Karkar Electronics
Karkar Electronics was a manufacturer and global supplier of advanced telecommunications infrastructure
Karkar Electronics, Inc. was founded in 1959 by Edward M. Karkar, previously a consultant to major manufacturers in the telecommunications industry. Initially, ’Karkar’ designed, manufactured and supplied electronic wave filters, primarily for carrier multiplex applications, establishing an international reputation for reliability and performance. Innovations in Karkar’s filter design gained patents as the ‘Karkar’ product line evolved and expanded in response to the needs of the telecommunications industry, whose demand for more connections, more bandwidth, and more reliability for critical infrastructure was growing exponentially. By the mid 1970’s Karkar Electronics equipment covered the entire microwave baseband carrier range, including a high-density multiplex system of 960 channels and 10,800 by the 1980’s—a density that wouldn’t be matched until the digital revolution years later. Karkar’s patent range continued to expand particularly for the company’s increasingly sophisticated frequency division multiplex designs that could interface with different systems.
During the Company's 26-year growth, Karkar Electronics, headquartered in San Francisco became a major producer of the most advanced communications infrastructure equipment in the world. Soley built on internal growth, Karkar designed, manufactured, and supplied a backbone infrastructure that would dramatically expand bandwidth capacity. The ability to hold 100 conversations between two cities expanded to 10,000 or more. It developed, engineered and manufactured a complete line of state-of-the art voice and data communications. Equipment developed by Karkar was adopted as standard by the United States Defense Communications Agency and other government agencies that were assigned government nomenclatures for standardized procurement. Karkar Electronics was a leader in analog and digital signal processing technology, designing and producing high density and multipoint microwave radios, multiplex equipment and electronic filters, analog-to-digital conversion equipment, high-speed modems and related equipment for long line and satellite voice and data telecommunications across the spectrum of global demand.
Karkar Electronics was acquired by General Signal in 1985, marking the second nine-figure acquisition of a Silicon Valley-founded company. The innovative legacy established by Karkar Electronics continues through ERAS Holdings, the Family Office of Andrei Karkar, the Son of Edward Karkar. For historical and archival information on Karkar Electronics, you may visit the Karkar Electronics Historical Society.
Notable Contracts
- NATO Mobile Headquarters (Denmark) - Karkar designed and manufactured the multiplex and baseband equipment used for NATO Mobile Headquarters locations. Over nineteen mobile systems were delivered.
- Earth Stations - Karkar has supplied program and V.F. channels for over fifteen earth stations around the world including Sudan, Bahrain, Lebanon and Oman.
- Broadcasting - Karkar supplied wideband channels for broadcasting systems including Greece, Lebanon, American Satellite, ATT, and Southern Pacific.
- Territorial Command Network (Spain) - Karkar designed and manufactured the multiplex and baseband equipment used in 42 cities in Spain.
- Lisbon - Gibraltar Tropo Link.
- Defense Communication in Korea - Code name PEACE FORTUNE.
- Defense Communication for NATO in Europe - Code Name SCOPECOM and
AUGSBURG. European Wide Band Communication System (EWCS) - Defense Communication in Spain - Code name COMBAT GRANDE
- Integrated Joint Communication System FAR EAST (IJCS)
- European Mediterranean Tropo System (EMT)
- Frequency Division Multiplex for nine Satellite Terminals for national use in Nigeria
- Turnkey job for Mobile Telephone System in Baghdad, Iraq
- Multiplex for the new San Francisco-Los Angeles Link
- Multiplex for the St. Louis-Atlanta Link
- Multiplex for Sudan
- SHAPE (NATO) Microwave-Multiplex
- Western Union National Program Circuits
Primary Customers
- American Telephone & Telegraph
- American Satellite
- Bell of Canada
- Bell Telephone Manufacturing
- (BTM) Belgium
- Cable & Wireless – England
- Canadian Overseas Telecommunications
- Compagnie Industrielle des Telecommunications
- (CIT) – France
- Collins Radio Company
- Communication Satellite Corporation (COMSAT)
- Federal Electric Corp. (FEC)
- General Telephone & Electronics
- Hughes Aircraft Company
- International Telephone & Telegraph (ITT)
- Litton Industries
- Lockheed Corporation
- MCI
- NATO
- Northern Electric Company Canada
- Page Communication Engineers, Inc
- Philco-Ford Corporation
- Radio Corporation of America (RCA)
- Raytheon
- Southern Pacific Communications
- Telettra
- U.S. Department of Defense
- Voice of America USIA
- Western Electric Company
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