History of "Weinschel" companies?

[jeffsf]

I'm amused and curious about the relationship between the various RF manufacturers that use the "Weinschel" name. Of course, I'm also curious if any of them produced notably better or worse gear than others...

From what I have found, there is at least:

• Weinschel
• Weinschel Corp.
• Weinschel Associates
• Weinschel Engineering
• Aeroflex / Weinschel
• Lucas Weinschel
• MCE / Weinschel

Trying to unravel all this is an interesting journey...

From http://mwrf.com/markets/weinschel-celebrates-50-years-excellence

Weinschel, which takes its name from founder Dr. Bruno O. Weinschel (see sidebar, "The Founder"), began life in 1952 in Kensington, MD. The company offered the world's first commercially available coaxial attenuators, and quickly established a solid reputation for the quality of its attenuator products.

In August 1986, Dr. Weinschel agreed to sell the company to the British company Lucas Industries, Inc.

Ok, so that suggests:

1952- 1986 -- "Wienschel" or "Weinschel Engineering" (according to a bio of Bruno Weinschel)

But much would change in 1995, a period during which the company would change hands twice within a period of months. "Within one 12-month period, we had three different owners: Lucas, Sierra Technologies, and MCE Technologies," notes Bob Stephens, Weinschel's president and CEO.

Now we have

?-1995 -- "Lucas Weinschel"
1995 -- (Sierra ownership)
1995-? -- "MCE / Weinschel"

A 2012 article clarifies a bit of this (registration required)

Thriving through multiple ownership and name changes, including Lucas Industries PLC and Lucas Weinschel (1986), Sierra Networks and Sierra Weinschel (1995), MCE Technologies Inc. and Weinschel Corporation (1995), and the Aeroflex purchase of MCE / Weinschel which created the current Aeroflex / Weinschel (2003), the company has emerged as an industry benchmark in quality products and service. “The company formed as Weinschel Engineering, Co. in 1952, has changed ownership seven times, having successfully transitioned from a privately held company, to a division of a foreign-owned corporation, to a division of a publicly traded company. The company has managed to survive multiple recessions, various war-driven economies and national budget-constrained times, and through it all, remained a market leader, continuing to re-invent itself with new products that provide solutions to today’s market needs,” says Robert L. Stephens,
Aeroflex / Weinschel president and general manager.

1986-1995 -- "Lucas Industries PLC" or "Lucas Weinschel"
1995 (only) -- "Sierra Networks" or "Sierra Weinschel"
1995-2003 -- "MCE / Weinschel"
2003-2015 -- "Aeroflex / Weinschel"


A search on Aeroflex / Weinschel now leads to http://weinschel.apitech.com/weinschel/micro-weinschel-prods.cfm who claim

For over sixty years the name Weinschel has become synonymous with leadership in RF and microwave technologies and superior quality components and subsystems for wireless, defense, test and measurement, and broadband markets throughout the world. Among its many technological achievements, Weinschel was the first to design and manufacture commercially available coaxial attenuators. Today, built upon a strong heritage, Weinschel (formerly Aeroflex / Weinschel) continues to provide a vast array of standard products together with custom-engineered solutions to satisfy demanding market needs for precision and high reliability coaxial components.

Based on http://apitech.com/news/api-technologies-completes-acquisition-inmet-and-weinschel

ORLANDO, Fla.– (PR Newswire) – June 8, 2015 - API Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:ATNY) ("API" or the "Company"), a leading provider of high performance RF, microwave, millimeterwave, power, and security solutions today announced the successful completion of its acquisitions of Aeroflex / Inmet, Inc. (“Inmet”) and Aeroflex / Weinschel, Inc. (“Weinschel”) from Cobham plc (LON:COB) for a total purchase price of $80.0 million.

we get

2015-present -- API Technologies; Weinschel Products

which still seem to be branded "Aeroflex/Weinschel" in the product photos (as of March, 2016)



What about Weinschel Associates?

They also claim

Founded by Bruno Weinschel, Weinschel Associates’ foundation is a 40 year legacy as a supplier of high performance, high quality Broadband Passive Components to the RF and Microwave communities.

"Would the real Weinschel please stand up?"

Edit, thanks to @rfeecs (emphasis mine):

Weinschel sold Weinschel Engineering, and later created Weinschel Associates:

In 1952 he founded his company, Weinschel Engineering. The company became an established leader in precision measurement hardware and techniques. He sold it to Lucas Aerospace in 1986 but continued his research in this field thereafter after founding Weinschel Associates in 1989.

[rfeecs]

Weinschel sold Weinschel Engineering, and later created Weinschel Associates:

In 1952 he founded his company, Weinschel Engineering. The company became an established leader in precision measurement hardware and techniques. He sold it to Lucas Aerospace in 1986 but continued his research in this field thereafter after founding Weinschel Associates in 1989.

Weinschel Engineering changed hands multiple times to Lucas, Aeroflex, Cobham, API.

Weinschel Associates is still around (2009 interview with their CEO):
http://www.microwavejournal.com/articles/7608-executive-interview-with-frank-wodoslawsky

[ywara]

At some point two guys from Weinschel left the company to join (or maybe start?) Midwest Microwave in the early 70s or maybe late 60s. One of the two left Midwest shortly after to found Inmet. Inmet and Weinschel were later reunited under Aeroflex.

Omni Spectra/MACOM/Americon and now XMA are all tied together somehow or another up in New England as well.

The whole microwave components industry is pretty... incestuous.

[SL4P]

I'd suggest chasing the patents, and those that registered them.
With companies like Sierra involved - that would be my guess... to get control of the patents, or the people that own them.

[MichaelBrenden]

DC area is littered with mil-ind companies...maybe 75% of the area's residents are employed by fed gov and related.  Watkins-Johnson was one, right across the street from NBS (now NIST), maker of microwave and other spy tech.

For lots more, but west-coast, see Secret History of Silicon Valley youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=secret+history+silicon+valley

Wash Post article 1983 has some info
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1983/05/02/manufacturing/82d2f01f-bc4b-4f4e-ae3b-07c0f2c0b961