Jack Sellmeyer
Jack Sellmeyer
1941 – 2023
Well-known broadcast engineer and consultant, Jack Sellmeyer passed of age related illnesses away on November 2, 2023 at the age of 82.
John S. Sellmeyer
March 26, 1941 – November 2, 2023
A native of Carlsbad, NM, Jack was the son of Ralph and Gewn (a miner and a teacher). He graduated from high school in Carlsbad, NM in May 1959. While in high school, began his radio career as a board operator and transmitter operator for radio station KPBM in Carlsbad, New Mexico.
After high school, Jack attended college first at Las Cruces, NM, where he also oversaw the construction of an addition to the studio/transmitter building, construction of new studios and the installation of a new 5 kW transmitter for station KGRT in Las Cruces, NM.
Jack transferred to Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ in 1963 where he went on to get his BSEE in 1966 from ASU. There he served as Chief Engineer for KRUX, Glendale, AZ, among other stations in the market.
After graduation, Jack joined Bauer Electronics in California, disgning a 7.5 kW transmitter, and then went on to Collins Radio in the Product Support/Field Service departments and was was sent to Southeast Asia on a US Army communications project to train Signal Corps personnel in the setup, maintenance and adjustment of the Collins supplied equipment.
DESIGN AND UPGRADE WORK
In 1969, Jack joined Gates in the FM Engineering Department, where, among other things, he developed the TE-3 and FMX-70 exciters, solved tuning problems with FM G and H series of transmitters, providing stable operations.
In June 1969, Jack married his wife Jeannine, and they spent over five decades together.
IN THE FIELD
After two years at Quincy, Jack decided there was nothing more for him at Gates and looked for a job in the field. He first landed at WGAR in Cleveland for Nationwide Communications.
In 1973 he was recruited back to Rockwell-Collins. There he focused on FM exciters and the 828E-1 5kW (Power Rock) and 1kW PWM AM transmitters. (He is listed as the co-inventor on three patents.)
Additionally, he designed the Audio Rock console – known as the 212-P, and the 212-R.
SELLMEYER ENGINEERING
When Rockwell-Collins was sold to Continental in 1980, Jack opened Sellmeyer Engineering, where he was active for over 40 years doing AM allocations, transmitter site design, development and construction, AM DA design and measurements.
He lectured at various NAB technical seminars and workshops dealing with AM directional antennas. Over the years, he has published numerous articles in the trade magazines. Jack was a member of several industry professional societies including AFCCE, IEEE, NSPE, SBE, and TSPE.
Along the way, Jack developed the AM Stereo system for TFT. He also filed for and was a partner in a new station on 620 in the northeast side of Dallas. He even found time to qualify as a private air pilot. Jack decided in 2017 to take what might be called “a soft retirement.” However, his love of radio kept him busy finishing off several projects. Perhaps one of his more interesting and personal jobs was in purchasing the Wichita Falls, TX 620 station and moving it to the Dallas area. He designed a directional antenna system that covers the Dallas-Ft. Worth market very well.
In 2009, Jack received the NAB Engineering Achievement Award of the year from NAB at the Spring convention, and in 2014 the Texas Association of Broadcasting named Jack to receive the The George Marti Award for Engineering Excellence.
As he moved through his 70s, he still enjoyed working in his workshop/ham station/historical library, and working in the field with some of the big signals in the country. KMOX, St Louis and WKY, Oklahoma City were just two of the many projects he worked on in his latter years.
… as his friends will tell you, his memory of broadcast history was strong, and he was always happy to share it!
Jack will be cremated after a memorial on 11/19/23 at the Greekwood United Methodist Church in Allen, TX.
Jack is survived by his wife, Jeannine, and two sons, Scott and David.
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