Cushcraft and Hygain Manufacturing Bought by ITU Corporation

https://www.lintonnews.com/itu-corp...nic-amateur-radio-manufacturing-free-article/


In a major expansion of its Indiana footprint, ITU Corporation has purchased the former Linton National Guard Armory to serve as the new manufacturing hub for Hy-gain and Cushcraft. By acquiring these legendary brands from MFJ Enterprises, ITU is centralizing production at the 15-acre Linton site. This new endeavor will bring between 20-50 new jobs to Linton.

Martin F. Jue, President and founder of MFJ Enterprises, Inc., is pleased to announce the sale of the renowned Hy-gain and Cushcraft antenna, rotator, and communication product lines to ITU Corporation, a 25 year old Indiana engineering and manufacturing company.

"I am thrilled to pass the torch of these legendary antenna brands to Dave & Kambi Carpenter and their team at ITU Corporation," said Martin F. Jue, President of MFJ Enterprises.

"After nurturing these brands for decades it was vital to me that hy-gain and Cushcraft - - premier brands that have served radio operators and stations worldwide for generations - - landed in the hands of someone who understands their legacy.”

"Dave, and the ITU team share our commitment to American-made quality and customer satisfaction. They bring the engineering expertise and manufacturing passion necessary to keep these products and these trusted American high-performance antennas on towers worldwide for years to come!"

Famous for their robust long lasting design and unparalleled superior performance, hy-gain and Cushcraft are the gold standard for antenna performance, gain, durability and offer a wide range of antennas, rotators, and accessories.

The designs, tooling, specialized equipment, manufacturing and marketing rights for hy-gain and Cushcraft antennas and rotators are included in the sale.
With this exciting announcement, the production of these trusted high-performance products marks a new chapter for the brands, combining their rich history with the expertise and dedication of the Indiana-based premier manufacturer.

This announcement includes ITU's purchase of the former Linton Indiana National Guard Armory facility at 2000 East Hwy 54 in Linton Indiana. Adding to it's current manufacturing and Corporate facilities located in Dugger Indiana.

"We are excited about the acquisition of the former 15 acre Armory facility in Linton as it offers a move-in-ready building that perfectly meets the needs of this operation" stated Dave Carpenter President of ITU.

"ITU is proud to add the "hy-gain" and "Cushcraft" brands to our existing portfolio including our award winning LearnLab and TekShack subsidiaries. The trust that Martin F Jue has placed in our team is appreciated and challenges us to to continue the legendary legacy that Martin and his team at MFJ has been so successful at!"

Dave also commented that this new Linton manufacturing operation will employ around 20 employees initially and up to 50 as the operation moves into full production. ITU is moving the entire manufacturing operation from it's current Starkville Mississippi facility to the new Linton location. The 500 mile move will take about two months to complete.

 

PS: Dave's ham call is KC9ATG, and he owns several ventures / subsidiaries of ITU Corp including a store in Linton IN called Tek-Shack, which is a throw back to Radio Shack days. Very good ! He has been a ham (tech) since 2022 per his QRZ profile. Excellent news.

 

I hope that the new owner knows what "Quality Control" means.

 

Its heartening to see these brands stay in the US! I just hope the price of aluminum doesnt make all tube antennas super expensive. Ham radio in modern times was built around aluminum tube tubes.

 

This is certainly great news. However, I thought that the owner of MFJ would only sell the company whole, and not individual product lines.

 

Always had good experience with Cushcraft antennas Great news indeed !!!!

 

Wonderful news!

I am looking forward to their new products, superior QA processes and rave reviews.

Good luck.

 

I have owned a Cc A3S for over a decade, an excellent performer and its held up to some harsh winters and the strong winds we get in our valley.
Norm - VE7APF & VE7NRR, Kamloops British Columbia

 

I remember the days when every sad ham trashed radio shack. Then radio shack disappeared, and sad hams had no place to go to in the mall to wait out the xyl...since Sears had also closed by then. Parts. cables, and some batteries became a minimum 2 days wait if lucky, from amazon or digikey/mouser along with crazy stupid shipping prices.

Then every sad ham trashed MFJ and the supposed low quality, til one day MFJ disappeared. Sad hams had fewer places to purchase a good manual antenna tuner, a coax switch, an HF amplifier, an HF antenna, a packet radio terminal, not to mention the hundreds of other unique MFJ gizmos and gadgets.

Careful what you wish for...

To see ANY of this come back to life is a ham miracle of sorts. I wouldn't be so quick to pile on the trash talk about quality etc. Hams know NOTHING of this enterprise so best to cut the griping like old hens in the beauty shop. Show a bit of gratitude for the new enterprise / effort. Reserve judgment til the product hits the market. And most importantly, let your wallet do your talking and BUY A FEW ANTENNAS from the new venture !

 

This is good!

 

GUD JOB , Wishing ITU Great Success !!

 

First it is great news that a follower of MFJ came up.

In the next round of making company history, the translation of the original manuals should be checked in other countries, when the new product line is roll-out. Got good and bad experience from the past. In that case MFJ lost sometimes their reputation in cause of those faults here in Germany.

The products were really nice, but often misunderstood by the operators. So that a tuner for example couldnt get a properly setup in its jumpers.

Please be more rigorous next time.

 

As a proud owner of a HyGain AV-680, this news makes me extremely happy.
My hope is that the quality will return to HyGain’s original standards, both in terms of mechanics and materials.
Good luck to KC9ATG!