established in his name. He is an inductee of the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame, listed as “Product engineer, National Radio, developed HRO receiver and designed its unique dial; founder, James Millen Co.”
CONTACT INFORMATION AWA welcomes all to get involved with this tremendously exciting project. We are continuing to accept donations, and historical artifacts! For further information, please contact Bob Hobday at bobn2evg@gmail.com.
SOURCES 4–Antique Wireless Museum Phase III – Ham Shack And Registrar’s Office Donations Page, https://www. antiquewireless.org/homepage/product/4-awa-phase-iiiham-shack-and-registrars-office.
QSL card from James Millen, W1HRX.
Internal disagreements arose with National in 1939, when the company became a publicly traded corporation, and Millen decided to leave. He went on to form The James Millen Co. and built a successful business manufacturing precision radio parts. He developed a high-end receiver at Millen, DFP-201, that was far ahead of its time, but due to costs never succeeded commercially. Although the Millen factory originally started making components, they soon began the manufacture of electronic equipment. Millen designed and built Oscilloscopes for RCA and the first commercial two-way FM radio equipment for General Electric. Millen’s company pioneered the manufacture of custom and stock magnetic shielding for cathode ray tubes, photo multipliers, and klystrons. During World War II, the company worked with GE to produce the continuoustype of delay cable, and the necessary machinery for its production.
Breaking Ground for the Museum Ham Shack Addition, Antique Wireless Association News, April 2022. James Millen W1HRX, http://hamgallery.com/Tribute/ W1HRX/w1hrx.pdf. Millen Memorial Station, The James Millen Society, http:// www.isquare.com/millen/bio_rem/mmstn.html. Museum Ham Shack Addition, Museum Sparks, Antique Wireless Association, Oct. 2021, Vol. 5 No. 3 and April. 2022, Vol. 6 No. 2. B. Page, N4TRB, James Millen and the National Company, http://n4trb.com/AmateurRadio/National/Millen.htm. D. F. Plant, K9LAJ/2, Designed for Application: The Story of James Millen, W1HRX, CQ Magazine, July 1967, https:// www.qsl.net/jms/bio_rem/dfacq67.html.
James Millen is revered today with the James Millen Society. Many awards and scholarships have been
NEWS ITEM
Radar Technology Pioneer Merrill Skolnik Dies at 94
M
SKOLNIK’S CAREER
errill Skolnik, radar pioneer, passed away at age 94 on January 27. Skolnik served as superintendent of the radar division of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. for more than 30 years. While there, he made significant contributions including helping to develop high-frequency, over-the-horizon radar; a system that can identify friend or foe during combat; and high-resolution radar techniques.
He began his career in 1955 at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory. While there, he taught a course on radar at Northeastern University, in Boston. The course was the basis for his 1962 book Introduction to Radar Systems. Merrill Skolnik began his engineering studies at Johns Hopkins late in World War II and worked in the Johns Hopkins Radiation Lab on proximity fuses and electronic warfare countermeasures.
For his work in the field, he was named the first recipient of the IEEE Dennis J. Picard Medal for Radar Technologies and Applications, in 2000. Picard was chief executive of Raytheon and helped the company become a leader in tactical missile systems. Skolnik was the first recipient of the IEEE Dennis J. Picard Medal.
SPRING 2022 PROCEEDINGS
He joined MIT’s Lincoln Lab in 1955, working on radar. At the same time he taught a course on radar at Northeastern University, the basis for his 1962 book The Instruction of Radar Systems.
40
www.radioclubofamerica.org
