[TMC] Why ?

[Nick England]

To add to JP's info -
In the late 1960's, the Navy began replacing FRR-60 receivers with R-1051's
- smaller, 95% solid state, easier to repair (quick module swapping),
easier to operate, and common equipment for shipboard and shore station
use. And freq synthesis compatible with the new standards for on-line
crypto and multi-channel multiplexed RTTY. The Navy bought 1000's of these
receivers so millions of dollars in future TMC sales (and R-390A sales)
evaporated, with no replacement in sight. WHAM.

Around the same time, TMC lost out for the upgrade of all the Navy's big
transmitters, replacing the URT-19/FRT-70, FRT-39, FRT-40, FRT-62 series
(TMC SBT-1K, GPT-10K, GPT-40K, GPT-200K) with the Continental/RF
Communications FRT-83, -84, -85, -86.
http://www.navy-radio.com/xmtrs.htm
These were modern synthesized autotune 4ISB rigs and the Navy bought
hundreds and hundreds of them so more millions of dollars in future TMC
sales evaporated, again with no replacement in sight. DOUBLE WHAM.

I was working for the Naval Electronics Systems Command in 1969-72, but
it's not my fault, honest.....

If you are curious about Navy technology transition during the 1970's, I
have 1974 equipment inventories for several Navy comm stations at
http://www.navy-radio.com/commsta-rcvr-01.htm
http://www.navy-radio.com/commsta-xmtr-01.htm

Nick England K4NYW
www.navy-radio.com

On Mon, Dec 8, 2014 at 11:18 AM, John Poulton <jp at cs.unc.edu> wrote:

>  Mike poses a useful question, and it's essentially my job to answer
> it.  I've been assembling information for a comprehensive history of
> TMC for some time, but just haven't (yet) had the time and energy to
> arrange it into an actual document.  I still have a few hours of
> interviews to transcribe, and lots of written material to organize,
> but ... those are excuses!
>
> That said, if anyone on the list has information, stories, theories,
> ...whatever.. to contribute to this effort, please do!
>
> As to why TMC didn't get sold.. I think by the time (late 70's) that a
> sale would have made sense, there wasn't much left to sell.  Ray
> actually did think about a sale or merger, but it didn't happen.  TMC
> was essentially a one-customer company, mainly serving the Navy's need
> for HF communications gear.  Two things happened near the end of the
> 70's:  the Navy backed 'way off on acquisitions of all kinds,
> post-Vietnam, so TMC's sales dropped off precipitously.  And, the
> military began moving away from global HF communications to satellite
> comm's.  With the market for HF comm's having shrunk, there just wan't
> room for more than a few major players, so there may just not have
> been a company that could absorb TMC profitably.  As revenues dried
> up, TMC didn't have the financial resources to update its engineering
> workforce, so they were not able to deal with the challenges of a
> rapidly changing market.  They also made a few bad decisions,
> including the in-house engineering effort for the DDR-10 receiver
> system (late 60's) that was to replace the DDR-5 (FRR-60) receivers.
> This complex and ambitious project cost them years of effort, and
> there was no payoff; by the time the receiver was done, it was already
> obsolete, and the Navy only ordered a dozen or so of them.  The
> company did consider all kinds of alternative markets, but their
> engineers were experienced in engineering systems for the government,
> where cost was no object, so their efforts in more consumer-oriented
> systems were a bust.
>
> 73, John K4OZY
>
> On Mon, Dec 8, 2014 at 10:51 AM, Mike Durff <mike at oldaudio.net> wrote:
> >  Nicks recent posting of the "Project Judy" station in Greece leaves me
> wondering... If TMC had such a presence 50 years ago, and apparently many
> years thereafter, why wasn't it sold or bought out? Like the Collins /
> Rockwell deal.Did TMC just die a natural death?  Were there larger
> political forces at work? Owners choice?Inquiring minds want to know...
> > TNX, MD, K4TQF
> >
> >
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