National Electronics Museum Display at IMS2011 (MTT-S 2011)

One of the perks of attending the International Microwave Symposium (IMS), hosted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), is that you are given the opportunity to see a part of the history of microwave engineering. At the two IMS shows that Melanie and I have been to (2009 and 2011), a portion of the contents of the National Electronics Museum, headquartered in Linthicum, Maryland, (only a few miles from the Baltimore Convention Center) was on display.

Safely locked behind protective glass and guarded by a paid sentinel are relics of our profession's past. Prototypes of magnetrons, circulators, filters, phased array antennas, traveling wave tubes, waveguide, oscillators, and a host of other devices dreamed up by those whose names are on the "Honor Roll" plaques, are on display. Some items are simply labeled with part numbers, like with many of the vacuum tubes, while others have information sheets with lots of detail.

Unlike at the IMS2009 show when I only photographed a few of the exhibit items, this time I got every one. Getting really good resolution was not possible because of having to shoot through glass (and I forgot to being the monopod with me), but the lettering of most of the labels is readable if you click on the thumbnail to enlarge it. Send me an e-mail if you need the full resolution original image. Maybe you will see yourself in one of the photos if you were there on Tuesday. Enjoy!

Remember that it is the exhibiting companies who are picking up the tab for this and making it available to you.