MRCCC was founded in late 2001. The call sign K0CXX was obtained and brought into service in honor of Arthur Collins (W0CXX) and his company of great engineers and production folks. Initially there were only 5 members. This has since been expanded to the 7 current members worldwide.
During this early period, K0CXX and the MRCCC, was located in the High Country ENE of Phoenix Arizona at an elevation of 8000 feet. Although progress was made on building a shack and building similar to the one now located in Wimberley, Texas, this building was never finished. I had not retired completely, it was too darned cold up there (bad retirement plan) and every 2 or 3 years I was not liking the 6 to 8 feet of snow with 20 foot drifts that fell and left me snow bound for 2 weeks. On thinking on this seriously, this seemed like a bad plan for when I reached 80 or 90 years old.
In 2006 I decided to pack up (a significant effort) and sell both my Arizona homes and move to a more friendly climate and neighborhood. Hence, the move to Wimberley. I have not been disappointed. By January of 2007, I had completed all the sales, moving and house hunting and started construction of my “Dream Shack” here in Wimberley. To make a long story very short, 2 ½ years later I had my 2700 sq ft 2 story, 200 amp service shack and started the move-in and hook up phase. This move-in and hook-up took about a year and is actually ongoing at this time.
There are 14 operating positions located at 10 sit down positions with about 100 pieces of Collins gear and paraphernalia on display with about 80 operating pieces of equipment. This is organized into 4 main rooms, the first being an entertainment room with two sets of operating gear, then the AM studio featuring Buck Owens’ original audio equipment from his first AM station in Bakersfield, California, the SSB history room, a test and repair room and the outer shop and mezzanine control and parts/spares storage with all antenna and DC control. There are also areas which feature other, non-amateur related products, such as aircraft, aerospace and commercial & government communications.
In the interior rooms, operating positions feature the history of the equipment as well as biographical sketches of the men and woman who made the enjoyment of our treasured Collins radios possible.
This website, and this building and display is dedicated to the folks of Collins and also to my Father, Lt. Cmdr W. H. Carns who loved mixing tubes. To be honest, it is particularly motivated by, and dedicated to their work and quality ethic. The US can not afford to lose this. To see more about these people, the company and the equipment displayed and operated here at K0CXX, just go back to the home page and click on the various pictures on the page and enjoy.