[Premium-Rx] Watkins Johnson GIANT WJ-8940 Receiver want to swap for WJ 89028 or comparable.

[Terry O']

The behemoth WJ-8940B is a vital part of TEMPEST history.  It had a 
difficult birth with many delays reaching production.  To compound 
matters, the DoD made its use mandatory for TEMPEST testing of many 
pieces of contracted military, most notably the various AN/UYK 
encryption systems. WJ's delays held up testing and delivery of 
important military hardware from other manufacturers.  It got so bad, 
the Office of the President signed an order suspending all other WJ 
contractual work for the DoD until they delivered the WJ-8940B.

Once it arrived, a Sylvania employee told me it was a huge improvement 
over the WJ-8940A.  The A version was an even larger separate receiver 
controlled by a DEC PDP-11.  On the A version, he told me the computer 
to radio link would regularly lock up and he'd have to reboot everything 
to continue testing the AN/UYK units that Sylvania was making.  The 
WJ-8940B, with internal processing, eliminated that headache.  In 
addition it was much easier to program for a battery of tests.

The only document I kept for the WJ-8940B is the Technical Bulletin, 
"EMC Test Applications of the WJ-8940B" which I scanned and can be found 
on the document index page of my website http://Watkins-Johnson.terryo.org

Best,
Terry O'





On 10/7/2023 7:37 PM, Bruce Gentry via Premium-Rx wrote:
> I have a monster Watkins Johnson WJ-8940B receiver. I obtained it a 
> couple years ago fully well aware it need serious restoration. I was 
> told it worked well before being stored so expected power supplys and 
> other parts needed rebuilding. In the course if getting it ready, I 
> found a NICAD battery in the mian digital control unit had fumed and 
> leaked all over everything. The fact that EEPROMS windows were !NOT! 
> covered sent my my fright around the moon. I very carefully cleaned 
> and repaired the corroded circuit paths, and after all of this, power 
> it up. The only thing I ever saw on the display was "EEPROM CHECKSUM 
> ERROR" , accomnanied by the sickly sweet smell of a burning circuit 
> board and a whisp if smoke. I now want this thing GONE!, but do have a 
> few hundred hours of work in it. I will joyfully swap it to anyone for 
> a Watkins Johnson WJ-89028 or equal model receiver. Those are the rack 
> mount VHF-UHF 4 tuner 4 band AM-FM receivers with the panadapter and 
> frequency readout all in one unit or two matching stackable ones. It 
> doesn't have to work, and but completeness is most important. I am in 
> Syracuse,New York, very easy to reach from RT.81 and the NYS Thruway. 
> I can send photos and detailed dimensions and anything else that can 
> help you choose a suitable vehicle and load it.
>
> Bruce Gentry, KA2IVY
>
>
>
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