Rockwell Collins, Inc. (NYSE: COL) is a large
United States-based international company headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, primarily
providing aviation and information technology
systems, solutions, and services to governmental agencies and aircraft manufacturers.
History
Arthur Collins founded Collins Radio Company in 1933 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for the purpose of designing and producing
shortwave radio equipment.
The company steadily grew, and captured the world's attention when Collins supplied the equipment to establish a
communications link with the South Pole expedition of Rear
Admiral Richard Byrd in 1933.
During the next three decades, Collins continued to expand its work in all phases of the communications field while broadening
its technology thrust into numerous other disciplines. New developments such as flight control instruments, radio communication
devices and satellite voice transmissions created great opportunities in the marketplace. Collins Radio Company provided
communications for America's role in the Space Race, including equipment for
astronauts to communicate with earth stations and equipment to track and communicate with spacecraft. Collins communications
equipment was used for Projects Mercury, Gemini
and Apollo, providing voice communication for every American astronaut traveling through
space. In 1973, the U.S. Skylab Program used Collins equipment to provide communication from the
astronauts to earth.
Products
Transmitters
In the mid 1930s, the Collins Radio Company constructed and sold transmitters and audio
mixing consoles to the broadcast industry. The model 12, the first manufactured broadcast
console, was called a "speech input assembly". Due to the Great
Depression, fewer than 100 were sold, with only a handful remaining today. The company was more successful constructing
broadcast transmitters, selling well over a thousand up to the start of the second World War.
Collins was an important manufacturer of broadcast radio transmitters for the commercial
market in 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. Many Collins transmitters
remain in service, primarily as backups for more modern equipment.
Receivers
Around 1947, the company introduced their first amateur
radio receiver, the 75A-1. This set achieved excellent stability for the time due to high build quality and the use of a
permeability tuned oscillator (PTO) 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
.5 to 30 MHz. It would be produced in somewhat updated versions (51J-2, 51J-3, 51J-4) for about a decade. It found use in
military and commercial settings but was too expensive for most enthusiasts. In the military it was known as the R-388 and was
used in multiple receiver diversity RTTY installations.
The 75A amateur line was updated throughout the early 50's, 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 (.5 - 30 MHz) 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 $2500 each and around
16,000 were produced.
Concurrently, Collins developed the R-389, a longwave version with fewer than 1000 made. The R-391, another variant of the
R-390, allowed choice of 8 different autotuned channels. The three radios shared common power supplies, audio and intermediate
frequency modules.
About three years later, Collins delivered the R-390A (see picture and comprehensive history) to the military. While
nominally a cost-reduced R-390 (savings of about $250 each), its design compromises were minimal, and it added mechanical filters
for improved selectivity. The gear-driven tuning and band change mechanisms were simplified and the parts count reduced. About
54,000 were produced and the set was a military workhorse until the 1970s. Like the R-390, it can outperform many modern radios,
to the point that it was designated top secret until the late 1960s.
Around 1958 Collins replaced the 75A series with the much smaller 75S series. These featured mechanical filters, very accurate
frequency readout, and excellent stability. At the request of the US government, Collins designed the 51S-1 general coverage set,
which was essentially (in intended use) a physically smaller replacement for the 51J series. It was not intended as a replacement
for the higher performance R-390A, and unlike the R-390A, it was extensively marketed for commercial use.
Collins produced a few high performance solid state receivers in the 1970s, such as the 651S-1. Like their tube predecessors,
these are coveted by collectors today.
Rockwell Collins
After facing financial difficulties, the Collins Radio Company was purchased by Rockwell International in 1973. In 2001 the avionics division of Rockwell International was spun-off to form the current Rockwell Collins,
Inc., retaining its name. Rockwell Collins is highly concentrated in the defense and commercial avionics markets and no
longer markets receivers to the public. The Collins mechanical filter is still in
production and does, however, find consumer and commercial use.
The company has acquired several companies, including Hughes-Avicom's in-flight entertainment business, Sony's in-flight
entertainment business (Sony Trans Com),Intertrade Ltd., Flight Dynamics, K Systems, Inc. (Kaiser companies), Communication
Solutions, Inc., Airshow, Inc., NLX (Simulation Business), portions of Evans &
Sutherland, TELDIX GmbH, and IP Unwired.
The company is among the major suppliers of in-flight entertainment on board
aircraft. Rockwell Collins' key competitors in this industry include Panasonic
Avionics Corporation, Thales Group, and JetBlue's IFE subsidiary LiveTV.
The company today employs over 17,000 people and has an annual turnover in excess of 3.4 billion US dollars. Its chairman, president and CEO is Clayton M.
Jones. It is currently undergoing a massive expansion of its work force and attempting to hire thousands of new employees
by 2010 to replace retirees and expand its operations.
Organizational structure
Rockwell Collins has two main divisions:
- Commercial Systems (CS)
- Government Systems (GS)
The CS division services the commercial airline industry and business aircraft, providing navigation, communication, In Flight
Entertainment (IFE), Synthetic vision and other cockpit products such as
autoland autopilots. The GS division services primarily the
US government and military, but also provides some products and services to foreign governments with close ties to the United
States. Notable government related projects that Rockwell Collins has involvement with are CAAS,
JTRS, TTNT, DAGR, and Future Combat Systems
Advanced Technology Center
The Advanced Technology Center is a large department inside of Rockwell Collins that focuses on research and development. It
has several sub areas namely Advanced Computing, Advanced Radio, Communications and Navigation, as well as Information
Systems.
See also
References
External links
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