10/20/2026
GEAR You know it's no coincidence that when you need a piece of radio gear to solve a problem, Broadcast Tools usually makes it. Its founder is an experienced radio engineer.
Don Winget got his start in radio as a gofer for the chief engineer at his hometown station, WBIZ in Eau Claire, WI. Without money for college, he first learned on-the-job. Then he gained formal technical training in the U.S. Army.
After his military service, he returned to WI and established a contract engineering business. But he said yes when broadcaster Pat O'Day offered him a job in (warmer) Seattle in 1976.
Winget teamed up with KJR chief engineer Lee Hurley to create Sentry Systems, which developed one of the earliest PC-based radio automation systems. In 1989, while working as KXRX-FM's chief engineer, he started Broadcast Tools, Inc. to design and build problem-solving gear.
In 1992, he sold his VMC-16 voice remote-control design to Broadcast Electronics, using the proceeds to help fund Broadcast Tools. He became a prolific product designer, with thousands of units sold over the following decades.
Broadcast Tools products currently include analog and AES routers, remote controls, satellite channel controllers, analog mixers and DAs, silence monitors and program schedulers.
Winget recently announced his retirement and the planned sale of Broadcast Tools to Inovonics. Production will move from WA to CA, with the Broadcast Tools name and product line continuing.
(image caption: Connie Miller and Don Winget of Broadcast Tools, which makes audio equipment for radio stations throughout the world, started their business in 1989 in their home. The company moved to Sedro-Woolley in 2003. Jacqueline Allison / Skagit Valley Herald )
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