Arthur A. Collins was a visionary figure in the realms of radio communication and avionics. His lifelong journey began with a childhood fascination with electronics, which eventually led him to found the Collins Radio Company in 1933. Throughout his life he received numerous accolades including induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, solidifying his enduring legacy as a pioneer who reshaped the world of communication and aviation.
Arthur A. Collins is born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, in 1909 to Merle H. Collins and Faith Andrews Collins. The family moves to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, when Arthur was 7. Merle and Faith encourage their young son’s early curiosity in the new world of radio communication. Arthur becomes a licensed amateur radio operator at age 14, and designs and builds his own radio equipment in the attic of his Cedar Rapids home.
Arthur soon becomes friends with fellow amateur radio “hams,” including radio pioneer and inventor, John Reinartz. Arthur and John share a special interest in radio wave propagation. In 1925, John is the chief radio operator for the MacMillan-National Geographic Arctic expedition. He and Arthur have discovered that an atmospheric “skip” occurs in the shorter, higher frequency wavelengths relegated to amateur radio operators. And the “skip” occurs during the daytime over long distances. As a result, the two are able to maintain vital, reliable communication during the expedition — a feat the U.S. Navy, relying on longer wavelengths, is not able to achieve.
Americans are fascinated to learn that much of the news they’re reading about the MacMillan polar quest is being transmitted to a ham radio station operated by a 15-year-old Iowa youth, Arthur Collins. The shy teen is thrust into the national spotlight.
In 1931, the United States is in the throes of the Great Depression. Now in his early 20s, Arthur looks to make a living by turning his passion for radio and electronics into a business. He designs transmitters for ham radio stations and builds them in the basement of his Cedar Rapids home. In 1933, with eight employees, he incorporates his business as the Collins Radio Company and moves it into a commercial building.
In 1934, famous explorer Admiral Richard Byrd takes Collins Radio Company transmitters on his second expedition to Antarctica. From the base camp called Little America, Byrd uses the Collins transmitters for camp communication and as part of a radio and telephone network to America to broadcast stories of life at the bottom of the Earth.
In the decades that follow the Byrd Antarctica expedition, Arthur’s visionary engineering mind, along with talents of his skilled engineers, places Collins Radio at the forefront of the radio communication and aviation industries.
*The Airborne Radio Transmitter, or ART-13, has the revolutionary Autotune technology developed by Collins Radio. For the first time, World War II U.S. Navy and British pilots can switch frequencies quickly with the flip of a switch.
*Collins Single Sideband capability provides clear, global radio communication with U.S. pilots flying deterrent missions near the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Single Sideband will later play a role in America’s first manned space flights.
*Collins Radio leads the development of communication equipment and systems for the country’s first astronauts. Every Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronaut’s voice from space is heard on Earth through Collins’ radios.
*Arthur’s vision for connecting computers for communication and computation results in some of the earliest computer capabilities with Kineplex in the 1950s and the C-System beginning in the 1960s.
The book, “Arthur Collins, Radio Wizard,” by Ben W. Stearns, includes stories from employees who worked closely with Arthur, illustrating why the founder and his company are considered legendary in the field still today. A donation for the download of the e-book will go to help the AACLA continue its mission to preserve this important history.
Arthur A. Collins Legacy Association
690 Eastview Drive
Robins, IA 52328