Signal/One
{{short description|American radio communications manufacturer}}
{{Infobox company
| industry = Electronics
| parent = Electronic Communications, Inc.
| key_people = {{ubl|Dick Ehrhorn (general manager)|Don Fowler (project engineer)}}
| hq_location_city = St. Petersburg, Florida
| hq_location_country = United States
}}
Signal/One was a manufacturer of high performance SSB and CW HF radio communications transceivers initially based in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. Image:sigcx7.jpg
History
Signal/One's parent company was Electronic Communications, Inc. (ECI), a military division of NCR Corporation located in St. Petersburg, Florida. Key Signal/One executives were general manager Dick Ehrhorn (amateur radio call sign W4ETO), and project engineer Don Fowler (W4YET). Beginning in the 1960s with the Signal/One CX7, ("S1", as they were called) the company made radios that were priced well above the competition and offered many advanced features for the time,{{cite web|last1=Drechsel|first1=Norman|title=Virtual Signal/One Radio Museum. Signal/One Amateur Equipment|url=http://www.wa3key.com/sigone.html|website=wa3key.com|publisher=WA3KEY|accessdate=24 May 2017}} such as passband tuning, broadband transmission, dual receive, built-in IAMBIC keyer, electronic digital read out, solid state design, QSK and RF clipping. A Signal/One radio was said to be a complete high performance, station in a box.{{cite web|last=Hoffmann|first=Fred|title=Signal One|url=http://www.signalone.org/|website=Signalone.org|publisher=K50G|accessdate=24 May 2017}}{{cite journal|last1=Tenny, Jr.|first1=T.H.|title=The signal/one integrated station|journal=Ham Radio Magazine|date=May 1969|volume=2|issue=5|page=56|url=http://cahabatechnology.com/aa4pg/hrmag/hamradiomag/Ham%20Radio%20Magazine%201969%20Issues%201-12/05%20May%201969.pdf|accessdate=24 May 2017}}
While marketed to the affluent radio amateur, it has been suggested that the primary market for Signal/One, like Collins, was military, State Department, and government communications. Although prized for the performance and advanced engineering, Signal/One's products did not sell as well as hoped, and the company gradually fell on hard times. From the 1970s though the 1990s, every few years, Signal/One was spun off, sold, and resurfaced at another location.
Collectors
The surviving Signal/One products are sought after and actively collected. These include the CX7, CX7A, CX7B, CX11 and Milspec models. The last Signal/One radio was a re-engineered ICOM IC-781. Information available indicates there were 1152 Signal Ones built: 850 CX7, 112 CX11, 168 MS1030 (number of "C" versions is not known), 6 MilSpec1030C, 15 MilSpec1030CI Icom IC-781 conversions and 1 Milspec1030E DSP Icom IC-756 Pro conversion.{{cite web|title=Signal/One|url=http://rigreference.com/en/mfr/signal-one|website=Rig Reference|publisher=RigReference.com|accessdate=24 May 2017}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Signal One}}
Category:Amateur radio companies
Category:Defunct manufacturing companies of the United States
Category:Defunct electronics companies of the United States
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