"Michael Black" wrote in message
ample.net...
On Fri, 20 Mar 2009, Unca Pete wrote:
Who can forget the "Brimstone 144"? The name was what we remember.
That's a rig I don't remember seeing a review for.

I remember the negative comments in the letters to the editor in QST at
the time... the FM rig was made by Satan Electronics, and that raised
a few hackles!

The "Emergency Beacon" rigs made a big splash, endless bells and whistles
at a time when there were relatively few synthesized 2m FM rigs, yet
I never had a handle on whether they actually sold many, despite the
large advertising budget.

And IIRC, the EB had its share of problems....


Even the Daveco receiver from about 1964 seemed to make a bigger splash
than sales, though there seemed to be some that were actually sold.

These companies gave an illusion of being more than someone's garage,
I have no idea whether they were or not, yet the sales seemed to match
more something that was manufactured in someone's garage.

There was some history about the guy who made the DAVCOs--its on
the W8ZR.net website. It was apparently a small operation that ran
out funding in two years. I suspect a lot of companies were cellar
or garage cottage business's, like the old Tapetone converter line.

I'm amazed at the number of companies who made similar items in
the New England area, like the Waters products. Not much is left
regarding the history of many of those operations.

Pete k1zjh
Michael VE2BVW