Watkins-Johnson info site

This site contains historical information on equipment designed and built in the Gaithersburg plant of Watkins-Johnson, the Bethesda plant of Communication Electronics, Inc and the Rockville plant, which produced both CEI and WJ equipment.

This site is not affiliated in any way with past or present owners of the Gaithersburg facility
(Watkins-Johnson, BAE, Signia-IDT, DRS Technologies or Finnemeccania)

Receivers
& Tuners

Surveillance Systems

Signal
Monitors

Accessories

WJ History

Catalogs

Document Index

Service Work	Manuals
Who am I?	Additional Reading

There is now a Linked In connection for former WJ employees and alumni.

Progress Report

8-17-10 - My reseacrh is going really well. Lots of doors opening. I have a third article in the works for Fall publication, tentatively called "Cold Warriors." It's about the role of the WJ-8617 and WJ-8618 series in the Cold War and the development of these fine receivers. A fourth story will follow in the Spring about other receivers used in Cold War applications.

8-16-10 - I'm discontinuing the WJ facebook page for former employees and sales representatives. Linked In has a connection for WJ alumni. Besides, only a handful of people signed up for the facebook page.

2-24-10 - I'm still here, though slowed by a home remodeling project that got out of hand and an injury in the family. Thanks to all the former CEI and WJ employees who have been contacting me. Sorry I haven't had time to follow through with interviews. I'll be back on track soon. I added a facebook link below for former employees who may be interested. Just an experiment because so many of you inquire about former co-workers. I know loud and clear that it was a special place to work and that feeling was reflected in the products emerging from your work.

11-8-09 - Barry Narod, Adjunct professor of Earth and Ocean Sciences University of British Columbia donated a collection of early Watkins-Johnson component catalogs from the West Coast operations. They will be filtering onto the site as time allows. These are for VCOs, mixers, YIGs and other parts made in Scotts Valley, San Jose and/or Palo Alto. The first one, a VCO catalog, can be found on the Site Document Index.

(Old News)

This is a public window to my ongoing research into Watkins-Johnson and the history of
American telemetry and surveillance equipment (COMINT, SIGINT and ELINT).

If you worked for Clarke Instruments, Nems-Clarke, Defense Electronics, Inc, Communication Electronics, Inc,
Watkins Johnson, Astro Communication Labs, Aiken, Norlin, General Electronics Laboratories,
Ling Temco Vought, Mason, Microtel, Regco, or if you worked for any other Watkins-Johnson subsidiary,
acquisition, spin off or competitor, please contact me: watkins-johnson at terryo dot org

If you have any catalogs, sales literature, company newsletters, manuals or other documentation,
please contact me: watkins-johnson at terryo dot org.

For documentation or help, please try the folks
on the manuals or service work links above.

I do not sell or broker equipment, manuals or service work.
I am not a clearinghouse for information or documentation.
Most of this equipment is rare and documentation and/or software is even more rare.
Please do not be offended if I do not respond to your e-mail.
I receive many requests, often with apologies and pleas of desperation.

This site is also gathering size and becoming unwieldy to edit.
If you see anything wrong or find any broken links, please let me know.
Contact me at watkins-johnson at terryo dot org