The Pye Museum of Pye Telecom Products and Company History: PTHG Home

Pye Telecom History Project

This long-term project is dedicated to all of the people who worked for the Pye, Philips and Simoco companies in radio communications over the years.

This web site attempts to document and celebrate the product history and achievements in radio communications of Pye Telecommunications Ltd. of Cambridge, England, its forerunners and successors.

Over a 70 year period this company was known as Pye Radio Works Ltd, Pye Ltd, Pye Telecommunications, Philips Radio Communications Systems (PRCS), Philips Telecom-PMR and Simoco International Ltd.

The objectives of the Pye Telecom History project are to preserve the Pye Telecom Historic Collection, to accurately document the history of the Company and the development of the product portfolio of radio communications equipment, and to work towards the establishment of a public museum display of radio communications equipment in the Cambridge area.

From 2002 to 2007 the project was privately funded. From 2007 the storage of the Pye Telecom Historic Collection is being partially financially supported by the Pye Foundation.

The core time period of Pye in radio communications is from 1939 to 2002, although the Pye group of companies dates from 1896, and some parts of the company are still successfully trading under the names Sepura and Simoco.

The story of Pye in the field of radio communications began with the involvement of Pye Ltd in the development of military radar in the late 1930s and wireless equipment for the Army in 1940. It progressed through the development of the commercial Private Mobile Radio (PMR) industry (known as Land Mobile Radio (LMR) in the United States) using analogue transmission, to the digital communications of today which use the Tetra system and TCP/IP protocols etc.

Pye Telecom History Web Site

Much of the material used in this web site is taken from the official Pye Telecom Historic Collection of documents, photographs and products, plus the personal collections and also the recollections of former colleagues and other Pye, Philips and Simoco employees. Data from other primary, secondary and tertiary sources from the radio communications industry has also been used.

Grateful acknowledgments are due to the Management and Staff of Simoco Radio Ltd of Derby (formerly Mobicom) for allowing much of the material from the Pye Telecom Historic Collection to be saved. Donations of various equipment and documents from former colleagues and other Company employees are also gratefully acknowledged and listed.

The company names and logos for Pye, Pye Ltd, Pye Telecommunications Ltd, Philips, Philips RCS and Philips Telecom-PMR, referred to on this web site, are or have been, the registered trademarks of Philips Electronics UK Ltd. From 1996 to 2002 the Simoco name and logo was the registered trademark of Simoco International Ltd. Sepura is a registered trademark of Sepura PLC.

In respect of the product history,and technical details, where ever practicable contact has been made with the designers of the individual product families or other relevant former Company staff to ensure accuracy of information.

Please note that over time people's memories can fade and in the compilation of this web site human errors can creep in, especially when transcribing information from the original documents. We would be pleased to learn of any errors or corrections which you think should be made.

Also, this is a voluntary-run, long-term project, and if the products or aspects of the Company which interest you have not yet been documented - please be patient, there is a long company history to be researched and documented.