The R. L. Drake Company is a manufacturer of electronic communications equipment located in Springboro, Ohio. It is also known for its line of equipment for amateur radio and shortwave listening, built in the 1950s through the 1980s. The company operates as a separate entity owned by Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc.
History
The company was founded in 1943 by radio design engineer Robert L. Drake. The company began as a manufacturer of low pass and high pass filters for the government and amateur radio market, and after World War II, produced amateur radio transmitters and receivers and communications receivers for maritime mobile service.
Amateur stations made up of Drake gear were used on a number of record-breaking hot air balloon flights, the , and the Rutan Voyager. Many of the Drake receivers, transmitters, and transceivers manufactured in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s are still in active use today. When founder Robert L. Drake died in 1975, the operation and management of the company was turned over to his 2nd son, Peter W. Drake.
Today, Drake produces products and solutions for cable television systems, SD and HD video encoders, video signal distribution, and digital television reception under the Drake and Dracom brand.
In February 2012, Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc. acquired R.L. Drake, LLC, reportedly for a purchase price of approximately $6.5 million, however, the companies will operate as separate entities; Blonder Tongue in Old Bridge, New Jersey, and R.L. Drake in Miamisburg, Ohio.
Amateur radio products
Drake manufactured equipment for amateur radio operators and short wave listeners for more than three decades.
Longwave, mediumwave, and high frequency (HF) equipment
The Drake 1A receiver was the company's first meant specifically for radio amateurs. Introduced in 1957, it was revolutionary in at least two ways. First, it was much smaller than most receivers of the time period. The design emphasized simplicity and ease of operation. Second, it was designed specifically for reception of the relatively new and increasingly popular single sideband (SSB) mode of voice transmission.
In 1959 they followed the 1A with the 2A, a more traditional looking receiver that was a bit larger but still much more compact than its contemporaries. The 2A had more features, increased sensitivity and selectivity, and was introduced at the same price as the 1A. It was followed two years later by the 2B, very similar in appearance but with improved performance and a new set of controls for adjusting the selectivity (bandwidth) and center frequency.
Rather than produce a transmitter to match the 2B, Drake designed a new line of equipment beginning with an SSB transceiver, the TR-3, in 1963. Again emphasizing size efficiency, the TR-3 was designed as a complete SSB station in a small package. Other design innovations included crystal bandwidth filters and a permeability tuned oscillator (PTO) capable of extremely linear, stable tuning and a dial resolution of better than 1 kHz across all amateur HF (shortwave) bands. Its size was so small, in part, because the power supply was in a separate chassis, connected to the transceiver with a multi-conductor cable. The AC-3 power supply could be installed inside a matching speaker cabinet, later designated the MS-4. An optional remote VFO (PTO), the RV-3 could be added to the system to enable split frequency operation (i.e., transmitting on a frequency different from the receiving frequency). The RV-3 (and, later, the RV-4) also contained a speaker.
Beginning with the TR-3, Drake adopted a scheme for illuminating tuning dials and panel meters on its equipment using small incandescent bulbs behind greenish-blue transparent plastic filters. This lighting color became one of the most recognizable and distinguishing features of Drake radios.
The TR-3 was superseded by several versions of the TR-4, ending with the TR-4C and its variants in 1978. The TR-6, covering the 50 MHz (6-meter) amateur band, was also introduced in 1968 and was produced for about six years.
Because of their small size, the Drake transceivers were widely used for mobile operation, along with the DC-3 or DC-4 power supplies.