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Raymond Collins, Co-founder of Telewave, Passes

April 12, 2016

Raymond_Collins_combinerRaymond L. Collins, inventor, lifelong radio and communications devotee, ex- K7EQB / W6GLN, RCA Fellow, and President and co-founder of Telewave, Inc., passed away in San Jose, CA on March 15, 2016.

Ray Collins grew up in the rural Yakima Valley of Washington State, where he built and operated his own amateur radio gear, including a kilowatt amplifier. He worked for several local broadcast radio stations in the 1950’s, among them KIMA-AM in Yakima WA, where he was the sales manager and also delivered commercials on-air.

Collins served 6 years in the Army and National Guard as a communications officer, and worked extensively with radio-controlled aircraft drones used for training combat pilots. Following his military service, he worked for RCA for 4 years, and then moved to Motorola for the next 16 years as a territory manager in the San Francisco Bay Area. He developed extensive knowledge of the Bay Area radio environment, and developed many contacts in the industry.

In 1972, Collins co-founded Telewave, Inc. to produce custom-built filtering and power monitoring devices which were not widely available at the time. He and Telewave quickly gained recognition within the communications industry by successfully reorganizing the well-known Mount Diablo radio site, which was plagued by interference and the inability to add new customers. Over his 44-year career at the helm of Telewave, Collin’s reputation as a tireless worker, motivator, and innovator was legendary.

Ray Collins was a more than 30-year member and Fellow of The Radio Club of America, and a past president of the Communications Marketing Association. In 2015, Ray was honored to receive the Henri Busignies Memorial Award for his military service and many contributions to the field of radio communications. The dedicated staff and loyal team that Collins assembled at Telewave are pledged to continue his legacy through the company that he built.

The family requests contributions in Mr. Collins’ name to The Radio Club of America, or a favorite charity.  (obituary courtesy Radio Club of America)

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