[AMRadio] B&W Co-Founder passes

[Bill Smith]

Very sorry to hear the news, but thank you for the note and the history.
Didn't know that Jack Williamson played such an important part in the
history of radio, but doubt there is a ham alive who has built anything and
didn't use a B&W part.  Oh, maybe some of the newest QRP'ers, but not many.

73 de Bill, AB6MT
billsmth at ispwest.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "w5omr" <w5omr at yahoo.com>
To: <amradio at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, March 29, 2002 5:45 AM
Subject: [AMRadio] B&W Co-Founder passes


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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