[Yaesu] Yaesu and Sommerkamp

Thu Jan 29 15:10:21 EST 2009

Hello Deon,
Regarding Sommerkamp: Wolfgang Sommerkamp (DJ2YJ/HB9XSO) started
an amateur radio business in Germany in 1962. In 1963, Sommerkamp
became the German representative for Yaesu, and also began marketing
radio equipment under his own name. The company moved to Switzerland
1n 1967. Sommerkamp went out of business in 1986.
Regarding Kenwood: The company first started in 1946 as the Kasuga
Radio Co. In 1960 the company was renamed as the Trio Corporation.
They adopted the Kenwood name for the US, because in 1961 there
already was a US company named Trio, (a mfg. of antenna rotors),
and the name was not available. Kenwood was not adopted for
the corporate name until 1986.
73, Bruce WA8TNC
================
Deon Erwin ZS1ZL wrote:
> Bruce
>> There was a time before and around the 1970s when some manufacturers used
> different brand names for their equipment in Europe.
>> The Twins were designed and built by Yaesu in Japan, but marketed in Europe
> under the Sommerkamp label. Sometimes the model numbers were changed too.
> For instance, the Yaesu FT-101 was known as the Sommerkamp FT-277 and the
> Yaesu FT-200 was known as the Sommerkamp FT-250. (The FT-200 was also
> marketed as the Henry Tempo-1 in the USA.)
>> I bought a new FT-301D in 1977 and the cardboard box had Sommerkamp
> stickers placed over the Yaesu name on all sides of the box. However, the
> radio has its original Yaesu FT-301D label. My dealer probably sourced this
> radio from Yaesu Europe.
>> Similarly, Kenwood was marketed in Europe under the Trio label.
>> Deon ZS1ZL