Multi-Elmac Restoration at WA3DSP

Brief Muti-Elmac History

The Multi-Products Company was founded in 1947 in Hazel Park, Michigan and later moved to Oak Park, Michigan. The address of their business was listed as 21470 Coolidge Highway in Oak Park. As their name implies they manufactured a variety of electronic equipment including both amateur radio, citizens band and, commercial gear. The name Multi-Elmac was also used and is the name we associate with their amateur radio line. They made a line of garage door and gate openers that is now carried under the Stanley name. Stanley aquired the company in 1968.

My Multi-Elmac History

My ham station in Onward, Indiana in 1971 during my Air Force tour at Grissom AFB Peru, Indiana. Left to right on table; Hombrew 6146 CW transmitter, Heath VF1, PMR7 and power supply, and GE "pre-prog" transmitter and receiver on 52.525 FM. This was in a corner of the livingroom in the house my wife and I rented there.

I was first licensed in 1965¹ and introduced to Multi-elmac products early in my amateur radio career. I enlisted in the Air Force in 1969 as an Avionics Technician and shortly thereafter obtained my advanced amateur and commercial radio telephone licenses. After my Air Force training I was stationed at Grissom AFB in Peru, Indiana and lived off base in a little town called Onward. There I used the PMR7 and a homebrew 6146 CW transmitter primarily on 80 and 40 meters. I had aquired the PMR7 and homebrew power supply from Paul Bohlander W3VVS² (SK in 2010). Paul had owned and restored a number of Multi-Elmac products and his expertise was a great resource in my later restorations.

From Indiana I went to Guam for a year and a half. I did not take any ham equipment along but I did get to occasionally use the base amateur radio station. My final duty station was Ellsworth AFB in Rapid City, South Dakota. I don't remember the exact details but while on leave between Guam and South Dakota I must have aquired the companion AF67 transmitter from W3VVS. I used that along with the PMR7 on CW at my apartment in Rapid City. I had many skeds with Paul and his son Tom, WA3KLR who was also in the Air Force and stationed at Minot, North Dakota. I also had many skeds with Stan Surber, W9NZZ³, a good friend of W3VVS. Stan lived in Peru, Indiana and I had met him during my tour there.

After I left the Air Force I settled back in my childhood town of Glenside⁴, Pennsylvania. I used the PMR7 and AF67 for awhile at that location. I never remember using them on anything but CW. I have no recollection of what happened to those rigs. I had upgraded to a more modern receiver and transmitter and money was tighter then so I probably sold them.

Fast forward to 1990 when I moved to a much larger home⁵ and had the means to start building a boat anchor collection. It would be awhile however until I again aquired a Multi-Elmac. In 2006 I started using Ebay to aquire some of the rigs of my past including the Knight T60 and Heath HR10, my first ham station. My interest in AM grew and I thought about the AF67 and PMR7 that I once had. My first Multi-Elmac purchase was a PMR6 from an ad in Electric Radio, Then I purchase another PMR6 on Ebay following by a PMR7 and an AF67. Then another AF67 and another and another. I purchased a total of six AF67's and my final purchase was an A54. I have restore the PMR6's, PMR7, one AF67 and the A54.

I will detail some of my Muti-elmac restorations here. Keep in mind that this is an evolving process and I will add to this and other pages as I have time.

Links to my Multi-Elmac projects

• My Multi-Elmac A54 restoration
• AF67 restoration (coming soon)
• A virtual tour of the WA3DSP mini-museum

Links to other Multi-Elmac sites

• Mutli-Elmac information, mods, links, articles from N9BOR
• Mutli-Elmac Yahoo group, forum, files, pictures
• W8ZR AF68 page
• W8ZR PMR8 page
• Youtube AF67 video
• Multi-Elmac boatanchor schematics and manuals
• Antique Radio Forum - Multi-Elmac
• As things use to be - my first transmitter
• KF4YIO AF67 restoration
• History of Stanley Company showing acquisition of Multi-Elmac

Other WA3DSP sites

• WA3DSP Amateur Radio and AWA page

Amateur Radio Multi-Elmac Nets

Multi-Elmac AM Net
Wednesday Nights at 7:00 P.M. C.S.T (Except 1st Wed. of the month)
3.880 MHz

Notes

1. My first QTH was my childhood home, 331 Montier Road in Glenside, PA. I last operated from that location in 1968.
2. Paul Bohlander, W3VVS, his wife Eunice, and two sons, Fred and Tom, WA3KLR lived at 2038 Hawthorne Road in Glenside, PA. Both Fred and Tom were in the Air Force about the same time as I was (1969-1973). Paul had many skeds with Tom and I from our various QTH's during that time. See more info on Paul on my Hamradio and AWA page
3. Stan Surber, W9NZZ was a well know CW traffic handler and "railroader." See this writeup on W9NZZ by W8SU
4. My QTH after discharge from the Air Force was 2054 Wharton Road, Glenside PA. I resided there until 1989.
5. My current QTH is in Richboro, PA. The home I live in is on the National Historic Register. It was featured in a Bucks County Magazine article. I have a small radio museum in my basement at this QTH.