That's Jerry, who worked for Bob at B&B and bought it out when Bob passed.. JayTronics is still in business and is my favorite parts stop... Midwest went out years ago.
As for the encryption, it's a shame.. and will lead to the usual "Why don't we get help from the public" statements...
I remember seeing Jerry Perryman's name mentioned in Bob's obituary from 2008. I was good friends with Jerry & Joyce Fullerton, who were also good friends of Bob & Beverly for many years. Also known as Sandman; Jerry Fullerton showed me (in my youth) the fine art of adding uppers & lowers (extra out-of-band frequencies) to a C.B. Radio. With ‘special’ crystals & variable capacitors, while using a frequency counter to tweak-in everything, it was surprisingly easy. All of those wonderful crystals came from B&B Electronics. My Uncle Louie knew Bob as well, when he first started out on Andrews Street, before he moved the shop out to Auburn Road. It sucks to see a locally-owned shop like B&B disappear, but other than truck stops, where else are C.B. Radio seen these days? Bob had other neat stuff besides C.B. Radios, but that too is no longer of interest to most folks. Sad.
I was fortunate enough to visit Mid-West Associated, during the liquidation auction (2004 or 2005). There were some good finds (i.e. Xcelite Tools, Fluke Accessories, Weller/Unger Accessories, Switchcraft Connectors, etc.….). When the liquidator was ready to leave & hand-over the keys to the bank (Amcore at the time), the Mid-West Associated storefront still had 40-50% of its contents left. I’m told a great deal of it went to the dump. So sad.
Jay-Tronics closed last year. They had an auction (04-12-2017) on a weeknight, that was ‘quietly’ announced for some reason. After I saw they weren’t open, but prior to the auction, I attempted to reach out to Cathy Licari, inquiring as to when the sale/auction would be held. Unfortunately, she failed to reply my voicemail, even after I spoke with her brother George, who works at Dickerson Nieman. This really sucked, since my parents knew Joe Licari – father of Cathy & George, very well.
With the local Radio Shacks closed, other than the Radio Shack dealership in Monroe, Wisconsin (1-hr from Rockford), Electronics Supply in LaSalle, Illinois (1-hr, 15-min from Rockford), there are no sources of electronic components in the Rockford Area; at least not that I’m aware of.
Radio Shop-wise (2-Way/LMR) in the Rockford Area, there’s still ComElec-East (although they moved to Hydraulic Road) & lost their Motorola Franchise for some reason, Kwik Kall on Short Elm Street – Charlie Brown still works there, & lastly Rock River Service Company, who appears to hold the current Motorola Franchise. Jerry’s C.B. is the last game in town for hobbyist radio. I wonder if he does anything besides C.B.? Scanners, SWL, or Ham?
In the last 15 years, the face of the Rockford area; especially for radio & electronics, has sure changed for the worst.