Inhaltsverzeichnis
Watkins - Johnson
The company, which was founded in 1957, produced semiconductors and communications equipment as well as high-quality short-wave receivers for military purposes. In the 1990s, it was taken over by various companies active in the defense sector. With the HF-1000, Watkins-Johnson introduced one single DSP receiver to be sold to radio amateurs after 1993.
Company History
The Watkins-Johnson Company was founded in 1957 in Palo Alto, CA. The Watkins-Johnson Company Telecommunications Group founded in Gaithersburg in the year 1966 produced communication equipment and employed up to 450 employees.
Watkins-Johnson's equipment quickly earned an excellent reputation for their high-tech receivers among military and intelligence agencies.
After 1998, Watkins-Johnson was taken over by Marconi and then by BAE SYSTEMS North America (British Aerospace). The Gaithersburg facility was acquired by Integrated Defense Technologies IDT for $ 146 million in 2002, and by DRS Technologies Inc. (DRS Electronic Systems, Inc., 200 Professional Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20879) in November 2003.