[Scan-DC] Fw: International Crystal Manufacturing Company / closing letter.doc

[Alan Henney]

From: Ken Reitz
Sent: Tuesday, March 14, 2017 10:49 AM
To: Parrish, Kevin (NBCUniversal) 
Subject: Re: International Crystal Manufacturing Company / closing letter.doc 
 

Hi Kevin --

I would like to use parts of this in the April Letters column, if I may. I think a lot of TSM readers would appreciate your comments.




Ken Reitz KS4ZR
Publisher, Managing Editor

The Spectrum Monitor



On Tue, Mar 14, 2017 at 10:47 AM, Parrish, Kevin (NBCUniversal) wrote:


  Ken,

  Anybody involved in the hobby of radio for at least the past 25-years understands what the closing of ICM represents.

  For a very young Kevin Parrish growing up out San Francisco the daily anticipation of waiting day after day for the postman to deliver that magic small white box from ICM in Oklahoma City with the crystals for his Johnson Duo-Scan crystal scanner seemed at times unbearable... The contents within the box from Oklahoma City contained the future of endless hours monitoring the next new frequency... This teenager was very high tech with his duo-scan and all eight channels... Imagine that, eight channels, WOW!

  To this day, I still have my trusty Johnson "Duo-Scan" that works perfectly fine and a large inventory of scanner crystals... This scanner was my very first one purchased with cash from Lafayette Radio.

  Before ICM closes up shop there will be one last ceremonial crystal order... As strange as it seems, I'll be ordering crystals, one last time from my old friends at ICM for my old Johnson "Duo-Scan"... The cost of the 2017 ICM scanner crystals for the old Johnson Duo-Scan are much more than the old radio is worth in dollars but there's high value placed upon my ability to re-visit pleasant memories of a much simpler time in the hobby of monitor radio listening to an entirely analog world, the sound of noise squelch, those red lights endlessly searching for the next transmission to stop on... Ahh

  The frequencies selected will be all the NOAA Weather Radio freqs... In the days and years ahead the familiar glow of those red winky-blinky lights on this old crystal scanner shining brightly, even now will serve to re-kindle the pleasant memories of decades long passed being a monitor radio listener.

  The men and women at International Crystal Manufacturing Company in Oklahoma City have always been part of something special,  even magical in the world of radio communications and technology... The millions of crystals they produced at 10 North Lee Street for the past 66-years still serves an ever changing world with on frequency accuracy and stability.

  Those ICM crystals and precision channel elements kept our 2-way radio base stations and repeaters located high atop the World Trade Center "ON AIR" until those very last moments on a dark day in our nations history.. From other communications sites at high mountain tops or inside our broadcast studios from coast to coast, International Crystals live on and continue to serve on frequency.

  Kevin Parrish
  NBC
  New York
  --------------------------