Idiom Press was established in 1982 in Deerfield, Illinois and is wholly owned by myself, Bob Locher, W9KNI.
Let me take this opportunity to offer a few words about my background. I was raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa - is it any surprise I took up ham radio? I was extremely fortunate to be introduced to amateur radio by the legendary Art Collins, WØCXX. The Collins' were family friends. Art gave me the novice license test himself - and I know of only one other ham who could make that claim. And Art helped me get on the air and proved a super Elmer. I remain forever grateful to Art Collins.
I am also part owner of Bencher, Inc., maker of the Bencher and Mercury paddles, the Bencher hand key, low pass filters and the incomparable Skyhawk triband yagi. Bencher also manufactures and sells the Butternut antenna product line. To see more of Bencher products, go to http://www.bencher.com I do technical support and product development for Bencher and Butternut as well as running Idiom Press.
Anyhow, I founded Idiom Press in 1982. The original purpose of the company was to publish my book, "The Complete DX'er". I had written a number of articles that had been published in "Ham Radio Horizons" and later in "Ham Radio Magazine". The articles were well received and encouraged me to write "The Complete DX'er.".
When the book was nearing completion, I was trying to figure out a name for the business. One night doodling around on a piece of scrap paper I came up with "Idiom Press", which was derived from "I Did It On My Own, the capitalized letters giving "idiomo". Of course "idiomo" is a meaningless word and not likely to stick in memory. On the other hand, "Idiom", made by dropping the "o" off "Idiomo," is a perfectly good English word. An Idiom, as it is defined, is "a method of expression," which makes perfect sense for the name of a publishing house, especially for ham radio, itself a method of expression. Later, when I began to offer other products, I decided to keep using the name of Idiom Press since I believe it has always had a good reputation.
In 1989, a friend suggested I look at a new keyer project by KCØQ and NØII - I did, and thus began my association with these fine gentlemen and brought about the Super CMOS II, Super CMOS III and our latest Logikit CMOS4 products.
After a move to northern California in 1995, I began to think about expanding the business, and eventually the Rotor-EZ line of electronic rotor control for the Ham-M series and TailTwisters was born, followed by the RotorCard products for Yaesu rotors.
Since then we have added the SCAF-1 audio low pass filter, available both as a kit and as a preassembled unit.
We continue to publish books as well. "The Complete DX’er" has now been brought out in a new third edition, updated to take into account changes in DX chasing. The book went through two editions and two printings of each edition; over 21,000 copies were sold of the first two editions. The third edition is off to a fine start.
We have also added another book, "Up Two: The Adventures of a DXpeditioner" by G3SXW, Roger Western. Further titles are in the pipeline.
In the mean time, after spending 10 years in northern California, we decided to move on, and to cash out the considerable increase in value of our California home. We are now located in Grants Pass, Oregon, in the southwest part of the state.
My philosophy for Idiom Press has always been to be true to my roots – to offer high quality products that would be of use primarily to the high frequency ham operator. I personally use my products virtually every day – I truly believe in them. Idiom Press supports to this day every product it has ever sold, and we plan to keep doing so as long as we possibly can. Idiom Press is now in its 23rd year offering products to ham radio operators worldwide. I remain active on the air, primarily on CW, and hopefully keep in touch with what other amateurs are doing with their stations.
We have no plans to stand still. More new electronic kits and more books are coming. So - as the marketers are fond of saying, "Watch this Space!"
Thanks for your interest. 73!
Bob Locher W9KNI/7
Grants Pass, Oregon
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