Broadcast transmitters
Starting in the mid-1930s, the Collins Radio Company constructed and sold transmitters and audio mixing consoles to the broadcast industry.
In 1939, the model 12 Speech Input Console, in addition to the 26C limiter amplifier, was licensed to Canadian Marconi Co. for both sales in Canada and His Majesty's Service for the war effort. Collins' success in constructing broadcast transmitters continued to grow, selling well over a thousand up to the start of World War II. During World War II, Collins' expertise grew in high-power transmitters, producing designs that ran well over 15 kilowatts (kW) of RF power on a continuous basis. After the war, some AM transmitters were produced, called the 300G, and remain the finest in low-power AM transmitters (300W) ever produced.
Collins remained an important manufacturer of AM and FM broadcast radio transmitters for the commercial market surviving the drastic cost-cutting market of the 1960s and 1970s. The transmitter line was later sold to Continental Electronics, which continued to produce a number of Collins designs under its own nameplate before phasing them out in the 1980s.
Shortwave transmitters
Collins produced several shortwave transmitters to the commercial market. A "30" Series production catered to the growing need of state highway patrol agencies and Department of Commerce aviation needs. During World War II, Collins produced high-power transmitters for aircraft, notably the ART-13 equipped with automatic tuning circuits, which represented an important enhancement for airborne radio communications.[23]
After World War II, Collins supported both broadcast and the growing postwar amateur radio market. The United States Coast Guard Cutter USCGC Courier was employed as seagoing relay station for Voice of America programming using two Collins 207B-1 transmitters.[24][25] Amateur radio transmitters included the 32V-1, -2, and -3, the KWS-1, and the rack-mounted KW-1.[26]
Receivers
Around 1947, the company introduced their first amateur radio receiver, the 75A-1 (called the 75A). This set achieved excellent stability for the time due to high build quality and the use of a permeability tuned oscillator in its second conversion stage. It was one of the few double-conversion superheterodynes on the market, and covered only the amateur bands.
With the experience gained in the design of the 75A-1, Collins released the 51J-1 receiver, a general-coverage HF set covering to. It was produced in somewhat updated versions (51J-2, 51J-3, 51J-4) for about a decade. It was known as the R-388 and was used in multiple receiver diversity radioteletype installations.
The 75A amateur line was updated throughout the early 1950s, finishing with the 75A-4, which was released in 1955. The Collins mechanical filter was introduced to consumers in the 75A-3, and the 75A-4 was one of the first receivers marketed specifically as a single sideband receiver. Around 1950, Collins began designing the R-390 (—) for the US military. This was intended to be a receiver of the highest performance available, with the ruggedness and serviceability required for military duty. It featured direct mechanical digital frequency readout. The set is composed of several modules for easy field repair—a bad module could simply be swapped out and repaired later, or junked. Sets built during the original 1951 contract cost the government about US$2500 each, and around 16,000 were produced.
Concurrently, Collins developed the R-389, a long-wave version with fewer than 1,000 made. The R-391, another variant of the R-390, allowed choice of eight different autotuned channels.
Three years later, Collins delivered the R-390A[27]
Transceivers and systems
With the introduction of the S/Line in 1958, Collins moved from designing individual products that could be used together, to ones that were designed to integrate and operate together, in various combinations, as a system. They were the first equipment maker to take this approach. Collins was also the first to introduce a compact HF transceiver, the KWM-1, the year before. Together, these two innovations put Collins temporarily ahead of its competition, and set the stage for other manufacturers and the next generation of amateur (and military) HF radio equipment.
The 75S-1 receiver and 32S-1 transmitter, comprising the heart of the S/Line, operated separately or together to transceive. The units included crystal band-pass filters and a new compact design that provided stable, highly linear tuning across 200 kHz band segments. The S/Line tuning-dial mechanism was unique when introduced. It used concentric dials and a gear mechanism that provided precise dial resolution, better than 1 kHz.
Within a few years, Collins had introduced additional S/Line components, including the 30S-1 kilowatt power amplifier, the 30L-1 desktop power amplifier, and the 62S-1 transverter, which provided coverage of the 6-m (50 MHz) and 2-m (144 MHz) amateur bands. The KWM-2 transceiver replaced the KWM-1 using many of the S/Line's design features and matching its styling. Other accessories included speakers, microphones, and control consoles.
Illustrating the uniqueness of their new, smaller units in the market, Collins advertisements in the 1950s and early 1960s emphasized the S/Line's physical styling and size, as often as they did its performance.[28]
Computers
In the 1960s, the company designed and sold C-System computerized message-switching equipment, built an intranet, and began implementing computer storage of design data for circuit boards and assemblies. They had a goal of automating all functions from parts ordering and inventory to factory scheduling to generation of maintenance provisioning. With products technically successful and far ahead of their time in many respects, Mr. Collins continued to invest in development at a rate that could not be supported by sales when a downturn occurred, and began to have financial problems.
Network Transmission Systems
In 1991, Rockwell sold its Richardson, Texas-based Network Transmission Systems division to Alcatel.[30][31][32]
