer marketing marketing customer and literature, marketing posals,

Here I became involved with developing customer pro- customer developing with involved became I Here

the Surface Communications Product Line organization. organization. Line Product Communications Surface the

lege. Following that assignment, I was transferred to to transferred was I assignment, that Following lege.

sceiver. Wow! What a privi- a What Wow! sceiver. Tran HF Apollo the for dures

long after that I was then assigned to develop detailed test proce- test detailed develop to assigned then was I that after long shareholders approved revised Articl revised approved shareholders es of Incorporation. The revisions revisions The Incorporation. of es

for a new HF Product Line called Universal Radio Group. It wasn’t wasn’t It Group. Radio Universal called Line Product HF new a for 1971 and exploration of outside financ outside of exploration and 1971 ing, on August 31, 1971, Collins Collins 1971, 31, August on ing,

Collins in 1962. Early assignments we assignments Early 1962. in Collins re developing technical manuals manuals technical developing re After employment reductions of 40 40 of reductions employment After percent during fiscal 1969 through through 1969 fiscal during percent

Upon graduation with a BSEE I had been offered a position with with position a offered been had I BSEE a with graduation Upon existing product improvements and/or replacement dried up. up. dried replacement and/or improvements product existing

but also on my work experiences le experiences work my on also but ading up to the the to up ading HF-80 “hatching”. “hatching”. HF-80 appetite for development funds. In addition, funds for development of of development for funds addition, In funds. development for appetite

ceived, I had to reflect not only on the Collins business environment, environment, business Collins the on only not reflect to had I ceived, flow. External bank financing was not enough to sustain the C-System C-System the sustain to enough not was financing bank External flow.

When I was asked to share how the HF-80 Product Line was con- was Line Product HF-80 the how share to asked was I When emerging competition were also a factor impacting bottom line cash cash line bottom impacting factor a also were competition emerging

by Dave Berner, Retired Rockwell Collins Rockwell Retired Berner, Dave by

HF-80 HF-80

. . . . From Concept to Market to Concept From . . . . Expansion of Collins HF Core Competency From his boyhood interest in radio, followed by building a company this same period of time, the United States was also involved in the initially producing high-frequency radio equipment, Arthur Collins “race to the moon” Both of these major US Government expenditures established a reputation for superior performance, high quality, and provided a strong technology business base in the country and at reliable communications equipment. Expansion into aviation equip- Collins Radio. ment followed a natural progression of utilization of the rf spectrum to serve mankind. Over the years the company’s offerings covered One might ask what role HF communications played in Apollo mis- not only the amateur radio market but also aviation, telecommunica- sions. On somewhat a parallel track, the run up to the moon landing tions, and commercial broadcast for domestic and international cus- was also the development of satellite communications. During this tomers. The following paragraphs focus on a segment of the overall time, HF systems (URG I) were installed at tracking stations around business that addresses high-frequency communications for primarily the globe. An HF suite of equipment (URG I) was installed aboard the fixed station and transportable application. It sets the stage for the Apollo Range Instrumented Aircraft. The Apollo Ships (naval tacking conceptualization, planning, and development for what has become and recovery fleet) had an HF suite (URG I) aboard. And, the Apollo known as the HF-80 Product Line. Command Module also had a fixed frequency transceiver on board for recovery operations. Collins HF Fixed and Transportable Systems Equipment

Universal Radio Group HF Products --- URG-I International HF Equipment and Systems Ongoing orders and sales of URG I equipment and systems since their HF communications was still the mainstay for long haul communica- introduction in 1962 were generally split between international (40%) tions circuits for aviation, shipboard, and telephone circuits. Tradi- and US Government (60%) customers. Peak order volumes achieved tional customers besides international military organizations included in 1967 declined by the early 1970’s. This was partly due to reduc- post and telegraph services as well as industrial applications. Address- tions in US Government spending following the Vietnam Conflict and ing this market were several European HF manufacturers as well as price pressures resulting from the availability of more current com- US. petitive technologies. By the early ‘70s, there were more than 15 domestic and international producers of various kinds of HF communi- Collins HF Competitive Positioning cations equipment. In the beginning, Collins Radio technology was rooted in high- C-System Design Driven HF Products --- URG-II frequency Amateur Radio by 9CXX, young Arthur Collins. Equipment A small part of the overall conceptual C-System architecture and de- produced by the company became the equipment of choice by profes- velopment effort included a new family of HF equipment. Computer sional and amateur operators alike. Arthur also had an intense inter- control interface was a dominant technical feature along with high est in aviation and saw the need for aviation related communication performance Mil-Std 1553 Link 11 data compatibility characteristics. and electronics. His amateur radio hobby and aviation interest were The C-System Products mechanical packaging (at that time) retained key drivers in the development of Collins Radio business from incorpo- the Aeronautical Radio ATR packaging concept with next generation ration in 1933 forward. multilayer circuit boards interconnected with multilayer back planes. In the ‘40s, aviation electronics began to be packaged in a series of In an April 1, 1967 memo to “All Marketing Personnel” John Boyle, standard “black boxes”. The new standard that evolved defined maxi- marketing vice-president, stated… mum height and increments of depth and width to accommodate the

A basic feature of Collins’ new CCCS oriented HF product line particular electronics contained. This packaging and racking standard is the multiple use of various slices in all HF application, was referred to as ATR. including surface, aviation, marine, etc. Traditionally we have operated largely on the basis of specific product to specific By the mid-1950’s, Collins had established itself as a technologically applications. This was practical and desirable in the past, as superior, high quality and reliable manufacturer of aviation electron- black boxes were generally designed to meet specific appli- ics. The company was a dominant supplier of avionics for commercial cation requirements. We are now in an enviable position of and government transport aircraft. This included communications, having considerable flexibility to meeting various applications navigation and flight control products and systems. In parallel, ama- by use of common slices. teur, fixed station, transportable and shipboard board H-F equipment markets continued to grow URG II high speed data per- with advances in Collins formance for the state-of-the products. -art was excellent and prod- uct slice configurations were During the early 1960’s, initially accepted by the US Collins developed an HF Air Force. Orders during the family of ATR packaged I-F first five years prior to 1973 and R-F Translators, pre- were 95 % US Government selectors, 1 KW power ampli- on a handful of programs. fier, power supply, and FSK These products generally controls. This family was served the high end market called, Universal Radio (technical performance & Figure 2 - URG I HF Product Line System Group. It provided coverage packaging design) and there of the 2.0 to 30.0 MHz fre- was price limited interna- quency spectrum. The packaging was ideal for large aircraft installa- tional market penetration tions. For ground applications, a system of shelving, cooling air, elec- and related total business trical interconnects of the selected ATR boxes had to be constructed. volume. A series of standard shelving and racking products was developed in the mid 1960’s to minimize unique systems integration expense. HF Fixed and Transportable Market Environment In the 1950’s, two engineers left Collins Radio to join General Dynam- US Government HF Equipment and Systems ics and subsequently became acquainted with Bill Stolze. Bill had worked for RCA, Stromberg Carlson, and P.R. Mallory Co. in various As the United States ramped up its military involvement in the Viet- engineering positions. The three of them decided to start a new radio nam War in the early 1960’s, several major HF communications pro- communications company in Rochester, NY. Bill’s stated philosophy grams were initiated by various branches of the US military. During was…”There is a place in the world for a company specializing in radio

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ok place in 1972. The functional functional The 1972. in place ok to reorganization major A structure.

long haul comm? The power amplifier was just a piece of the puzzle. puzzle. the of piece a just was amplifier power The comm? haul long was organized functionally with principally a top down management management down top a principally with functionally organized was questions than it answered. What did the customer really need for for need really customer the did What answered. it than questions

When Robert Wilson began work as President and CEO, the company company the CEO, and President as work began Wilson Robert When returned and compiled in August, 1973. In a sense, it raised more more raised it sense, a In 1973. August, in compiled and returned

Business Restructuring Restructuring Business veyed relative to the need for a 1 KW Power Amplifier. The data was was data The Amplifier. Power KW 1 a for need the to relative veyed

& international dealers were sur- were dealers international & marketing Collins 1973, March, In

Rockwell Enter --- Transition Business Collins

move forward. forward. move

looked like it would be an uphill battle to obtain internal funding to to funding internal obtain to battle uphill an be would it like looked in the Collins versus RF Comm arena. arena. Comm RF versus Collins the in

single outside customer program to provide development funds, it it funds, development provide to program customer outside single G II was not a competitive player player competitive a not was II G UR Thus, day. the of segments ket

ary austerity and that there was no no was there that and austerity ary discretion of time a was this that ings, there was little fit for URG II in the higher unit volume HF mar- HF volume unit higher the in II URG for fit little was there ings,

GSA catalog for “off the shelf” delivery. Given Given delivery. shelf” the “off for catalog GSA the on listed equipment tions and its cost was appreciably more than comparable URG I offer- I URG comparable than more appreciably was cost its and tions

etition. RF Comm also had their their had also Comm RF etition. comp from items catalog shelf the Given that URG II addressed more sophisticated performance applica- performance sophisticated more addressed II URG that Given

g this type of equipment as off off as equipment of type this g procurin were customers International

URG II High Performance HF HF Performance High II URG

dated 1/23/73. 1/23/73. dated

Comm as the “team to beat”. beat”. to “team the as Comm

concept was laid out on a single 36” x 33” piece of Clearprint paper paper Clearprint of piece 33” x 36” single a on out laid was concept

markets at the time, we chose RF RF chose we time, the at markets niche various addressing equipment

ers, and value engineered 3 KW and 10 KW Linear Amplifiers. The The Amplifiers. Linear KW 10 and KW 3 engineered value and ers,

Although there were other domestic and international producers of HF HF of producers international and domestic other were there Although

new family of Receivers, Exciters, Transceivers, 1 KW Linear Amplifi- Linear KW 1 Transceivers, Exciters, Receivers, of family new

line that would replace URG I. The new Product Line would include a a include would Line Product new The I. URG replace would that line

ped architecture for a new product product new a for architecture ped develo I Independently, indicated.

our addressed market especially where potential market growth was was growth market potential where especially market addressed our

needed to be done to improve our competitive position and expand expand and position competitive our improve to done be to needed

and losing! - contracts for URG equipment and systems. Something Something systems. and equipment URG for contracts - losing! and

both domestic and international markets, I had experienced winning - - winning experienced had I markets, international and domestic both

etitive procurement activities in in activities procurement etitive comp many in involved been Having

look for ways to profitably grow the business. business. the grow profitably to ways for look

business activity, we had the opportunity to address the future and and future the address to opportunity the had we activity, business

ment for market driven business planning. In addition to day to day day to day to addition In planning. business driven market for ment

strategic thinking and an environ- an and thinking strategic for opportunity an provided centers

market/business focused profit profit focused market/business into restructuring Management 1972.

changes that then took place in in place took then that changes management the as well as period,

company was operating during this this during operating was company the environment the outlined have

Product Line was added in July of 1969. The previous paragraphs paragraphs previous The 1969. of July in added was Line Product

Product Line Manager in July of 1967. Responsibility for the URG II II URG the for Responsibility 1967. of July in Manager Line Product

URG I products were already in production when I was appointed the the appointed was I when production in already were products I URG

This was known internally as the Standard URG (SURG) project. project. (SURG) URG Standard the as internally known was This

fined and placed into production. production. into placed and fined de were configurations standardized

simplify administration, reduce costs, and improve delivery times, times, delivery improve and costs, reduce administration, simplify

plex, costly, and hurt customer “order to delivery” cycle times. To To times. cycle delivery” to “order customer hurt and costly, plex,

ughput was administratively com- administratively was ughput thro and planning inventory duction

various modules and units to customer requirements. However, pro- However, requirements. customer to units and modules various

combination of boxes. This feature allowed custom adaptation of the the of adaptation custom allowed feature This boxes. of combination

Transceivers Transceivers

configuration of modules within the black boxes as well as flexible flexible as well as boxes black the within modules of configuration

& Collins 1 KW KW 1 Collins &

The URG I ATR packaging and design concept enabled functional functional enabled concept design and packaging ATR I URG The

Figure 3 - RF Comm Comm RF - 3 Figure

Something Must Be Done --- URG Business Decisions Business URG --- Done Be Must Something

more discretionary funds became available. available. became funds discretionary more

neering “ideas”. However, as ov as However, “ideas”. neering erall operating revenue improved improved revenue operating erall

ment programs. Very little funds we funds little Very programs. ment re directed towards in house engi- house in towards directed re

Comm offering. offering. Comm

primarily related to US Govern- US to related primarily were which programs development

Transceiver was also priced at 26 at priced also was Transceiver % higher than the comparable RF RF comparable the than higher %

commitments. Business strategies Business commitments. embraced customer sponsored sponsored customer embraced

illustrates the 1 KW physical and cost comparisons. The Collins 10 KW KW 10 Collins The comparisons. cost and physical KW 1 the illustrates

R&D funds were significantly limited to a few market related project project related market few a to limited significantly were funds R&D

would meet their performance requirements. The accompany figures figures accompany The requirements. performance their meet would

Collins. Due to the financial turmo financial the to Due Collins. il in the early 1970’s, discretionary discretionary 1970’s, early the in il

rocket scientist to make a purchase decision given that either offering offering either that given decision purchase a make to scientist rocket

primarily to C-System related engineering projects guided by Arthur Arthur by guided projects engineering related C-System to primarily

for comparable performance 1 KW KW 1 performance comparable for Transceivers. It didn’t take a a take didn’t It Transceivers.

In the years prior to Rockwell, discretionary R&D funding was directed directed was funding R&D discretionary Rockwell, to prior years the In

tween RF Comm (much less expensive) and Collins in prices offered offered prices in Collins and expensive) less (much Comm RF tween

Limited Discretionary Development Funding Development Discretionary Limited

Transportable HF market segments. There was a wide spread be- spread wide a was There segments. market HF Transportable

Collins, RF Comm had established itself in the Fixed Station and and Station Fixed the in itself established had Comm RF Collins,

of red ink. ink. red of

late 60s, a period of that corresponded with the financial turmoil at at turmoil financial the with corresponded that of period a 60s, late

Rockwell investment was put to imme to put was investment Rockwell diate use to help stem the flow flow the stem help to use diate

nologies and strategies were competitively useful to them. During the the During them. to useful competitively were strategies and nologies

given to customer service. The initial $35 million North American American North million $35 initial The service. customer to given

Collins engineers, one can assume th assume can one engineers, Collins at the insights into Collins tech- Collins into insights the at

Quality standards were to be maintained, and added emphasis was was emphasis added and maintained, be to were standards Quality

Since the RF Communications company was a start-up by two former former two by start-up a was company Communications RF the Since

ing financial goals were set and progress was reviewed monthly. monthly. reviewed was progress and set were goals financial ing

tegic plans with particular emphasis on technology leadership. Operat- leadership. technology on emphasis particular with plans tegic

URG I versus RF Comm Comm RF versus I URG

The designated business profit cent profit business designated The ers were directed to develop stra- develop to directed were ers

Shifting Business Operations Discipline Operations Business Shifting

…. the answer was more often than not, RF Comm. Comm. RF not, than often more was answer the ….

their primary competition for HF ground and maritime products was was products maritime and ground HF for competition primary their

business. When Collins marketing marketing Collins When business. representatives were asked who who asked were representatives appropriate actions. actions. appropriate out carry and initiate

reached $26 million with a mix of of mix a with million $26 reached US Government and international international and Government US The new organization enabled personnel throughout the Company to to Company the throughout personnel enabled organization new The

By 1969, when Harris Corp. acquired RF Comm, their sales had had sales their Comm, RF acquired Corp. Harris when 1969, By of a number of profit- and loss-responsible, market-oriented divisions. divisions. market-oriented loss-responsible, and profit- of number a of

communications.” In 1961, RF Communications, Inc. was established. established. was Inc. Communications, RF 1961, In communications.” organization was broken apart into a decentralized structure made up up made structure decentralized a into apart broken was organization In May of 1973 I transferred to HF Engineering in the staff role of HF were hopeful. Applications Engineer. This included department planning activities in The surveys completed by front line marketing and dealer personnel, support of the department manager, Dennis Day. My horizon was coupled with available market data, provided a basis for the business widened to include all HF related markets and business. Meanwhile plan. The market was real especially in the international community. URG Product Line business was not getting any better. In October, This would be our primary focus. The following excerpts from the 1973 I led the development of a Customer Needs Survey for HF SSB Business Plan provided the direction. Equipment. The survey format addressed Market Potential Evaluation, Competitive Evaluation, Product Definition, and a price-demand analy- Key Objective sis. Inputs were compiled by December, 1973. The conclusions Profitably regain market share lost to competition, were… increase the addressed market, and reestablish Collins as the leading supplier in the fixed station/ • The lower cost HF Market was real - transportable HF ISB international market within especially internationally five years.

• Complete package subsystems were desirable Success Strategies - We would: * Offer only those products that can win in the competitive • Separate receivers and transmitters were required market place by optimizing cost-effective design • Independent Sideband (ISB) operation was required * Develop a business plan which allows operational flexibility to • A simple remote control was required achieve the business objective within the competitive arena * Establish a leadership position in cost effectiveness, technol- Based on the survey inputs and incorporating the conceptual architec- ogy, marketing effectiveness, and product support ture (adjusting where necessary), Company Private Product Defini- * Minimize cost and conserve cash by drawing on existing com- tions were developed for what was to become the ISB (Independent pany resources Sideband) Product Line. In March, 1974, this information was shared * Establish a commercial position through the international mar- on a confidential basis with relevant marketing personnel. The market ketplace potential and competitive evaluation data was once again sought on * Obtain supplemental customer development funding for prod- the basis of the specific Product Definitions…. Were we on the right uct line enhancements * Obtain additional competitive leverage by employing multi- national production * Establish effective program management procedures

Competitive Design Strategies * Technical performance to be compatible with ITU/CCIR inter- national recommendations * EIA standard 19-inch rack mounting * “Works-in-a-drawer” modular serviceability * Built-in audio and control elements * Unique sensory features * Plug-in control options for local, remote and computer control

Figure 4 - ISB Receiver/Exciter Concept Rendering Low-Cost Design Strategies * Utilize best applicable features of existing designs track for success? …. Data was returned and compiled in July of 1974. * Minimal design to achieve necessary technical performance Meanwhile, overall, the business climate was significantly improving. using commercial parts Rockwell International (North American Rockwell renamed in early * Employ design-to-cost and value engineering techniques * Maximize commonality of parts and modules 1973) now included the “Radio Company” and just maybe we could obtain some “Company” sponsored research and development funds. Marketing Strategies However, we needed a comprehensive Business Plan. In May, 1974 I * Establish a dedicated marketing team to effectively introduce was appointed to the position of HF Futures Planning within the HF the product line Engineering Department. This enabled me to focus more effort on the * Initial sales emphasis on international marketplace to establish ISB Project. By September, 1974 the process of developing a business a commercial position. plan for ISB HF was initiated. The overall Business Plan included re- * Continually monitor and update marketing plan to reflect mar- lated plans for Marketing, Product Design, Manufacturing, Product ket trends. Support, and Finance. I had the task of coordinating the effort and * Develop comprehensive sales and advertising tools. pulling together and organizing (and documenting) the final Business * Conduct an in-depth international sales seminar to ensure Plan. This effort was completed on April 15, 1975. maximum enthusiasm and familiarity prior to introduction. * Encourage live equipment demonstrations and evaluations The ISB Business Plan with key customers. It had been a little over 27 months since I had laid out the initial * Produce ISB hardware on a planned speculative release basis concept for the URG I replacement product line. As noted previously, to provide competitive availability. this was a time of significant change for Collins Radio. Company spon- sored development related to the C-System drained financial re- Product Support Strategies sources. US Government business declined following the Vietnam War * Equipment maintenance concept to be established concurrent and NASA’s development of the Apollo program. Competitive positions with each unit design. of existing products were marginalized. All of these factors minimized * Commercial maintenance manuals prepared for “on-site” the availability of company sponsored development funds for existing modular replacement and service center part replacement. product improvements. Thousands of employees were laid off and * Training programs including video instruction will be pro- there was a period where employee salaries were cut across the duced. board. * Standard test equipment will be emphasized. Special test equipment would be minimized. In addition to the $35,000,000 infusion of capital funds, Rockwell * Computer program to provide customized recommendations brought business discipline to the forefront of operations and man- for customer spares. agement structure. Internal business related training, facilitated by * In place international service centers will be enlisted to sup- outside resources, was put in place. These were the years of bottom- port products. ing out and turn around in the business fortunes of the company. We * A full time ISB Trained field service engineer will be engaged.

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CCA SIGNAL Q4 2013 Q4 SIGNAL CCA

(Left) Receiver/Exciter HF-8070 the And

was that of advancing the communications technology state-of-the- technology communications the advancing of that was Including the HF-8020 1 KW PA and 8030 P.S. P.S. 8030 and PA KW 1 HF-8020 the Including

The culture of the Collins Radio Co. prior to the Rockwell investment, investment, Rockwell the to prior Co. Radio Collins the of culture The

Figure 6 – Early HF-80 System Components Components System HF-80 Early – 6 Figure

Commonality, Commonality, Commonality Commonality Commonality, Commonality,

cal Engineering Lead: Chuck Gregory Gregory Chuck Lead: Engineering cal

: Rod Blocksome, Overall Mechani- Overall Blocksome, Rod : Engineer Project Amplifiers Power

1 KW Power Amplifier Project Engineer: Doug Rodes, 3 and 10 KW KW 10 and 3 Rodes, Doug Engineer: Project Amplifier Power KW 1

neer: Syl Dawson, Remote Controls Project Engineer: Paul Ziegelbein, Ziegelbein, Paul Engineer: Project Controls Remote Dawson, Syl neer:

sisted of the following assignments: Receiver/Exciter Project Engi- Project Receiver/Exciter assignments: following the of sisted

to myself as the Program Development Leader, the initial team con- team initial the Leader, Development Program the as myself to

integration phases. In addition addition In phases. integration production and testing, development,

basis throughout the the throughout basis needed as various disciplines involved on an an on involved disciplines various

those selected. In addition, there were several other personnel from from personnel other several were there addition, In selected. those

HF equipment and system design and production was available in in available was production and design system and equipment HF

the formulation of the business plan. A broad base of experience in in experience of base broad A plan. business the of formulation the

Key players assigned to the development team were also involved in in involved also were team development the to assigned players Key

Development Team Team Development

5 shows the total timeline. timeline. total the shows 5 Figure 1976. June, for scheduled

was scheduled to coincide with a major international trade show show trade international major a with coincide to scheduled was

12 months. Market introduction introduction Market months. 12 in hardware to thoughts and paper

plan. The challenge now before the development team was to convert convert to was team development the before now challenge The plan.

periods of company financial stress) finally resulted in an actionable actionable an in resulted finally stress) financial company of periods

HF-80. ….. the 1970’s, at prices of the 1960’s the of prices at 1970’s, the research and surveys (slowed somewhat by lack of resources during during resources of lack by somewhat (slowed surveys and research

technology for the 1980’s, available in in available 1980’s, the for technology products incorporating incorporating products approval. A deliberate process of internal education and external external and education internal of process deliberate A approval.

a family of HF HF of family a in resulted program the of theme underlying The It was twenty-seven months from initial inception to business plan plan business to inception initial from months twenty-seven was It

Development Product (HF-80) ISB

line product the with identity product Individual

(XYZ where X=function, Y=model, and Z=option) Z=option) and Y=model, X=function, where (XYZ

Figure 5 5 Figure Provide for functional identification identification functional for Provide

(New generation of proven products.) products.) proven of generation (New

quality Collins with relationship Establish

(EG. Satisfies current and future needs.) needs.) future and current Satisfies (EG.

Provide a purchase motivation facet facet motivation purchase a Provide

etc.) Tape, Scotch Glue, Elmer’s (EG.

Brand image identification with function function with identification image Brand

etc.) Micro-Line, S-Line, URG, (EG.

Market recognition of a family of products products of family a of recognition Market

achieve the following…. following…. the achieve to means a provide to was

The marketing strategy for product identification for the ISB Program Program ISB the for identification product for strategy marketing The

to the product designer and maintained the records for the company. company. the for records the maintained and designer product the to

mbers” released the type numbers numbers type the released mbers” nu type the of “keeper The types.

the “next in line” type number nomenclature for respective equipment equipment respective for nomenclature number type line” in “next the

marketing campaign. Traditionally, new Collins products were given given were products Collins new Traditionally, campaign. marketing

. . go to good were We by the team. team. the by market product nomenclature was planned to complement an overall overall an complement to planned was nomenclature product market

Rockwell Group President Don Beall, the approval memo was received received was memo approval the Beall, Don President Group Rockwell product line carried the internal identification of the ISB Program. The The Program. ISB the of identification internal the carried line product

management. Following review and 16 signatures later, including the the including later, signatures 16 and review Following management. During the planning and developm and planning the During ent process the new competitive competitive new the process ent

requests for engineering expendit engineering for requests ures were submitted to company company to submitted were ures Born Is HF-80

off by Gary Jost, HF Programs Manager the following day. Subsequent Subsequent day. following the Manager Programs HF Jost, Gary by off

The ISB Business Plan was comple was Plan Business ISB The ted on April 15, 1975 and signed signed and 1975 15, April on ted

forced by challenging “design-to-cost” targets. targets. “design-to-cost” challenging by forced

Management Approval is Granted Granted is Approval Management

larger production quantity. This appr This quantity. production larger oach to the design was also rein- also was design the to oach

production set-up costs and amortize those set-up costs over a much much a over costs set-up those amortize and costs set-up production good investment? Discussion ensued. ensued. Discussion investment? good

eral places without hampering desi hampering without places eral gn integrity. This would reduce reduce would This integrity. gn ing satellite communications technology, HF was dead. Is this really a a really this Is dead. was HF technology, communications satellite ing

in chassis castings and fabricated panels if they could be used in sev- in used be could they if panels fabricated and castings chassis in manager stated that he was of the opinion, that in view of the emerg- the of view in that opinion, the of was he that stated manager

also sought. This would also include considering placing added holes holes added placing considering include also would This sought. also Business Area personnel present was positive. A senior marketing marketing senior A positive. was present personnel Area Business

costs. Commonality of mechanical parts across the product line was was line product the across parts mechanical of Commonality costs. presentation and was able to answer questions. Support of the HF HF the of Support questions. answer to able was and presentation

the individual products within the product line to minimize production production minimize to line product the within products individual the behalf of the HF Product Business Area. Overall, I felt good about the the about good felt I Overall, Area. Business Product HF the of behalf

purchase quantities and reduce cost reduce and quantities purchase s. Commonality of modules across across modules of Commonality s. truly was given the opportunity to stand up and pitch the plan on on plan the pitch and up stand to opportunity the given was truly

throughout the product line, woul line, product the throughout d maximize composite production production composite maximize d A management presentation was assembled, and scheduled. Yours Yours scheduled. and assembled, was presentation management A

that of commonality. Commonali commonality. of that ty of commercial components, components, commercial of ty Plan Business of Presentation Management

One of the key design strategies strategies design key the of One emphasized for the ISB program was was program ISB the for emphasized

petitive commercial pricing position in the marketplace. marketplace. the in position pricing commercial petitive

Among other things, this would be dependent on achieving a com- a achieving on dependent be would this things, other Among the turnaround mantra. mantra. turnaround the

as $ 53 million. Anticipated profit before taxes was greater than 25%. 25%. than greater was taxes before profit Anticipated million. 53 $ as Competitive cost effectiveness with competitive technology became became technology competitive with effectiveness cost Competitive

for the five year period following market introduction were forecasted forecasted were introduction market following period year five the for to shift the culture to a more bala more a to culture the shift to nce approach to planning & design. design. & planning to approach nce

$800 thousand during fiscal years 1975 and 1976. Projected orders orders Projected 1976. and 1975 years fiscal during thousand $800 vent of the Rockwell investment pr investment Rockwell the of vent ovided an opportunity and impetus impetus and opportunity an ovided

The financial plan called for an upfront company cash commitment of of commitment cash company upfront an for called plan financial The often overlooked in favor of these practices and objectives. The ad- The objectives. and practices these of favor in overlooked often

Financial Objectives Objectives Financial environmental extremes were the the were extremes environmental norm. Cost of the hardware was was hardware the of Cost norm.

ISB Equipment will be warranted for one year. year. one for warranted be will Equipment ISB art. High quality design practices practices design quality High art. to achieve reliable performance in in performance reliable achieve to HF-80 Product Family The HF-80 product family included a receiver, a receiver/exciter, ex- citer, 1,000 watt power amplifier, 3,000 watt power amplifier, 10,000 watt power amplifier and system remote control units. Equipment type number identification was assigned as follows:

HF-8010 Exciter HF-8090 Xmtr Remote Control HF-8050 Rcvr HF-8091 Rcvr Remote Control HF-8070 Rcvr/Exciter HF-8092 Xcvr Remote Control HF-8020 1 KW P. A. HF-8030 P. A. Power Supply HF-8021 3 KW P. A. HF-8022 10 KW P. A.

HF-80 Market Introduction Bringing Marketing Up To Speed: Prior to its formal market introduc- tion, Collins international marketing staff and dealer organizations were invited to Cedar Rapids for a comprehensive seminar on Febru- ary 9-12, 1976. Overview marketing presentations and in depth tech- nical presentations were made by the development program team. It Figure 8 – Trade Show Exhibit Desk was once again an opportunity for input to the development team as to support the marketing visits and demonstrations. Two major electronics trade shows were scheduled for the spring of 1976. The key International show was Comm 76 taking place in Brigh- ton UK during June 8 – 11, 1976. Marketing meetings would precede the opening of the public event. An HF-80 system would be unveiled and demonstrated.

Collins traditionally exhibited at the annual Armed Forces Communica- tions and Electronics Association (AFCEA) held in Washington, D.C. The 1976 show was also scheduled for June, 1976. An engineering model live demonstration HF-80 1 KW Station was set up in a private hotel room. Select customer personnel were invited to the private

Figure 7– The HF-80 Marketing Introduction meeting held at the Long Branch in Cedar Rapids February of 1976

well as responding to questions from front line field personnel.

HF-80 Advertising for trade periodicals, press releases, marketing literature, and slide presentations were produced

Figure 9 - Promotion Photo—Office Environment showing away from the eyes and ears of competitors.

Following Comm 76, Rockwell/Collins marketing and engineering staff started an extensive tour of a number of international markets and customer locations in order to effectively introduce the new HF-80 Product Line and look for near term and future business opportunities.

A complete set of demonstration equipment was shipped overseas and then the engineering and marketing crews would rotate in and out of overseas assignments manning the demonstrations. The Rock- well/Collins International sales offices provided customer contacts, scheduling, and follow up visits.

Production Transition Following the introduction of HF-80, marketing set about filling their order books and worked with potential customers while engineering, manufacturing, and product support moved toward production. An engineering test bed was established with on-the-air testing on a 24 hour per day schedule. This proof of performance testing was de-

Continued on p 48 CCA SIGNAL Q4 2013 41

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CCA SIGNAL Q4 2013 Q4 SIGNAL CCA pursued for a decade. The "Amateur Radio Co." was to manage the the manage to was Co." Radio "Amateur The decade. a for pursued

ments. ments. introducing and producing a new product line in a market not actively actively not market a in line product new a producing and introducing factor in dealing with the inherent conflict of the defined task ele- task defined the of conflict inherent the with dealing in factor

The “Fixed Channel Co.” was to form a new business by developing, developing, by business new a form to was Co.” Channel “Fixed The Professional teamwork was a key key a was teamwork Professional plans. related the on analysis pact

ements required a fit test and im- and test fit a required ements el plan the of each as challenging

duction facility. facility. duction

ity principles in the planning process.. This approach was particularly particularly was approach This process.. planning the in principles ity

and future shared usage of pro- of usage shared future and development product new of bond

lated to the individual market segments, the team applied commonal- applied team the segments, market individual the to lated

had a unique" set of business challenges in addition to the common common the to addition in challenges business of set unique" a had

for those differences directly re- directly differences those for Except developed. were segments

nies". Each business addressed a given product/market segment and and segment product/market given a addressed business Each nies".

tripled. Individual sub-plans relating to each of the product/market product/market the of each to relating sub-plans Individual tripled.

office was responsible for three unique businesses or "little compa- "little or businesses unique three for responsible was office

from a common design base, the planning complexity was almost almost was complexity planning the base, design common a from

by the new products under development. In a sense, the program program the sense, a In development. under products new the by

Since the program dealt with three distinct product/market segments segments product/market distinct three with dealt program the Since

of managing the existing products business which would be replaced replaced be would which business products existing the managing of

development activity, the program office was given the responsibility responsibility the given was office program the activity, development signments as shown at the conclusion of this article. article. this of conclusion the at shown as signments

from planning the work to working the plan. In addition to the new new the to addition In plan. the working to work the planning from The planning task was segmented into five sub-plans with staff as- staff with sub-plans five into segmented was task planning The

to proceed with development. The program office activity switched switched activity office program The development. with proceed to

were located in a closed office area with laboratory facilities. facilities. laboratory with area office closed a in located were After Management review of the business plans, approval was given given was approval plans, business the of review Management After

assignment of additional functional support personnel. Key personnel personnel Key personnel. support functional additional of assignment

IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAM

constant to maintain program continuity but were augmented by the the by augmented were but continuity program maintain to constant

triggered the Program Team into action. Team personnel remained remained personnel Team action. into Team Program the triggered

with the detailed business plans plans business detailed the with proceed to approval Management

PRODUCT/MARKET SEGMENT BUSINESS PLANNING PLANNING BUSINESS SEGMENT PRODUCT/MARKET

addressed HF market segments. segments. market HF addressed other on encroachment petitive

a viable competitor in these markets had the potential to reduce com- reduce to potential the had markets these in competitor viable a

turns looked favorable. 6 - Reestablishment of Collins HF Products as as Products HF Collins of Reestablishment - 6 favorable. looked turns

quired. 5 - Potential financial re- financial Potential - 5 quired. re be would distribution/marketing

competitive products using a common design base. 4 - Changes in in Changes - 4 base. design common a using products competitive

available to design and develop develop and design to available was Technology - 3 advantage. an

fully competed in the past but more recent competitors’ products had had products competitors’ recent more but past the in competed fully

were real and quite competitive. 2 - Collins H-F Products had success- had Products H-F Collins - 2 competitive. quite and real were

markets. The feasibility study concluded: 1 - The market opportunities opportunities market The - 1 concluded: study feasibility The markets.

feasibility study that addressed the three different low cost HF niche niche HF cost low different three the addressed that study feasibility

put together to do a business business a do to together put was team business multidiscipline A

ared to HF-80. HF-80. to ared comp aggressive very

of the assigned staff. In addition, the directed overall schedule was was schedule overall directed the addition, In staff. assigned the of

this 27 month planning process was reflected in seventeen volumes. volumes. seventeen in reflected was process planning month 27 this

segments. This approach to a development project was new to most most to new was project development a to approach This segments.

the result of consolidation of the three business plans. The result of of result The plans. business three the of consolidation of result the

ket researchers to gain a broad understanding of each of the market market the of each of understanding broad a gain to researchers ket

three product/market segments. A total venture business plan was was plan business venture total A segments. product/market three

The team members had to be mar- be to had members team The characteristics. customer different

The sub-plans were consolidated into a business plan for each of the the of each for plan business a into consolidated were sub-plans The

e different market segments with with segments market different e thre with dealing were We complex.

ment of HF-80 would apply to Project Casper, it would be much more more much be would it Casper, Project to apply would HF-80 of ment ronmental factors, including the economy and the competition. competition. the and economy the including factors, ronmental

arned on the planning and develop- and planning the on arned le principles guiding the of some This risk assessment dealt with both the internal and external envi- external and internal the both with dealt assessment risk This

As I reflect on the project it was a rather daunting task. Although Although task. daunting rather a was it project the on reflect I As risk assessment was provided to guide future strategies and tactics. tactics. and strategies future guide to provided was assessment risk

returns. In addition, a complete complete a addition, In returns. financial anticipated and program,

The team was located in a common closed area with limited access. access. limited with area closed common a in located was team The

forecasted sales, related estimated costs to launch and sustain the the sustain and launch to costs estimated related sales, forecasted

The name Casper was chosen for use when referring to the project. project. the to referring when use for chosen was Casper name The

e. Financial planning focused on on focused planning Financial e. postur support and service petitive

market introduction. Likewise, the “low cost HF” was to be kept quiet. quiet. kept be to was HF” cost “low the Likewise, introduction. market

ment. Support planning focused on developing a responsive and com- and responsive a developing on focused planning Support ment.

under wraps as development progressed and was not revealed until until revealed not was and progressed development as wraps under

and unseat competitive entrench- competitive unseat and presence market new a achieve

to provide a competitive edge, the HF-80 (ISB) Project had been kept kept been had Project (ISB) HF-80 the edge, competitive a provide to

ment. Marketing planning focused on strategy development to to development strategy on focused planning Marketing ment.

would be a departure from the mainstream business factory environ- factory business mainstream the from departure a be would

& Amateur HF Radio transceivers. transceivers. Radio HF Amateur & Purpose General and transceivers,

the requirement for a low-cost commercial factory environment which which environment factory commercial low-cost a for requirement the

outputs of this effort were busine were effort this of outputs ss plans addressing fixed channel channel fixed addressing plans ss

estimates were developed. Production developed. were estimates ning focused on on focused ning plan operations

bility of pursuing lower cost HF equipment market niches. Anticipated Anticipated niches. market equipment HF cost lower pursuing of bility

trial design models, preliminary list preliminary models, design trial s of material, and projected cost cost projected and material, of s

business model. My challenge was to lead a team to explore the feasi- the explore to team a lead to was challenge My model. business

designs including schematics, mechanical space utilization and indus- and utilization space mechanical schematics, including designs

The company environment had changed to a profit/market driven driven profit/market a to changed had environment company The

mine operating methodology, strengths and weaknesses. Product Product weaknesses. and strengths methodology, operating mine

program provided a valuable experience base for the challenge ahead. ahead. challenge the for base experience valuable a provided program

approach used by perceived key competitors was analyzed to deter- to analyzed was competitors key perceived by used approach

story. However, the business planning approach used with the HF-80 HF-80 the with used approach planning business the However, story.

terms of features, performance, and cost to produce. The business business The produce. to cost and performance, features, of terms

would take on a new assignment. Th assignment. new a on take would another whole whole another is assignment at

ive products were purchased and analyzed in in analyzed and purchased were products ive competit Representative

August, 1976 the HF Products Director, Gary Jost, requested that I I that requested Jost, Gary Director, Products HF the 1976 August,

had just completed the market introduction phase of development. In In development. of phase introduction market the completed just had

I had been the lead for the HF-80 HF-80 the for lead the been had I Series Product Line program that that program Line Product Series

able in the mid 1970’s. 1970’s. mid the in able

past but did not have any current technology product offerings avail- offerings product technology current any have not did but past

had pursued these markets in the the in markets these pursued had Company Radio Collins base. tomer

teur radio hobbyists, and general purpose receivers for a broad cus- broad a for receivers purpose general and hobbyists, radio teur

consists of fixed channel commercial and industrial applications, ama- applications, industrial and commercial channel fixed of consists

private applications. The lower cost portion of the market continuum continuum market the of portion cost lower The applications. private

homogeneous grouping of specialized commercial, government, and and government, commercial, specialized of grouping homogeneous

The High Frequency Communications Systems Market is a non- a is Market Systems Communications Frequency High The

by Dave Berner Dave by

Casper & the KWM-380 KWM-380 the & Casper current ongoing business with relocation of existing production to a As the Amateur Radio Program Manager, I focused on the develop- new commercial manufacturing facility, phase-out existing 20 year old ment of the new products, dealer network, service/support center, products (S-Line and KWM-2(2A), reestablish a unique distribution pilot production, and product 'introduction. There was a consensus network, develop, introduce, and produce a new product line. The that there was a latent market interest in a new, state-of-art “Collins” "Receiver Co." was to manage the current ongoing business, develop, Amateur Transceiver. The Casper Project had been under wraps since introduce, and produce a product which was part of the new product its inception. Prior to the planned market announcement at the sched- program related to all three "companies". This new product was to uled Midwest ARRL Convention, teaser advertising was placed in Ama- replace the 51S-1, another 20 year old product, which was to be pro- teur Radio Periodicals. During the week prior to the convention, all duced and relocated to the new commercial facility. Collins Amateur Dealers were brought in to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for a comprehensive seminar covering all aspects of the new Rockwell- All three companies were faced with the challenge of: (1) New com- Collins Amateur Products. mercia1 factory; (2) Requiring a mindset change in all involved per- sonnel to recognize the competitive commercial nature of the venture; (3) Implementing a consolidated service/support center, and (4) Plan- ning for long-range product line expansion.

The baseline new product plan called for parallel development of the new products for each of the three "companies". Two program exter- nal factors precipitated a major strategy/schedule revision to the plan. Other program priorities which developed in the HF Business Area required additional engineering resources and the international mar- keting organization suggested that product introduction be made the following March (planned introduction was October). Both factors realigned program priorities and the emphasis was placed on the

HF-282 100 watt 20 Channel Transceiver ARRL Convention - Cedar Rapids, Iowa in October, 1979

The convention was well attended and an exciting time for attendees, dealers, and especially those of us involved in the development and production of the new products. The “radio factory” continued to be abuzz when all returned to work the following Monday.

Here, Barry is shown with Dennis Day & Rod Blocksome trying out

"Fixed Channel Co.’s” HF-280 Series product line. his new In the next six months, a commercial factory was secured in El Paso, KWM-380 Texas. Production of existing S-line and HF receiver products were Serial #1 transferred to the new facility, and the new HF-280 series products were introduced seven months ahead of plan. The introduction was scheduled to coincide with the International Communications and Electronics Show in Birmingham England in the spring of 1978. Market One of the many highlights of the Convention was the attendance and reaction at the introduction and nine subsequent world-wide events banquet keynote address by Senator Barry Goldwater, K7UGA. was very supportive and order backlog began to grow. The Convention Committee arranged to present Senator Goldwater with one of the first KWM-380 Transceivers as appreciation for his Subsequent to the introduction, program office effort focused on com- participation in the event. He spent some on-the-air time before the pletion of the planned product line development which included six evening banquet. Rod Blocksome (W0DAS) was convention host for major products, sixteen options, twenty-one accessory items, and Senator Goldwater. three customer test equipment items. Marketing literature and sales Marketing planning included development of advertising literature, tools were completed. An associate Program Manager was brought presentation material, brochures, logbooks and hand-out items. The into the program office to assist with production transition. amateur radio dealer network was reestablished and a comprehensive In the ten months following the HF-280 Series introduction, major dealer seminar held in Cedar Rapids prior to the ARRL Convention. challenges surfaced in the production transition. The program team The KWM-380 and HF-380 Transceivers were introduced in October was working with new products new factory, new personnel (new to 1979. The positive market response was overwhelming and under- the program, HF Products, and Company methodology), a new data scored by receipt of orders in excess of 90% of the planned first system, and geographic separation of the development and produc- year’s production of 1,200 units. tion teams. This along with the other program demands placed on the program office precipitated a realignment of program management In December, 1980 I was assigned to the position of Manager, HF responsibilities. . An additional program manager was assigned to the Ventures Planning. New business opportunities were available for the now ongoing production business of “Fixed Channel Co.’s” and Rockwell-Collins HF Business Area to address and my future changed "Receiver Co.’s” products. I was to focus on the development and direction again. ------CCA ------introduction of "Amateur Radio Co.’s” products and close down KWM- 2(2A) production. During the following months, the key challenges faced were directly related to the HF-380 Series and implementation 1979 - 1983 of the new factory in El Paso, Texas.

CCA SIGNAL Q4 2013 43

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CCA SIGNAL Q4 2013 Q4 SIGNAL CCA

Heads, for their help with this article. article. this with help their for Heads,

ve Keese, retired UHF Eng. Group Group Eng. UHF retired Keese, ve I wish to thank Don Gallagher & Da & Gallagher Don thank to wish I 40 lbs lbs 40

Channel Spacing Spacing Channel

------W7SVJ Scott, de CCA

Options to 8.3 KHz KHz 8.3 to Options

subject for discussion. discussion. for subject

ceiver - 100 Watts Watts 100 - ceiver

communications radio installed in some tactical aircraft, it is a worthy worthy a is it aircraft, tactical some in installed radio communications

Transmitter Re- Transmitter

When you consider the importance of what may have been the sole sole the been have may what of importance the consider you When

30-512 MHz MHz 30-512 also gives one a unique insight into the technology of the company. company. the of technology the into insight unique a one gives also

Model 721S 721S Model past and still today. In addition, it it addition, In today. still and past the in both Collins, at category uct

the inset upper right), it is clear that this was a very significant prod- significant very a was this that clear is it right), upper inset the Software Defined Defined Software

product lines at Collins have had on their total revenue stream (See (See stream revenue total their on had have Collins at lines product Rockwell Collins Collins Rockwell

When one considers the scope of the financial impact that the UHF UHF the that impact financial the of scope the considers one When

Wt. 75 lbs. lbs. 75 Wt. Toronto Toronto

225-400 MHz MHz 225-400 PRC-66 PRC-66

Receiver—20 Watts Watts Receiver—20 Figure 9 - - 9 Figure

UHF Transmitter Transmitter UHF

smallest UHF handhelds is shown here as a teaser. teaser. a as here shown is handhelds UHF smallest

circa 1975 1975 circa

However, the PRC-66, one of the the of one PRC-66, the However, day. another for perhaps is this but

RT-980/GRC-171 RT-980/GRC-171

incomplete without mention of the ground and vehicular elements, elements, vehicular and ground the of mention without incomplete

Any discussion of UHF tactical communications could be considered considered be could communications tactical UHF of discussion Any

a high power PA for Satcom use as well. well. as use Satcom for PA power high a

much larger than the ARC-159. The ARC-210 can be configured with with configured be can ARC-210 The ARC-159. the than larger much

bedded encryption capability. All of this happens in a package not not package a in happens this of All capability. encryption bedded

ble of a multitude of modulation waveforms, ECCM, and also has em- has also and ECCM, waveforms, modulation of multitude a of ble

its frequency range is 30-512 (940 now available) MHz, and it is capa- is it and MHz, available) now (940 30-512 is range frequency its

traffic. The ARC-210 is perhaps a bit out of place in this article, since since article, this in place of out bit a perhaps is ARC-210 The traffic.

Wt. 600 lbs. lbs. 600 Wt. bears the brunt of the US military’s tactical airborne communications communications airborne tactical military’s US the of brunt the bears

Currently, the Collins AN/ARC-210 (Figure 8), in various incarnations, incarnations, various in 8), (Figure AN/ARC-210 Collins the Currently, 100 KHz KHz 100

1750 Ch. Ch. 1750

Figure 8 - ARC-210 R/T - 1989 to Date Date to 1989 - R/T ARC-210 - 8 Figure 225-400 MHz MHz 225-400

Watts Watts

Receiver - 100 100 - Receiver

UHF Transmitter Transmitter UHF

circa 1952 1952 circa

GRC-27 (x) (x) GRC-27

becoming the DoD standard. DoD the becoming

Ground UHF at Collins - Then & Now & Then - Collins at UHF Ground

1977 1977

, , Quick Have the Magnavox Magnavox the

Figure 7 - ARC-159 R/T, 1972 to to 1972 R/T, ARC-159 - 7 Figure

hopping waveforms, such as as such waveforms, hopping

tion of anti-jam frequency frequency anti-jam of tion

$1,000M. $1,000M.

quirements forced the adop- the forced quirements

20,000 manufactured for a total program value of over over of value program total a for manufactured 20,000

Navy, until operational re- operational until Navy,

ARC-210 (1989 Development/1990 Contract Date) - Over Over - Date) Contract Development/1990 (1989 ARC-210

159 served well with the the with well served 159

been a disaster) The ARC- The disaster) a been

radio. radio.

series (LHR) AN/ARC-116 had had AN/ARC-116 (LHR) series

less than two years. First all all First years. two than less solid state panel mounted UHF UHF mounted panel state solid Corps light helicopter radio radio helicopter light Corps

ARC-159 (1972 - 1977) - Over 5000 units manufactured in in manufactured units 5000 Over - 1977) - (1972 ARC-159 radio period! (The Signal Signal (The period! radio

CESSFUL solid state UHF AM AM UHF state solid CESSFUL

1952 dollars. ($554M in 2012 dollars) dollars) 2012 in ($554M dollars. 1952 and probably the first SUC- first the probably and

estimated at over $65M in in $65M over at estimated is value program total the and radio in the Collins lineup, lineup, Collins the in radio

contractors. The maximum revenue per year peaked at $24M $24M at peaked year per revenue maximum The contractors. ate UHF aircraft aircraft UHF ate st solid all first

quencies. This radio was the the was radio This quencies. Collins and 35,000 additional units manufactured by two sub- two by manufactured units additional 35,000 and Collins

digital frequency display, and toggle switches to manually set fre- set manually to switches toggle and display, frequency digital ARC-27 (1946 to 1952) - 40,000 units manufactured by by manufactured units 40,000 - 1952) to (1946 ARC-27

ARC-159 was a very compact one unit unit one compact very a was ARC-159 R/T + Control that featured a a featured that Control + R/T

interface that could be easily operated by a busy crewmember. The The crewmember. busy a by operated easily be could that interface UHF Product Business Impact: Business Product UHF

The AN/ARC-159 (Figure 7) was a a was 7) (Figure AN/ARC-159 The good example of a communications communications a of example good

UHF at Collins Radio Radio Collins at UHF (Cont’d)

occur on any band even if the 30L-1 output is terminated with a good load at the operating frequency. It is at a low level compared to the primary transmitted RF voltage, so you have to be looking for it. I found it with an oscilloscope while monitoring my output. It is most prevalent and has the highest amplitude when the 30L-1 is on 80m and terminated with a load that is high impedance at 700-900 kHz. This MFO was present on 5 of 5 units tested, so you are likely to have the problem as well. You don’t want to be transmitting in the AM broadcast band!

Another Benefit: After installing the L3 modification, an additional perk was noted. In my 30L-1, and Dick’s, we found that power output on some WARC bands went up significantly. On 12m, my maximum output power increased by about 1/3. Dick saw even more improve- ment in his 30m output. Although I’m not positive, the improvement is likely due to the fact that the new grid choke has a 70 MHz SRF. I measured the original 39 uH choke SRF at 25.8 MHz. It certainly seems likely that this SRF could have been adversely affecting 12m power output.

In a July 1970, Collins released Amateur Product Line Information Figure 4 & 5 – Circuitry (Before Above) & After Mod Letter #26, which changed L3 from 39 uH to 22 uH. Although the document does not give much detail, the change apparently was in- corporated to fix a parasitic instability unique to a late production run of 30L-1s. It was not meant to address the MFO discussed here. Spice analysis shows changing L3 to 22 uH increases the grid resonant frequency, stopping the MFO with some Tune/Load setting, but it makes the problem worse with other settings.

Dick found something very interesting concerning his Heathkit SB- 200. It uses a pair of 572Bs, but much of the RF circuitry looks like it was taken directly from the 30L-1 schematic. It uses a grid choke of 28 uH with a 3.3k resistor across it. Hmmm… Out of curiosity, Dick temporarily removed the resistor, and the amplifier produced a very similar bursting MFO to the one we observe in the 30L-1.

Although the MFO mechanism is well understood, the precise cause of the burst behavior is not. Clearly the bursts are associated with AC line sources since the bursts are synchronized with the line frequency. There are quite a few sources that can contribute to the bursts, which are characterized by complete “ON” and “OFF” cycles of the MFO. The list includes the obvious HV ripple and bias ripple, as well as charac- teristics that are present in filamentary-cathode (directly heated) tubes heated with AC. These characteristics include filament emission One concern over this modification was whether it might affect the variation due to AC heating, interaction between the magnetic fields behavior of the ALC and/or the Tune Meter function of the 30L-1. of the space charge and the filament, the electrostatic field of the Fortunately, we found very little change, if any, after the modification. filament, and resistive filament imbalance. Dick performed an experi- However, I would recommend checking the behavior of both functions ment in which he heated the tube filaments with DC rather than AC. and adjusting R16 and C18 if required. The result was that there was no bursting of the MFO, although the MFO modulated with ripple was present. It is therefore reasonable to Comments and Conclusions assume that although the HV and bias ripples may be secondary influ- The 30L-1 is not unconditionally stable, and was not designed to be. ences on the burst mechanism, the primary driver is related to the Two stability issues were identified. The first of these occurs in the filamentary-cathode aspects of the tube. After discussing the burst upper HF frequency range, and can be avoided by attention to the mechanism with Bob Kellow and further analysis of the Spice model, output load, and in some cases, the input termination. This oscillation the most plausible theory is something like this: A combination of the only occurs with improper setting of the Tune and Tune controls or a aforementioned phenomena produces a 60 Hz voltage, Vac, that var- poor VSWR at the 30L-1 output. Although neutralization may help ies the tube grid-cathode potential, Vgk. The MFO initiates at a (check out W8JI’s website), neutralizing an existing a 30L-1 would be slightly negative value of Vgk. As Vac swings Vgk more positive into difficult from a mechanical standpoint. In general, the HF oscillation the region where grid current begins to flow, grid conductance in- typically occurs when operating on the 10m or 15m bands. It usually creases, lowering the Q of the grid tank and quenching the MFO. will not occur if the 30L-1 is properly tuned and its output is termi- When Vac returns Vgk to a more negative value, MFO re-starts. Even- nated with good load at the operating frequency. However, in the case tually, Vac swings Vgk far enough negative to lower the plate current of Dave Harmon’s unit, the length of cable between the driver and 30L to a value that once again quenches the MFO. Repetition of this proc- -1 made a difference. ess results in the 120 Hz bursts. The Spice model supports this theory, At one time, the 20.5 foot cable was specified for use with the 30L-1 but the tube model used does not have sufficient detail to produce amplifier, but in this case the cable was used to improve stability, not the exact burst behavior we observe in the 30L-1. Of course, the burst the IMD improvement for which it was originally implemented in the mechanism is only of academic curiosity since elimination of the MFO 30S-1 system. Early in the 30L-1 manufacturing cycle, component also eliminates the bursts. changes allowed the 20.5 foot cable to be deleted from the system Acknowledgements: Thanks go out to Dave Harmon, K6XYZ, for his requirement. Dave Harmon’s experiments indicated that the length of input at the start of this investigation. I’d like to give a very special cable between the 30L-1 and driver might indeed have an affect on acknowledgement to the efforts of Bob Jefferis, KF6BC, and Dick We- HF stability, at least in some 30L-1s. ber, K5IU. They invested a huge amount of time in this project. The MFO instability is a lower power phenomenon that occurs be- Thanks guys. I couldn’t have done it without you! de Don, W5QN tween 700-900 kHz. This oscillation is troublesome because it may ------CCA ------

CCA SIGNAL Q4 2013 45 1970

48

CCA SIGNAL Q4 2013 Q4 SIGNAL CCA m in a report that now resides in in resides now that report a in m

the results of this significant progra significant this of results the provided by Rod Blocksome, who - some years latter – summarized summarized – latter years some - who Blocksome, Rod by provided

Attached here is also a summary of production volumes that were were that volumes production of summary a also is here Attached

Radio when they were merged into Rockwell. Rockwell. into merged were they when Radio

me of the changes which hit Collins Collins hit which changes the of me so for feel real a us gives also but

man that planned it. This insight not only reads on the HF-80 project project HF-80 the on reads only not insight This it. planned that man

wildly successful. We are indeed fortunate to get the insight of the the of insight the get to fortunate indeed are We successful. wildly

under the new “Wilson/Rockwell” culture. It can only be described as as described be only can It culture. “Wilson/Rockwell” new the under

ram to be planned and developed developed and planned be to ram prog funded house in first the bly

ded within those summary financial numbers shown above. above. shown numbers financial summary those within ded

ant that the HF-80 program was proba- was program HF-80 the that ant signific also is It Note: Editor’s

ct, some fascinating details imbed- details fascinating some ct, expe might you as are, There tive.

the here untold story of GPS, will be added to the historical perspec- historical the to added be will GPS, of story untold here the

ciative of the team effort that was put forth to make HF-80 a success. success. a HF-80 make to forth put was that effort team the of ciative

until the rebirth in 2001, the longer version of the MODEM story and and story MODEM the of version longer the 2001, in rebirth the until

the local businesses. As I look back, I am impressed with and appre- and with impressed am I back, look I As businesses. local the

structure that ran continuously spanned from the Collins Radio days days Radio Collins the from spanned continuously ran that structure

were provided for Rockwell Stockholders, company employees, and and employees, company Stockholders, Rockwell for provided were

ally the stories of the management management the of stories the ally Specific collinsradio.org. at website

sion’s operating profit over the HF-80 product life. Economic benefits benefits Economic life. product HF-80 the over profit operating sion’s

“era” history that will be placed on the Collins Collectors Association Association Collectors Collins the on placed be will that history “era”

$53M) Gross profit margins were a significant contributor to the divi- the to contributor significant a were margins profit Gross $53M)

will be expanded versions of this this of versions expanded be will there magazine, Signal the of Issues

exclusive of international licensing. (Remember, the original goal was was goal original the (Remember, licensing. international of exclusive

Anniversary Anniversary due to space limitations. Following this series of four 80 four of series this Following limitations. space to due

by 1990 were more than $ 234 M M 234 $ than more were 1990 by orders Cumulative markets. niche th

There are many stories here that have gone untold , or summarized, summarized, or , untold gone have that here stories many are There

ment. Product line extensions were developed to address expanded expanded address to developed were extensions line Product ment.

commercial position was achieved and recognized by the U.S. Govern- U.S. the by recognized and achieved was position commercial Editor’s Note: Note: Editor’s

In Summary: A A Summary: In plan?” the to compared do we did “how tion was was tion

the years progressed. The key ques- key The progressed. years the as out played ultimately business bad years, they went negative. negative. went they years, bad in and, range 3% the in were

opportunities, I couldn’t help but have a latent interest on how HF-80 HF-80 how on interest latent a have but help couldn’t I opportunities, Radio Company of the late 60s where “good” Net Income returns returns Income Net “good” where 60s late the of Company Radio

Although my primary attention was thereafter directed toward other other toward directed thereafter was attention primary my Although

average 13.2%. Contrast this to the much lower returns of the Collins Collins the of returns lower much the to this Contrast 13.2%. average

Net Income as a percent of Sales (before taxes) have remained at an an at remained have taxes) (before Sales of percent a as Income Net

Epilogue

global financial markets, the Rockwell Collins margins and reported reported and margins Collins Rockwell the markets, financial global

that, even given the flat sales following the 2008 collapse of the the of collapse 2008 the following sales flat the given even that, ------

CCA

2012 – the last reported year. What is really impressive is the fact fact the is impressive really is What year. reported last the – 2012

2002 (the first report year after the spinout), and then to $4.73B in in $4.73B to then and spinout), the after year report first (the 2002

the product life cycle. This is a continuing story. story. continuing a is This cycle. life product the

$350M the year just prior to the merger, to an astonishing $2.5B in in $2.5B astonishing an to merger, the to prior just year the $350M

Line Manager to carry the ball forward and manage the next stages of of stages next the manage and forward ball the carry to Manager Line

les over those 22 years grew from from grew years 22 those over les sa exited, markets the of spite In

Mr. Ed Rathgeber was designated the replacement HF-80 Product Product HF-80 replacement the designated was Rathgeber Ed Mr.

but now infused with the Rockwell business culture. culture. business Rockwell the with infused now but

ral purpose HF receivers. receivers. HF purpose ral gene and transceivers, Radio

culture of excellence of its people, products and quality survived…. survived…. quality and products people, its of excellence of culture

d channel transceivers, Amateur HF HF Amateur transceivers, channel d fixe addressed that plans business

tively intact. Collins’ core technologies, and more importantly the the importantly more and technologies, core Collins’ intact. tively

equipment market niches. Anticipated outputs of this effort were were effort this of outputs Anticipated niches. market equipment

remained – other than strategic divestitures and acquisition – rela- – acquisition and divestitures strategic than other – remained

asibility of pursuing lower cost HF HF cost lower pursuing of asibility fe the explore to team a lead to was

Rockwell Collins, Inc., the company company the Inc., Collins, Rockwell of rebirth) (and spinout eventual

in an entirely new Product Planning methodology. My new challenge challenge new My methodology. Planning Product new entirely an in

e merger of Collins Radio and the the and Radio Collins of merger e th between span year 22 that During

business model which had resulted resulted had which model business driven profit/market a to changed

ence base for this challenge ahead. The company environment had had environment company The ahead. challenge this for base ence

more on the Big Board. Board. Big the on more

approach used with the HF-80 program provided a valuable experi- valuable a provided program HF-80 the with used approach

Stock Exchange - the old Collins Radio NYSE call of “COL” was once once was “COL” of call NYSE Radio Collins old the - Exchange Stock

is in this issue, another whole story. However, the business planning planning business the However, story. whole another issue, this in is

ing Monday, July 2, 2001 - at the start of business on the New York York New the on business of start the at - 2001 2, July Monday, ing

worthy of, and and of, worthy is assignment at Th assignment. new a on take would

Rockwell Collins was again the master of its own future. That follow- That future. own its of master the again was Collins Rockwell

In August, 1976 the HF Products Director, Gary Jost, requested that I I that requested Jost, Gary Director, Products HF the 1976 August, In

d-alone entities. On June 29, 2001, 2001, 29, June On entities. d-alone stan were they if needs tomer’s,

HF-80 Program Management Transition Management Program HF-80

responsive to their own, and cus- and own, their to responsive more be and decisions better make

the first HF-80 equipment was delivered - in the spring of 1977. 1977. of spring the in - delivered was equipment HF-80 first the

at the individual entities could could entities individual the at th concluded had International Rockwell

cally held companies – Rockwell Collins and Rockwell Automation. Automation. Rockwell and Collins Rockwell – companies held cally

ng itself into two separate publi- separate two into itself ng breaki process, Out” “Spin a through

turn of this century, the Rockwell International Corporation went went Corporation International Rockwell the century, this of turn

Now we get to the other half of the Happy Ending of the story. At the the At story. the of Ending Happy the of half other the to get we Now

England England

the FAX machine. machine. FAX the Brighton, Brighton,

high levels of integration brought on by Moore’s Law and the death of of death the and Law Moore’s by on brought integration of levels high Comm 76 in in 76 Comm

profitable business, but even that landscape was succumbing to the the to succumbing was landscape that even but business, profitable HF-80 gear at at gear HF-80

efforts. It had brought Rockwell hundreds of millions of dollars of of dollars of millions of hundreds Rockwell brought had It efforts.

display of of display

and a feather in the cap of the Rockwell management and technology technology and management Rockwell the of cap the in feather a and

in front of the the of front in

stands proudly proudly stands

(Cont’d from page 9) 9) page from (Cont’d Group Manager Manager Group

The Rockwell Effect - - Effect Rockwell The Dennis Day, Day, Dennis

Figure 10 - - 10 Figure

Receivers = 4000 (includes the 851S-1) the (includes 4000 = Receivers

10kW Transmitters = 1500 (includes 475 FRT-96 + 10 HF-8151A) HF-8151A) 10 + FRT-96 475 (includes 1500 = Transmitters 10kW

3kW Transmitters = 95 95 = Transmitters 3kW

1kW Solid State Transmitters = 800 800 = Transmitters State Solid 1kW

1kW Tube Transmitters (PA, PS, Exciter or R/T) = 1,500 1,500 = R/T) or Exciter PS, (PA, Transmitters Tube 1kW sonnel were put in place and traine and place in put were sonnel d. Result: Production began - and and - began Production Result: d.

tomer friendly support resources. Production assembly and test per- test and assembly Production resources. support friendly tomer

Extract courtesy of Rod Blocksome: Blocksome: Rod of courtesy Extract Product support implemented their strategies towards enabling cus- enabling towards strategies their implemented support Product

and test procedures and instructions. Parts were placed on order. order. on placed were Parts instructions. and procedures test and

This report was done in 1995 after the conclusion of the program. program. the of conclusion the after 1995 in done was report This tive action before full production. Manufacturing set up their assembly assembly their up set Manufacturing production. full before action tive

the Rockwell Collins Museum. Museum. Collins Rockwell the correc- initiate and anomalies operational potential for look to signed

IN THE ROCKWELL COLLINS SHACK

Located in the SSB shack of the N7OTQ/K0CXX operating and display building, these two positions represent some of the best HF Comm gear in the world. The HF-80/TSC-60 (V) shelter cabinet on the right houses a complete 1 KW HF- 80 Solid State system includ- ing HF-8054A 4 Channel ISB Receiver and the companion HF-8014A 4 Ch. ISB Trans- mitter. These are interfaced to the HF-8064B Preselector and the HF-8023 1 KW Solid State PA. The lower unit just out of the photo is the HF-8032 Power Supply for the 8023. On the left is a Rockwell 718U-12 system incorporating the 671U -4A Receiver/Exciter and the 514A-7 digital control head.

Jim Stitzinger, WA3CEX, (left) standing beside his HF-80 suite of equipment that is completely opera- tional and includes all of the basic units of the HF-80 system, including the 1 KW tube (behind Jim) and solid state PA units as well as the 3 KW and the 10 KW PAs which are not pictured here. In addition, Jim has a rare example of an operating Navy 10 KW HF-80 transmitter, the FRT-96/HF-8151A. Below left is the business end of his AN/TSC60 (V)7 Comm Central Communication Shelter—also fully opera- tional. Jim has been kind enough to bring this shelter and its companion diesel generator to a

number of our conventions and CCA shows. Left inset is Rod Blocksome working on the FRT-96/HF-8151A.

100% Rockwell Collins - W8ZO

CCA SIGNAL Q4 2013 49

50

CCA SIGNAL Q4 2013 Q4 SIGNAL CCA

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Electric Radio magazine is published monthly for those who appreciate Vintage military & commercial radio and the associated history.

Edited & Published by: Ray Osterwald, NØDMS Visit our website http://www.ermag.com/

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Those were the Days Of Impressive New Technology - Some of it Lasted

CCA SIGNAL Q4 2013 51

y of Rockwell Collins Collins Rockwell of y Histor the Preserving