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FRC Technical News online

July 15th, 2008

Posts appear here in reverse chronological order (the most recent posts at the top). You can simply scroll down to read them, or select something of interest from the navigation menus at left. Commenting is enabled, so if you would like to share your opinion look for a comment box after each post. However, comments must be approved by FRC staff before they will appear.

LDV mobile medical vehicle with FRC LED lights spotted at baseball game

May 18th, 2017

FRC Engineer Paul Greenbaum took his family out to see a baseball game at our local Long Island Ducks Stadium. The Ducks play in an independent baseball league popular on the east coast called the Atlantic League unaffiliated with Major or Minor League Baseball. While there, he noticed a mobile medical vehicle parked outside manufactured by LDV of Burlington, WI with several FRC LED lights!

Thanks for sharing the pics, Paul!

FRC Service board

May 17th, 2017

Occasionally when a customer or end user has been particularly pleased with the service received from FRC’s service department they might send in a note of praise to the service manager (we used to call those “Atta-boys”) and these have always been proudly posted on the FRC Service board and shared around the office.

One day one of our service techs (a local volunteer fire fighter himself) received a patch from a representative of a large fire brigade overseas in thanks for solving a particularly pesky problem. The patch was also proudly displayed on the board in the service department, and since that day as we’ve had visitors come through the plant, some have noticed the board and in similar fashion sent in patches to thank the service department for the various good deeds they have done over the years.

While wandering through the service department the other day, noticed the board and wanted to share. We are all proud to be of service to you!

After 16 years Charlie Manoogian, technician, retires

May 9th, 2017

FRC celebrated the retirement of Charlie Manoogian who was a technician in our electronics department part time for about 14 years and full time for the last 2 years. Charlie was familiar with many of the older FRC products and was frequently called in to investigate the more difficult problems because he was such a great troubleshooter.

Always active, Charlie organized FRC participation in the annual Long Island Pedalers For A Cure 42 mile cancer ride every year until that organization disbanded, actively fund-raising, helping participants to train for the ride, helping fix flats, and even providing some bicycles! Charlie will surely be missed at FRC! He and his wife plan to continue their active lifestyle playing raquetball, bicycling, and boating in Virginia.

LIPC Gallery – sorry, we don’t have pictures from every year!

Barney Loughlin, FRC friend, has passed away

May 1st, 2017

It is with great sadness that FRC informs you that a long time friend of FRC, Bernard (Barney) M. Loughlin, has passed away. Barney was one of the Great Generation, a World War II veteran, a 74 year member of his local fire department and proud of his Irish heritage. Barney was so much more than these simple facts to a great many people but here we’ll try to relate his history with FRC which goes back to the very first Fire Research product advertised in 1968.

At that time Barney, a Sayville firefighter, was struggling to establish a printing business. One of his projects was a monthly magazine aimed at volunteer firefighters called Smoky. Barney once joked later that Smoky didn’t have much of a chance to succeed given that many firefighters of that time couldn’t read. The magazine was well written and covered a wide range of topics relevant to the fire service from recent fires to legislative actions and of course it included advertisements by local businesses.

Jack McLoughlin, the founder of Fire Research (and no relation to Barney) was working to establish Fire Research and was operating out of his basement. He called up Barney to place an ad for one of his new inventions in the next issue of Smoky. Neither of them wanting the other to know how meager their respective businesses were at the time they each happily agreed to meet at a diner in Barney’s town of Sayville, NY. That meeting at the diner wouldn’t be the last as Jack and Barney formed a friendship which would continue for nearly 50 years.

The very first advertisement for a Fire Research product appeared in the July, 1968 issue of Smoky for a Fire Research Preconnect Sensor and is prominently displayed on the back page of the magazine. This wasn’t the only Fire Research product in that issue, either. While it isn’t credited to Fire Research, there is an extensive article in the issue about a pump simulator then just installed at the local fire training academy which is easily recognized as an early Fire Research product. A last connection to Fire Research is found in the back of the magazine as an advertisement for an MC Products (yes, the “MC” is from McLoughlin) water level gauge which you might not have known was also invented by Jack.

Barney was also an inventor in his own right and as a volunteer firefighter he was driven to invent devices that would make that vocation safer. His Ladder Beacon and Safety Beacon were strobe lights designed to be mounted on a ladder tip or used to spike or chock open a door and provide a means of signalling the location of the exit. Barney attended fire shows for many years demonstrating his devices and often shared booth space (and occassionally a hotel room!) with Fire Research. Fire Research engineering was involved in some of the re-designs of his products over the years, and Fire Research technicians and assemblers were sometimes involved in their production.

Hearing his name today, most folks who knew him will immediately think of Loughlin Vineyard. What many once considered a folly became a viable business over the years. During the period of the vineyard’s humble beginnings Fire Research’s company picnic was held there. Nate remembers giving the kids tractor rides on Barney’s Ford 8N and some may remember Barney’s horse and donkey (both now buried near the barn). Barney and Jack later collaborated for several years on a special Fire Research wine which many in the industry may remember as bottles of it were often given out around Christmas time. Many Fire Research employees fondly remember helping Barney pick grapes around harvest time.

Attached find a copy of an article about the vineyard which ran in the New York Times Sunday June 26, 1994
and Barney’s obituary in Newsday, Sunday, April 30, 2017 pg. A15

BarneyLoughlinObit

BarneyVineyard_NYTimes1994

After 20 years Al Schuster, machinist, retires

April 21st, 2017

Al Schuster’s 20+ years of employment at FRC was celebrated at his retirement party yesterday. Al ran a lot of the older manual machines for milling and lathe work which at one time were a more critical portion of production. As most of FRC’s production has shifted over the years to CNC machining, we still kept Al very busy with prototyping and special piece jobs. Al’s son Greg was in attendance at the party (another former FRC employee!) and many employees shared stories of days gone by like how Al used to bring fresh bread from his local bakery one day a week. Al is pictured below with Shop Foreman Mike Felice and he hopes to continue in his role as Fire Police with his local FD.