About 40 NARC members descended on Cushcraft Corporation in Manchester, NH on March 12 for an excellent tour of the company. Cushcraft has long been known in the amateur community as a manufacturer of reliable ham antennas at a good price. A tour of the company had been mulled around for some time in the club, but never materialized until now. The visit was worth the effort.
A tip of the NARC hat to Art, K1ART, and Paul, NW1U, for showing us around the plant. Art recently came in from the cold after many years as a field engineer for defense firms. Paul, whom many of us remember from his days at HRO, joined the company at the beginning of the year. Both are part of the makeover at the top at the past year as the company adapts to the cellular phone market and re-thinks ham antennas.
It seems that our timing was just right as Cushcraft proudly displayed their facilities and crowed about the new X7 and X9 tribanders and a brand-new R6000 vertical. The X7 and X9 are the product of a lot of years of figuring out “the best way to make it great” and a good dose of computer-aided design. The R6000 is an offspring of the R5 vertical, retaining the basic design of the popular 5-band vertical and adding a 6- meter capability.
The tour was capped off by the traditional NARC pizza party held on the premises while drooling over company brochures and examining some of the key components used on the antennas. Tks and 73, Art and Paul!