Daniel Meyer

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Daniel Meyer (b. February 6 1932 d. May 16 1998) was the founder and president Southwest Technical Products Corporation. He received his BS in Math and Physics in 1957 from Southwest Texas State, and then moved to San Antonio and started working for Southwest Research Institute. In January 1964 Dan left Southwest Research Institute and went into the electronics kit business.

[edit] Electronics Kit Business

With the help of family members Dan started DEMCO, Daniel E. Meyer Company. At first the business was run from Dan's garage. His housekeeper, Lucy Proctor, would drill the circuit boards and package the kits. (Lucy worked at SWTPC until 1987.) In early 1967 the company moved to a 4 acre site located at 219 W. Rhapsody, San Antonio, Texas. The company was incorporated as Southwest Technical Products Corporation.

The concept of selling a kit based on a magazine article had been around since the early days of radio. Daniel Meyer perfected the process. SWTPC provided 7 of the 12 cover stories for Popular Electronics in 1967. These included such classics as Louis Garner's Theremin and Dan Meyer's L'il Tiger amplifier. Don Lancaster had 4 covers. Between 1963 and 1975 Popular Electronics published over 75 SWTPC project articles with over 30 cover stories.

In the first 10 years SWTPC the most popular products were audio kits followed by test equipment. There was also that very 70's stuff like color organs that would synchronize colored lights with music and strobe lights. Dan Meyer developed a series of audio power amplifiers known as Tigers. These amps are still in use today. Don Lancaster developed a series of decimal readout counters and voltmeters that used the latest technology.

In mid 1975 Dan Meyer asked one of his engineers, Gary Kay, to design a computer based on the Motorola 6800 design kit. The first deliveries were in November 1975. In June of 1976 SWTPC introduced the AC-30 Cassette Interface for data storage and the PR-40 printer. You could now get a complete computer system for about $1500.

Many of the early hobbyist computer company were founded by engineers who did not know how to run a business. They would fold in a year or so. SWTPC had been successful in the kit business for over a decade so they could deliver working products. Floppy Disk systems, full feature terminals, and many peripherals were added in 1977. The bus structure was called the SS-50 and soon many other vendors were making add in cards and complete systems. In 1979 SWTPC introduced a new line based on the Motorola 6809 processor. These systems were produced until the mid 1980's. By then the IBM PC was dominating the personal computer world and SWTPC shifted to point of sale systems.

[edit] References

The origins of SWTPC can be traced in the following four issues of Popular Electronics. In March 1963 the author is Daniel Meyer of Southwest Research Institute. You order the kit from Dan's home at 430 Redclift Drive in San Antonio Texas. In May 1965 the company name is Demco. In February 1967 the 219 W. Rhapsody address is used. The name Southwest Technical Products Corp. appears in September 1967.

Meyer, Daniel (March 1963). "Ultrasonic Sniffer". Popular Electronics 18 (3): 41, 43.

Meyer, Daniel (May 1965). "FM Wireless Microphone". Popular Electronics 22 (5): 37.

Louis, E.G. (February 1967). "The Brute 70 Power Amplifier". Popular Electronics 26 (2): 43.

Lancaster, Don (September 1967). "Spots Before Your Eyes". Popular Electronics 27 (3): 31.