[Collins] 30L-1 Repair

[Dr. Gerald N. Johnson]

I saw drawings and schematic of a KWM-3 in Cedar Rapids probably in 1964 
before I was moved south. It used a single 5894 for the PA. I don't 
remember if it was locally controlled or remotely controlled. I don't 
remember that proposed packaging. It's designer told me that Art wanted 
it to be as unaffordable as the gold dust twins and completely remote 
controlled which would fit using much 718T logic. I don't remember for 
sure whether the receiver and low levels stages were tubes or 
transistors. That was a time of transition. I suspect that there were 
several designs proposed that could have received the KWM-3 tag. It 
didn't matter whether they could be produced and sold, Art was the 
filter and he wasn't concerned about those "little" things.

When the teapot spout PTO knob was introduced Art complained to Arney 
Spielbauer, the ME on the project, that it was unbalanced and the 
vibration on Art's yacht caused it to change frequency. Arney took that 
as a compliment that the drive train worked that effortlessly and 
smoothly and didn't make any changes. Arney was one of the founders of 
Qunitron along with a couple former Collins electrical engineers from 
the HF/Broadcast department.

73, Jerry, K0CQ, Technical Adviser to the Collins Radio Association.

On 7/7/2014 9:49 AM, Glen Zook wrote:
> One of the proposed amateur radio transceivers was the KWM-3. This unit
> was basically a Collins 718T which was to be slightly modified with the
> frequency coverage moved down to 1800 kHz to include the 160-meter band.
>
> Eric Tedley's Industrial Design Group was part of Process Division for
> the simple reason that the group didn't "fit" anywhere and Process
> Division had a number of groups that were basically orphans. That group
> was charged with designing the cabinet for the KWM-3. The unveiling of
> these designs happened my very first week as a Collins Radio employee
> early in April 1967. Although I probably wouldn't otherwise be invited
> to the unveiling, since I did hold an amateur radio operator's license,
> one of the assistant division directors did invite me. That was the very
> first time I met Art Collins.
>
> Art Collins came over to Building 401 from Building 407. Building 407
> was also known as "Camelot" for being King Arthur's castle! At the time,
> this was the tallest building in Richardson, Texas. There were 3-designs
> presented, one of which had a wood grain finish. Art did not make a
> decision at that time but said that he would "let them know", at a later
> date, if any of those designs was to be used.
>
> The decision never came because Art lost interest in the KWM-3 and the
> project "died on the vine". I have no idea as to where the "mock-ups" went.
>
> Glen, K9STH
>
> website: http://k9sth.com
>
>