Milt was a good guy. I believe his title was VP of Engineering when I was there 1976-1979. Even though he was supposed to be an executive at that point he still loved to get his hands dirty. I remember him coming up with creative ideas to solve engineering problems on some designs I was working on at the time. For example, the MN2700 kilowatt antenna tuner required some high-voltage, high-current fixed capacitors. We were quoted a ridiculously high price and a 6-month lead time by the vendor. So we figured out a way to make our own capacitors from Teflon printed circuit board (for low loss / high Q) spray-painted with Q dope to prevent corona discharge.
Milt was a realist about project management. He was very aware that engineers have a tendency to try to design everything to perfection, regardless of the schedule or cost. He had a sign over his desk that read, "Good enough is better than perfect." Alan N1AL On Thu, 2010-11-11 at 21:02 -0800, Jim Brown wrote: > This was in today's ARRL Letter. > > Milton A. Sullivan Jr, ex-K8YDO, Former Chief Engineer at R. L. Drake > (SK)Milton A. "Buddy" Sullivan Jr, ex-K8YDO, of Washington, DC -- the > former chief engineer at the R. L. Drake Company > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._L._Drake_Company> -- passed away from a > stroke on October 28. He was 85. Sullivan designed and oversaw the > designs of all the most significant Drake Amateur Radio products, > including the 1A, 2B and 2NT transmitter, all the 4 lines and the > beginning of the 7 line. > > After retiring from Drake in 1984, Sullivan ran his own business selling > and setting up satellite television systems, an offshoot of his later > projects at Drake that involved designing satellite equipment. After > that, he went back to work full time as chief engineer for Lytton > Electronics, where he worked until his final retirement in 1990. In > 1993, he and his wife Judith moved to South Carolina where Sullivan > worked for Alpha Delta, the small company owned by his former Drake > colleague and long time friend, Don Tyrrell, W8AD. Sullivan donated his > body to science. A US Navy veteran, he will be interred at Arlington > National Cemetery after a term with the Georgetown University Medical > School. -- /Thanks to John Sullivan and Don Tyrrell, W8AD, for the > information/ > > = = = = = = = = = = = = = > > I worked for Milt at R.L. Drake as a co-op EE student from Univ of > Cincinnati, and was working at a bench in the engineering lab when news > came over the radio that President Kennedy had been shot. > > One correction/addition to the obit. In addition to designing the > products noted, Milt also designed the TR3, Drake's first transceiver, > and the beginning of their line of transmitting products. Bob Drake > established and ran the quality company, but Milt was the chief engineer. > > Both were nice guys, and Milt was a fair boss. I never kept track of > him after leaving Drake, and wondered what he had done with the rest of > his life. From the obit, quite a lot. RIP, Milt. > > 73, Jim K9YC > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[email protected] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
