World Radio Laboratories
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
World Radio Laboratories, WRL, was a major supplier of amateur radio equipment from the 1950s through the 1970s. WRL was located in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and run by Leo Meyerson W0GFQ and his family.
WRL manufactured some of its own products, notably under the Globe and Galaxy brand names.
The Globe emblem first appeared on products made by World Radio Labs with the 1948 model Globe Champion transmitter. The early units produced 150 watts input on phone or CW with coverage from 10 to 160 metres, and was a two section unit complete with power supply. the RF section sold complete with tubes, power supply, panel, and 1 set of coils as a kit for $149 and Wired for $159. The speech amplifier and modulator section were sold separately. This unit was the beginning of a long line of rigs from WRL Globe through the 1950s including the Globe King, Globe Scout, Globe Chief, and the first sideband rig, the Globe SideBander -- a double sideband transmitter.
In 1960, the Globe line was sold to Textron. Globe/Textron and RME/Electrovoice merged in 1962, with the result named GC Electronics, a division of Textron. GC Electronics is still in business today.
