The R. L. Drake Company is a manufacturer of electroniccommunications equipment located in Springboro, Ohio. It is also known for its line of equipment for amateur radio and shortwave listening, built in the 1950s through the 1980s. The company operates as a separate entity owned by Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc.
Amateur stations made up of Drake gear were used on a number of record-breaking hot air balloon flights, the RMSQueen Mary, and the Rutan Voyager.[3] Many of the Drake receivers, transmitters, and transceivers manufactured in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s are still in active use today. When founder Robert L. Drake died in 1975, the operation and management of the company was turned over to his 2nd son, Peter W. Drake.[3]
Today, Drake produces products for cable television systems, SD and HD video encoders, video signal distribution, and digital television reception under the Drake and Dracom brand.[4]
In February 2012, Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc. acquired R.L. Drake, LLC, reportedly for a purchase price of approximately $6.5 million, however, the companies will operate as separate entities; Blonder Tongue in Old Bridge, New Jersey, and R.L. Drake in Miamisburg, Ohio.[5]
Amateur radio products
Drake manufactured equipment for amateur radio operators and short wave listeners for more than three decades.
Longwave, mediumwave, and high frequency (HF) equipment
The Drake 1A receiver was the company's first meant specifically for radio amateurs. Introduced in 1957, it was revolutionary in at least two ways. First, it was much smaller than most receivers of the time period. The design emphasized simplicity and ease of operation. Second, it was designed specifically for reception of the relatively new and increasingly popular single sideband (SSB) mode of voice transmission.
In 1959 they followed the 1A with the 2A, a more traditional looking receiver that was a bit larger but still much more compact than its contemporaries. The 2A had more features, increased sensitivity and selectivity, and was introduced at the same price as the 1A. It was followed two years later by the 2B, very similar in appearance but with improved performance and a new set of controls for adjusting the selectivity (bandwidth) and center frequency.
Drake 2B radio receiver circa 1960s
Rather than produce a transmitter to match the 2B, Drake designed a new line of equipment beginning with an SSB transceiver, the TR-3, in 1963. Again emphasizing size efficiency, the TR-3 was designed as a complete SSB station in a small package. Other design innovations included crystal bandwidth filters and a permeability tuned oscillator (PTO) capable of extremely linear, stable tuning and a dial resolution of better than 1kHz across all amateur HF (shortwave) bands. Its size was so small, in part, because the power supply was in a separate chassis, connected to the transceiver with a multi-conductor cable. The AC-3 power supply could be installed inside a matching speaker cabinet, later designated the MS-4. An optional remote VFO (PTO), the RV-3 could be added to the system to enable split frequency operation (i.e., transmitting on a frequency different from the receiving frequency). The RV-3 (and, later, the RV-4) also contained a speaker.
Beginning with the TR-3, Drake adopted a scheme for illuminating tuning dials and panel meters on its equipment using small incandescent bulbs behind greenish-blue transparent plastic filters. This lighting color became one of the most recognizable and distinguishing features of Drake radios.
Drake R-4B receiver, T-4XB transmitter, and L-4B linear amplifier
The TR-3 was superseded by several versions of the TR-4, ending with the TR-4C and its variants in 1978. The TR-6, covering the 50MHz (6-meter) amateur band, was also introduced in 1968 and was produced for about six years.
Because of their small size, the Drake transceivers were widely used for mobile operation, along with the DC-3 or DC-4 power supplies.
In 1965, Drake introduced the matching T-4X transmitter and R-4 receiver.[6] The "4-Line" twins satisfied a desire for high performance, operational flexibility and a set of features not possible to squeeze into the TR-4's small size. The matching units used the same PTO technology as the TR-4, and were capable of transceive operation using either the receiver's or the transmitter's PTO to control the operating frequency. Drake introduced the T-4 "reciter" which was a transmitter add on for the R4 series receivers (it had no PTO of its own and used the PTO and other signals from the R4 receiver to generate the transmit signal), making them a two piece "transceiver", but it saw limited sales and is a rare item on the used ham gear lists these days.
The 4-Line continued to be improved through ‘A’ and ‘B’ versions, and underwent a significant receiver redesign when the “C-Line” came out in 1973. The T-4XC transmitter and R-4C receiver employed a few more solid state devices but were still primarily vacuum tube designs.
Drake R-4B receiver circa 1971
Along with transceivers and separates, the 4-Line included a set of matching accessories including the L-4 linear amplifier, C-4 control console, W-4 and WV-4 power meters, transmit and receive converters for the 50MHz (6 meter) and 144MHz (2 meter) bands, and antenna impedance matching networks (tuners), the MN-4 and MN-2000.
Midway through the 4-Line's run, in 1967, Drake introduced a receiver and transmitter pair meant for the Novice licensee - the 2-C receiver and 2-NT transmitter. The 2-C was an improved receiver based on the 2-B design using a few more solid state devices. Thus, it was a sophisticated design compared to most other receivers targeting Novices. The 2-NT used a crystal oscillator to control its frequency, a requirement of the Novice license at that time (the restriction was later removed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)).
For short wave listeners, Drake produced the SW-4 receiver in 1967 (and later the SW-4A), which matched the rest of the 4-Line in appearance, was based on the R-4 design, but greatly simplified to be easier for the casual listener to use. It was replaced in 1973 by the SPR-4, a receiver similar in appearance to the R-4C but, again, simplified for ease of use. Its biggest difference, however, was that it was Drake's first all solid state design. It covered a greater portion of the high frequency (HF) and medium wave spectrum than did the SW-4, by using a large set of selectable heterodyne oscillator crystals for selecting the tuning range, each covering a 500kHz wide segment. The receiver came supplied with 10 crystals and a user could add up to 14 more.
In 1978 Drake abandoned vacuum tubes (except for their use in power amplifiers) in favor of solid state designs and digital frequency synthesis. The new “7-Line” included the TR-7 transceiver, the R-7 receiver, and various accessories including two linear amplifiers, the L-7 and L-75.
The TR-5, largely a solid state version of the TR-4, was built and briefly sold during the early 1980s. Because so few of them were made they have become comparatively scarce.
Drake's final entry into the Amateur radio and Shortwave listening markets was the R-8 receiver in 1991 – a high performance digital design with advanced features specifically meant for shortwave broadcast listening. The receiver, which primarily covered medium and short wave bands, could be expanded to cover two VHF ranges with an optional, internal adapter. Further improvements led to R-8A and R-8B models before it was discontinued in 2005 after a long production run.[7][8]
Very high frequency (VHF) and ultra high frequency (UHF) equipment
In addition to the converters designed as part of Drake's 4-Line, they began designing and selling compact VHF and UHF transceivers in the early 1970s. Powered by 12V DC, they were primarily intended for mobile use.
Drake marketed a series of VHF transceivers manufactured in Japan, under the Drake brand. The ML-2 “Marker Luxury” was a crystal controlled FM transceiver for the 2-meter (144MHz) band.
The TR-22, TR-22C, and TR-33 were very small 2-meter FM transceivers that were entirely self-contained, including a telescoping antenna and rechargeable battery. They each came with a microphone and carrying case with shoulder strap. These transceivers were manufactured by Trio-Kenwood in Japan and marketed worldwide as TR-2200 and TR-2300 under their manufacturer's own brands.
Drake's UV-3 FM transceiver, manufactured in the US, covered the 144, 220, and 440MHz bands. A different model was available for covering one, two, or three bands. A user could start with one or two and add more later by purchasing modular add-on RF modules factory installed. It was their first VHF/UHF transceiver on 220MHz to use frequency synthesis instead of crystals for establishing the operating frequency. It also employed direct FM instead of the standard phase modulation thus having better audio. It was a model ahead of its time and the later compact multiband Kenwood TM-x41/x42 series that was sold in the late 1980s to mid 1990s, which could handle three band modules; the modules produced covered the 10,6,2,220,440 and 1200MHz FM amateur bands).
The TR-72 was a crystal controlled 2-meter FM transceiver that bore a striking resemblance to TR-7200 transceivers from Trio-Kenwood (now Kenwood Corporation), indicating its manufacturing origin.[9]
Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz ; above the medium frequency band (MF), to the bottom of the VHF band.
Citizens band radio is a land mobile radio system, a system allowing short-distance one-to-many bidirectional voice communication among individuals, using two-way radios operating near 27 MHz in the high frequency or shortwave band. Citizens band is distinct from other personal radio service allocations such as FRS, GMRS, MURS, UHF CB and the Amateur Radio Service. In many countries, CB operation does not require a license and may be used for business or personal communications.
In radio communication, skywave or skip refers to the propagation of radio waves reflected or refracted back toward Earth from the ionosphere, an electrically charged layer of the upper atmosphere. Since it is not limited by the curvature of the Earth, skywave propagation can be used to communicate beyond the horizon, at intercontinental distances. It is mostly used in the shortwave frequency bands.
A walkie-talkie, more formally known as a handheld transceiver (HT), is a hand-held, portable, two-way radio transceiver. Its development during the Second World War has been variously credited to Donald Hings, radio engineer Alfred J. Gross, Henryk Magnuski and engineering teams at Motorola. First used for infantry, similar designs were created for field artillery and tank units, and after the war, walkie-talkies spread to public safety and eventually commercial and jobsite work.
The 2-meter amateur radio band is a portion of the VHF radio spectrum that comprises frequencies stretching from 144 MHz to 148 MHz in International Telecommunication Union region (ITU) Regions 2 and 3 and from 144 MHz to 146 MHz in ITU Region 1 . The license privileges of amateur radio operators include the use of frequencies within this band for telecommunication, usually conducted locally with a line-of-sight range of about 100 miles (160 km).
The 33-centimeter or 900 MHz band is a portion of the UHF radio spectrum internationally allocated to amateur radio on a secondary basis. It ranges from 902 to 928 MHz and is unique to ITU Region 2 (Americas). It is primarily used for very local communications as opposed to bands lower in frequency. However, very high antennas with high gain have shown 33 centimeters can provide good long-range communications almost equal to systems on lower frequencies such as the 70 centimeter band. The band is also used by industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) equipment, as well as low-powered unlicensed devices. Amateur stations must accept harmful interference caused by ISM users but may receive protection from unlicensed devices.
An S meter is an indicator often provided on communications receivers, such as amateur radio or shortwave broadcast receivers. The scale markings are derived from a system of reporting signal strength from S1 to S9 as part of the R-S-T system. The term S unit refers to the amount of signal strength required to move an S meter indication from one marking to the next.
The 80 meter or 3.5 MHz band is a span of radio frequencies allocated for amateur use, from 3.5–4.0 MHz in North and South America ; generally 3.5–3.8 MHz in Europe, Africa, and northern Asia (Region 1); and 3.5–3.9 MHz in south and east Asia and the eastern Pacific (Region 3). The upper portion of the band, which is usually used for phone (voice), is sometimes referred to as 75 meters; however, in Europe, "75 m" is used to name an overlapping shortwave broadcast band between 3.9–4.0 MHz used by a number of national radio services.
The Hallicrafters Company manufactured, marketed, and sold radio equipment, and to a lesser extent televisions and phonographs, beginning in 1932. The company was founded by William J. Halligan and based in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
A communications receiver is a type of radio receiver used as a component of a radio communication link. This is in contrast to a broadcast receiver which is used to receive radio broadcasts. A communication receiver receives parts of the radio spectrum not used for broadcasting, including amateur, military, aircraft, marine, and other bands. They are often used with a radio transmitter as part of a two-way radio link for shortwave radio or amateur radio communication, although they are also used for shortwave listening.
Amateur radio frequency allocation is done by national telecommunication authorities. Globally, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) oversees how much radio spectrum is set aside for amateur radio transmissions. Individual amateur stations are free to use any frequency within authorized frequency ranges; authorized bands may vary by the class of the station license.
An amateur radio repeater is an electronic device that receives a weak or low-level amateur radio signal and retransmits it at a higher level or higher power, so that the signal can cover longer distances without degradation. Many repeaters are located on hilltops or on tall buildings as the higher location increases their coverage area, sometimes referred to as the radio horizon, or "footprint". Amateur radio repeaters are similar in concept to those used by public safety entities, businesses, government, military, and more. Amateur radio repeaters may even use commercially packaged repeater systems that have been adjusted to operate within amateur radio frequency bands, but more often amateur repeaters are assembled from receivers, transmitters, controllers, power supplies, antennas, and other components, from various sources.
In the United States, the Citizens Band Radio Service (CBRS), commonly called citizens band radio, is one of several personal radio services defined under Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 95. It is intended to be a two-way voice communication service for use in personal and business activities of the general public, and has a reliable communications range of several miles, though the range is highly dependent on type of radio, antenna and propagation.
Swan Electronics was a manufacturer of amateur radio gear located in Oceanside, California, United States.
The Yaesu FT-ONE is an all-mode solid state general coverage HF amateur radio (HAM) transceiver. The use of FM required an optional FM board to be installed. The unit was designed for fixed, portable or mobile operation, although the size and weight (17 kg) made it more suitable for fixed use. The FT-ONE was built by the Japanese Yaesu-Musen Corporation from 1982 to 1986. At its release, the FT-ONE was launched as the successor to the FT-902 and as the new Yaesu top-of-the-line transceiver. The FT-ONE was not only Yaesu's first fully synthesized, computer-controlled amateur band transceiver but it was also the first transceiver with a general coverage receiver. The FT-ONE was sold in the U.S., Asian and European markets. It was released in 1982 with a list price of $2800.00 US.
The Yaesu VX series is a line of two sequences of compact amateur radio handheld transceivers produced by Yaesu. There is a line of ultra-compact lower-power dual-band transceivers that started with the VX-1R and was later updated with the VX-2R and VX-3R. There is also a line of 5W tri-band transceivers that started with the VX-5R and was later updated with the VX-6R, VX-7R and VX-8R.
The Gonset Communicator was a series of vacuum tube VHF AM radio transceivers that were widely sold in the 1950s and early 60s. They were designed by Faust Gonsett and manufactured by the Gonset Division of L. A. Young Spring and Wire Corp. Models were built for amateur radio, aircraft radio and U.S. Civil Defense use. The Gonsets were among the first commercial radios available for the post-World War II amateur bands and helped popularize VHF for amateurs.
The Yaesu FT-891 is a HF and 6 meters all mode mobile amateur radio transceiver. The FT-891 was first announced to the public by Yaesu at the 2016 Dayton Hamvention. The radio has 100 watts output on CW, SSB, and FM modulations and 25 watts of output in AM. As a mobile transceiver the FT-891 is well suited for mobile installation in vehicles, and weighing less than 5 pounds it is often used for field activations such as Summits On The Air and Parks On The Air. The radio has been praised for its noise reduction and sensitive receiver. Common criticisms of the radio include its many menus that are difficult to navigate with its small screen, the lack of VHF/UHF capabilities, and lack of an internal antenna tuner. Although the radio lacks an internal sound card it still has input and output jacks for audio and be controlled over a USB cable allowing the radio to use digital modes such as WinLink, PSK31 and FT8.
References
↑ "The Story". Archived from the original on 2007-07-27. Retrieved 2007-02-12.The Virtual Drake Museum
1 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-02-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)The History Behind The R.L. Drake Company, Bill Frost, The Printed Circuit (1988)
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