Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

12 VOLT LEAD ACID BATTERY PACK

Date Range From

1992

Date Range To

2000

Materials

PLASTIC

No. Pieces

1

Height

3.2

Length

31.5

Width

7.0

Description

BLACK BATTERY PACK WITH TWELVE-VOLT SOCKET. WHITE STICKER ON SIDE OF BATTERY “COMMUNIQUE 12VOLT LEAD ACID BATTERY PACK PART NO: 40115050.” GOLD “MADE IN HONG KONG” STICKER ON BOTTOM OF BATTERY. SMALL CHIP ON SOCKET AND USE-MARKS ON SIDES OF BATTERY. OVERALL EXCELLENT CONDITION.

Subjects

ELECTRICAL & MAGNETIC T&E

Historical Association

BUSINESS

INDUSTRY

History

ON DECEMBER 10, 2020, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN SPOKE WITH BRIAN CHRISTENSEN ABOUT HIS DONATION OF VARIOUS NOVATEL AND JAPAN RADIO COMPANY ELECTRONICS (JRC). BRIAN CHRISTENSEN STARTED WORKING AT NOVATEL IN 1985 AS A TEST ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGIST BEFORE TAKING A PROCESS MANAGEMENT JOB AT THE NOVATEL PERIPHERAL PLANT MID-1988, CHRISTENSEN LEFT HIS POSITION AT NOVATEL/JRC BY JANUARY 2000. THE INFORMATION BELOW IS DERIVED FROM THAT INTERVIEW AND A SERIES OF LETHBRIDGE HERALD NEWSPAPER ARTICLES. CHRISTENSEN EXPLAINED: “…THIS IS A VERY, VERY EARLY BATTERY PACK. SO HERE I AM, I’VE GOT MY [BAG PHONE]… AND I HEAD OFF SOMEWHERE, BUT I NEED TO CHARGE – ‘OH, WAIT!’ – NOW I HAVE NOT VERY MUCH POWER FOR VERY LONG, BECAUSE THIS THREE-WATT [BAG PHONE] IS GONNA DRAIN IT… BUT I’M SURE YOU’D GET A PHONE CALL OR TWO OUT OF IT, DEPENDING…” CHRISTENSEN EXPANDED UPON HOW HE CAME INTO POSSESSION OF THE VARIOUS ELECTRONICS: “…WHEN YOU’RE IN MANAGEMENT OR TEST ENGINEERING IN THIS ENVIRONMENT, YOU’RE TESTING YOUR PRODUCT. THIS IS YOURS; GO HOME; USE IT, RIGHT?... ALL OF THIS STUFF COST ME NOTHING. THIS IS NOT STUFF COMING OFF A SHELF, LIKE IT’S NOT OFF A PRODUCTION SHELF. THIS IS ENGINEERING TYPE STUFF…” CHRISTENSEN REFLECTED ON WHY HE KEPT THESE ELECTRONICS: “…I SHOULDN’T SAY KNOWING, BUT I ALWAYS THOUGHT THEY’D BE COLLECTIBLE OR SOMETHING… IT WAS A NEW INDUSTRY. LIKE THEY – THIS THING DIDN’T EXIST. MAYBE A PERSON SHOULD TRY TO CAPTURE A LITTLE BIT OF THAT…” ACCORDING TO AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED OCTOBER 4, 1983, NOVATEL WAS A CALGARY-BASED COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY FORMED BETWEEN ‘NOVA.,’ AN ALBERTA ENERGY COPORATION, AND ‘ALBERTA GOVERNMENT TELEPHONES (AGT).’ IN A JANUARY 24, 1984, ARTICLE IT WAS REPORTED THAT AMONGST EMPLOYEE LAYOFFS, AEL MICROTEL SOLD THEIR BUILDING IN LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA TO NOVATEL. IT WAS ANNOUNCED IN A SEPTEMBER 11, 1985, ARTICLE THAT NOVATEL WILL OFFICIALLY OPEN THEIR MAIN MANUFACTURING FACILITY IN THE 450 31ST N BUILDING (PREVIOUSLY AEL MICROTEL). NOVATEL LATER EXPANDED TWICE ACCORDING TO JUNE 27, 1989, AND JULY 24, 1990, ARTICLES. AGT PRIVATIZED IN 1990 AND BECAME KNOWN AS THE ‘TELUS CORPORATION’ IN AN AUGUST 1, 1990, ANNOUNCEMENT; NOVATEL WAS THEN SOLD BY TELUS BACK TO THE ALBERTA GOVERNMENT ACCORDING TO A JANUARY 3, 1991, ARTICLE. BY MARCH 19, 1991, IT WAS REPORTED THAT THE LETHBRIDGE NOVATEL MANUFACTURING PLANT LAID 222 OF ITS EMPLOYEES OFF. MAY 2, 1991, AND MAY 6, 1991, ARTICLES ANNOUNCED FURTHER LAYOFFS OF CLOSE TO 400 WORKERS AND SHUT DOWN THE CALGARY MANUFACTURING PLANT. ACCORDING TO MAY 15, 1992, MAY 22, 1992, AND MARCH 15, 1994, ARTICLES: NOVATEL WAS SOLD BY THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT TO A HONG KONG-BASED ENTREPRENEUR, HORST PUDWILL, AND NORTHERN TELECOM; PUDWILL BOUGHT THE CELLULAR HANDSET MANUFACTURING SIDE OF THE COMPANY AND NORTHERN TELECOM BOUGHT THE CELLULAR SYSTEM SIDE OF THE COMPANY. IT WAS ANNOUNCED IN AN APRIL 10, 1994, ARTICLE THAT JAPANESE RADIO COMPANY (JRC) OFFICIALLY BOUGHT NOVATEL AND MADE THE LETHBRIDGE MANUFACTURING PLANT THE CANADIAN HEADQUARTERS FOR JRC. ON NOVEMBER 16, 1999, AN ARTICLE ANNOUNCED THAT JRC WAS STILL LOOKING FOR A BUYER FOR THE LETHBRIDGE MANUFACTURING FACILITY. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION INCLUDING ARTICLES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD, OR TO SEE THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS, PLEASE SEE THE DONATION’S PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P20200035003

Acquisition Date

2020-12

Collection

Museum

Less detail