Henry Radio Los Angeles founder Ted Henry, W6UOU, turned 100 years old on January 25. The fascinating Henry family history in amateur radio marketing and manufacturing dates back to the late 1920s.

The original Henry Radio shop, started by Ted’s brother Bob Henry, W0ARA, opened in 1927 in their hometown of Butler, Missouri, selling equipment and parts for the then-new ham radio hobby. The store stayed in business until Bob Henry died in 1985. Henry Radio Stores advertisements in ham radio magazines were a familiar sight in the post-war years.

Ted and another brother, Walt, later W6ZN, worked with Bob Henry during the early years and became fascinated with ham radio. After Ted moved to Los Angeles in 1941, he opened a small radio shop on Westwood Boulevard, which he operated while attending college at UCLA with the intention of going into teaching. His shop survived the suspension of amateur radio during World War II by purchasing gear from hams and reselling it to MARS stations around the world, and by manufacturing crystals (in Butler and Los Angeles) for Hallicrafters’ war production.

Ted and his wife Meredith, W6WNE, ran the LA store, which grew quickly after the war, expanding to a new location on West Olympic Boulevard, where it operated for nearly 35 years, becoming a gathering spot for hams visiting from around the world.

Walt Henry opened a Henry Radio branch in Anaheim, California, in the 1960s, which closed in 1990, after his health declined.

In 1962, Ted Henry saw the opportunity to supply tube-type power amplifiers for the ham radio market and began manufacturing the original Henry 2K. The plant was so successful that Henry expanded into the industrial RF equipment sector. In the 1970s, the company developed its own line of solid-state amplifiers, which it still manufactures for various services. From 1962 until 2005, Henry Radio built approximately 40,000 assorted amplifiers and industrial power generators before closing down the factory in 2005.

Henry Radio also became the first Kenwood dealer in the US and marketed the Tempo line of ham gear. The store opened its current facility in 1981 on South Bundy Drive in Los Angeles. Henry Radio is the oldest dealer for the Bird line of RF test equipment, imports Tohtsu coaxial relays from Japan, and manages a trunked radio system, in addition to marketing radio accessories and specialized RF parts and equipment.

Ted and Meredith’s son, also Ted, W6YEY, took over day-to-day operation of the business in 1971. The elder Henry retired from the business in 2005. Many of the popular line of HF amplifiers remain in use today. — Thanks to Marty Woll, N6VI; Henry Radio