[AMRadio] B&W Co-Founder passes

[w5omr]

Found this from another AM group, and thought it would be fitting for here...

73 = Best Regards,
-=Jeff/W5OMR=-

* B&W co-founder John F. "Jack" Williamson, W3GC, SK: Jack 
Williamson, W3GC, of Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, died March 
19. He was 95.

Williamson was the co-founder of Barker & Williamson--B&W--once 
a well-known US manufacturer of Amateur Radio equipment.  First 
licensed in 1921, Williamson in his youth earned a widespread 
reputation for his radio knowledge, and even radio manufacturer 
Atwater Kent and his engineers sought Williamson out for his 
technical advice.  After leaving his electrical engineering studies at 
Drexel Institute when the Depression hit, he and long-time friend 
Barrie Barker, W3DGP, then out of work, launched a new business to 
manufacture RF coils for amateurs.

B&W did so well in the pre-World War II years that Hallicrafters
engineers, frustrated in their attempts to design an antenna tuner for
the BC-610 that could match short antennas to Signal Corps
specifications, approached the fledgling company.  B&W's prototype 
was accepted, and a production contract was awarded for the tuner, 
known  as BC-939.  That led to additional contracts.  

After WWII, the company was successful in both the military and ham 
radio sectors.  Most notable in the B&W amateur line were their coils 
and transmitter variable capacitor products and the model 5100 
all-band transmitter. 

While Barker  retired, Williamson continued operating B&W until its 
sale in 1964. He had been an ARRL member for 22 years and had 
continued as an active amateur until recently.

--Bob Thomas, W3NE 


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