[Premium-Rx] Premium-Rx Digest, Vol 49, Issue 16, Astro Comm Labs

[Kmec at aol.com]

Message: 3
Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2007 19:38:38 -0800 (GMT-08:00)
From:  "S. Schappert" <scottsch at ix.netcom.com>
Subject: [Premium-Rx] Receiver  Mfg. Question
To: premium-rx at ml.skirrow.org
Message-ID:
<31395064.1170041919027.JavaMail.root at elwamui-sweet.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

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G'day to the list  !

Receiver manufacturer question:

I was curious to know if anyone  has any history, or other information on 
Astro Communication Lab, in  Gaithersberg, Md.  I seem to remember a vague 
reference to Watkins Johnson,  but I cannot remember.  I beg forgiveness as I 
believe this request teeters  on the off-topic.  So feel free to reply off-list.

Thanks and best  regards to the list and it's members !

-Scott



Hi Scott, et. al.
 
I do not think it is off topic, as ACL, (AstroCommunications Labs)  certainly 
built high end receivers, particularly in their later incarnations as  
Norlin, Aiken Industries, REI, and other names (getting old, cant recall them  all). 
 General Mills, the cereal people, also owned them for a while.
 
They built nice stuff and were associated with the CEI division of WJ in  
that all the receiver companies around the Wash.-D.C. beltway were highly  
incestuous.  Engineers traded back and forth between NEMS-Clarke, Defense  
Electronics Inc (DEI), Communications Electronics Inc. (CEI, later part of WJ,  now 
DRS), and ACL, and there may have been others as well.  ACL was started  in 1964 
to exploit the blossoming quantity/types of solid state devices.  I  had the 
privilege of knowing one of the 6 principle guys, most who came from  CEI.  
They built the first modular solid state surveillance receiver, the  SR-209, with 
plug-ins going from 2 MHz to 7 GHz.  They also built in later  times the 
SR-2090 (get it? SR 209 x 10), and the SR-2155, both nice "high-end"  rigs.
When Aiken Industries closed down, I got to "clean out" the junk left in  the 
plant, kinda interesting.  I often dreamed of writing a history of  these 
places, but most of the guys are gone now, and I no longer live in the  area, so 
the opportunity may have passed.  (Still have a big junk pile of  stuff 
though, really gets into your blood...).
 
Hope this offering is useful to the community.
 
73
Jeff Kruth
WA3ZKR