Industry veteran Fred M. Link died last week. He was 93.
Link’s company from 1931 to 1950-first called Fred M. Link Co. and later called Link Radio Corp.-manufactured two-way radio communications equipment used extensively by police departments in the United States and in other countries.
In 1954, Link joined the Allen B. DuMont Laboratories as director of the mobile radio division, which manufactured equipment similar to that made by Link Radio.
In 1959, Link was hired by David Sarnoff as a consultant to the Radio Corporation of America, after helping to resolve a problem with a police radio system RCA had contracted to provide to the city of Philadelphia.
Since 1965, Link has served as a consultant to the industry, assisting clients including Trott Communications Group, Ericsson Private Radio Systems, Decibel Products and Primedia Intertec’s Mobile Radio Technology magazine.
Link earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the State College of Pennsylvania (now Pennsylvania State University) in 1927. He was a member of the Radio Club of America, a New York-based society of radio engineers, company managers, university faculty and military communications specialists. He also was a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and was a founding member of its Vehicular Technology Society.
Link received the IEEE Centennial Medal in 1984. An IEEE milestone plaque at the entrance of the Connecticut Department of Public Safety headquarters in Middletown, Conn., commemorates the installation of the first FM police radio communications system, which was built by Link Radio. It was the success of this system that led to adopting FM radio for communications by the Mechanized Cavalry (tanks) based in Fort Monmouth, N.J., used in World War II.
Link also was a member of the Associated Public Safety Communications Officials, the Quarter Century Wireless Association and the Veteran Wireless Operators Association.
