|
|
|
|
|
|
Communication Electronics Inc.
Communication Electronics Inc., abbreviated CEI, was an electronics
company, founded in 1960 in Bethesda (MD, USA)
by Ralph E. Grimm together with several colleagues
from Vitro Electronics (Nems-Clarke).
The company, that is well-known for its range of surveillance receivers,
was taken over by Watkins-Johnson in 1967,
and became known as Watkins-Johnson CEI Division [1].
CEI was founded in 1960 by several disgruntled employees of Vitro
Electronics, led by Ralph E. Grimm.
The communications within Vitro was formed by the former Nems-Clarke,
which had been acquired by Vitro in 1957.
Over time, the employees had become dissatisfied with the
way the New York based management handled Vitro Laboratories,
after which Ralph Grimm, Ed Gearing, Peter Pao, Paul Maddox, Ken Shen
and several others decided to quit their jobs amd establish CEI [1].
They were eventually joined by Allen S. Clarke, the founder of Nems-Clarke.
In 1964, Grimm became president of CEI [3]. Thee years later,
in 1967, the company was taken over by Watkins-Johnson (W-J) in
Palo Alto (CA, USA) — at the other side of the US — and became
known as Watkins-Johnson CEI Division, using the adapted logo shown above.
In 1974, Grimm eventually became President of Engineering at W-J,
but left in July 1975 to found his own company R.E. Grimm Co.
Sadly, he died of a heart attack three years later on 7 September 1978.
|
|
|
CEI products on this website
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In 1951, Nems-Clarke was founded as a merger between Clarke Instruments —
founded in the early 1940s by Allen S. Clarke — and National Electric Machine
Shops (NEMS). The new company — in 1955 renamed Nems-Clarke —
produced telemetry receivers for NASA's Saturn project, and also a small
range of surveillance receivers. In 1951, Nems-Clarke was taken over by
Vitro Electronics, which continued to produce receivers under the Nems-Clarke
label [1].
Soon after the takeover howover, much of the former Nems-Clarke staff became
increasinly frustrated by the way Vitro Laboratories was handled by its
New York based management. As a result, people started leaving the company
from 1959 onwards. The first to leave was a group of people led by
Clarke's first employee Miller Reddin, who founded DEI and took much
of the telemetry business with him.
The second to leave was a group led by Dave Harry, who founded
Potomac Instruments and took the field intensity meter business.
Next, West Coast sales representative Ed Trompeter took the bulk of the
RF patch bay sales. But the final blow came when a group of engineers
led by Ralph Grimm – the third employee hired by Allen Clarke – left
to form CEI [2].
Grimm was joined by former Vitro employees Ed Gearing, Peter Pao, Paul Maddox,
Ken Shen and several others, and eventually also by Allen S. Clarke himself,
after the latter's no-competition clause had expired.
Peter Pao quickly moved on to form
Astro Communication Labs (ACL),
which became a competitor of CEI in the surveillance receiver market.
Vitro's (former Nems Clarke) telemetry receiver business was sold to DEI
in 1965.
Vitro eventually closed-down or sold-off most of its business units.
In 1964, Ralph Grimm — one of the founders — became president of CEI.
In 1967, CEI was acquired by Watkins-Johnson and went on as
Watkins-Johnson CEI Division.
Under Watkins-Johnson (W-J), CEI remained a more or less autonomous
business unit that continued to develop surveillance receivers and other
equipment for the intelligence community.
Grimm eventually became present of Engineering at W-J in 1974,
but left in July of the following year to start his own company:
R.E. Grimm Co. Sadly, he did not have fortune at his side, as
he died from a heart attack three years later on 7 September 1978.
In 1995, W-J started divesting several business units,
which were subsequently acquired by various parties.
The CEI division was sold in 1999 to Marconi North America,
which itself was acquired by Diagnostic Retrieval Systems (DRS)
in 2003. Nevertheless, the CEI portfolio lived on.
In 2008, DRS was acquired by the
Italian multinational Finmeccanica,
and the former DRS went on as Leonardo DRS. In 2016,
following a major restructuring at Finmeccanica, the company was
renamed Leonardo, after which the surveillance division
became known as Leonardo DRS.
|
|
|
|
Any links shown in red are currently unavailable.
If you like the information on this website, why not make a donation?
© Crypto Museum. Created: Monday 24 March 2025. Last changed: Sunday, 27 July 2025 - 16:14 CET.
|
 |
|
|
|
