[Premium-Rx] FS: Watkins-Johnson WJ-8969 and a WJ-8969C and spares and manuals

[Terry O']

Peter,
I'll be posting the full WJ-8969 service manual on my website next week. 
It is covers the WJ-8969/IFC and the WJ-8969/TU0112, which on the cover 
says it covers both the WJ-8969/TU0145 and TU0412. I'll also be testing 
the units next Tuesday, hopefully with a microwave signal generator, 
although the pile of test equipment has not been tested yet.  If it all 
comes together, I can better describe the equipment next week.

In this pile there may be enough gear to get three radios operational.  
Of the three, a WJ-8969C is really rare in private hands. In the photos 
it is the jet black radio on the far right with avionics mounting ears. 
It appears to be heavily shielded, possibly Tempest rated.

I can send the picture I posted on Fbook off list on request. I'll be 
taking more pictures next week.  I'm told the C version has heavy 
shielding and much more rugged construction.  It will be interesting to 
pop the lids on the different versions side by side.

I have photographs taken by an employee of the WJ-8969 under development 
at Gaithersburg. It has arisen in several interviews, most notably with 
former East Coast engineer Bruce Long.  I have not reached the point 
where I've pieced the information together into a full story. After I 
piece what I have together, I'll need to do follow up interviews to fill 
in the gaps.  The WJ-8969 story highlights several interesting aspects 
of the larger WJ story.

In brief, the forced transfer of the project from Gaithersburg to San 
Jose caused hard feelings on the East Coast. As one East Coast engineer 
put it, with a notable feeling of being demeaned, "We were told that the 
West Coast did microwaves."  This was a strange corporate declaration 
because Gaithersburg had a long string of successful microwave designs 
prior to the WJ-8969, especially for microwave Telco FDM interception.

Two Gaithersburg engineers feel the San Jose folks took a good product 
and made it an expensive albatross.  That may be a part of what has been 
variously described to me as "Not Designed Here " and "Not My Design", a 
syndrome which one engineer told me is an extreme belief in the 
superiority of one's work that can sometimes be counterproductively 
apparent in engineering.  I also heard from a San Jose salesman that the 
C version did not sell as well as they had expected.

Apparently, the WJ-8969C was designed for applications that are 
classified.  A classified project ratings doesn't always carry over to 
the radio.  Of the WJ manuals I have the, the only ones with any 
security markings are for ELINT equipment, even though quite a number of 
radios were used in classified projects.  I won't be distributing any 
manuals marked classified or restricted because I've been informed the 
declassification process is arduous and expensive (in staff time).  It 
is only done when there is a follow-on customer who will reimburse the 
company for undertaking the process.  That is one of the reasons WJ 
manuals have been scarce.

Based on the large dish with a custom made multi-feed point in the yard 
and the Az-El rotor with two log periodics for 100MHz to daylight on the 
roof, there will be other microwave equipment for sale from this 
estate.  I'm not working on that inventory, so I don't how long before 
that spreadsheet becomes available.  I should have the WJ spreadsheet 
done early next week.

Best,
Terry O'


On 9/22/2021 8:47 PM, Peter Ratuschni via Premium-Rx wrote:
>> A WJ-8969 from Gaithersburg, MD in a frame connected to a 1-4.5 GHz
>> tuner. At the moment untested.
>>
>> A WJ-8969C, which is a version reworked in San Jose, CA by the WJ Recon
>> Division (long story behind the bi-coastal aspect of these two radios).
>
> Hi Terry and all,
>
> I would like to hear the long story of the bi-coastal history of the wj 8969.
> I am working on a 8969 consisting of the IFC and a TU0145 tuner. Until now I thought these were west coast products, as they both are labeled by the San Jose division.
> Thinking about the possible tuner configurations when started in 1986 the system seems to be the logical successor of the 112 receiver. And unlike the other new wj microwave systems of the time the 8969 fits in the same 2U rack space (at least when paired with the half rack width tuner units). Looking at the catalogues on Terry`s wj website, the 112 appeared from 1968 until 1988. The 8969 appears in the 1990 catalogue from RET division, San Jose.
> What lets me think of Gaithersburg is the frontplate of the IFC which is almost similar to the frontplate of the 8615P.
>
> It seems to be difficult to obtain the 8969 service information and it is seems to be also difficult to find out, if this 35 year old system is still on the ITAR or EAR lists.
>
> If I manage to get the system up and running I would like to compare it with a 112R, also equipped with a 1 to 4.5 GHz tuner head. Are there any cons of the digital circuits, maybe some noise interference?
> I got the IFC basically running by fixing the SMPS. The Papst 812 fan is connected to -15V which seems not original. There is a 1500µF Sprague Atom in parallel to the fan.
> The TU0145 has something glued on top of the first module behind the frontplate - this thing looks like a foiltype capacitor, but it is covered with silicone so I am not sure at the moment. There is some kind of Molex connector which looks like it was made disfunctional. This can likely be dissolved but if new questions arise I guess I might be lost without the service information.
>
> Any information is appreciated.
>
> b.r.
> Peter