Arthur A. Collins: A Hero Among Hams

Ahead of its time
By many accounts, the Collins Radio Company was ahead of its time. While Americans continued to struggle to find work, employees at Collins Radio were awarded overtime pay and coffee breaks.²

"It is worthy to note that Collins has never had a major labor difficulty," said Goodyear, "and not one man-hour has ever been lost because of strikes."

In 1951, the military contracted the Collins Radio Company to produce the R-390 receiver, which operated in the 0.5- to 30-MHz range and featured a direct mechanical digital frequency readout. By some accounts, 16,000 R-390s were produced for the military at $2500 each.²

From that point on, Collins Radio served as a regular contractor to various arms of the U.S. government. In 1952, in cooperation with the National Bureau of Standards, Collins sent the first long-distance message that utilized the moon as a reflector. Four years later, Time magazine reported that military planes traveling over the North and South Pole were able to communicate using Collins Radio equipment. And in the 1960s, the company supplied communications equipment used for the Apollo, Gemini, and Mercury space programs.¹

While the government continued to order equipment en masse for more than 20 years, the company nearly went bankrupt in the late 1960s (despite the fact that by 1961, Collins owned 623 U.S. patents).¹ At one point, former presidential candidate Ross Perot's Texas-based Electronic Data System Corp. reportedly attempted to take over Collins Radio.¹ In 1971, though, the company merged with Rockwell International Corp., with Collins serving as president and chair of the board. Collins Radio products continued to be manufactured under Rockwell International until 2001, when Rockwell Collins Inc. spun off from its parent corporation. Today, 60 Rockwell Collins locations in 27 countries produce aircraft electronics for airlines around the world. According to the company, nearly 70% of all U.S. and allied military airborne communication uses its electronics.

While Collins' namesake is now associated with high-quality communications and aviation electronics, the man who founded the Collins Radio Company will always be remembered by fellow hams for his contributions to a pastime that continues to intrigue more than 2 million amateur radio operators around the world today.

References

1. collinsclubs.com, Company Timeline, www.collinsclubs.com/history/timeline
2. wikipedia.org, Collins Radio Company, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collins_Radio

See Associated Figure