About Windfreak Technologies
What We Do
Vicky and I (David Goins) created Windfreak Technologies with the vision of providing low-cost, quality, innovative RF signal generators and accessories that can be used in a wide range of highly technical applications.
Since the conception of WFT, we have introduced products that have been purchased by a wide range of customers, from hobbyists to education facilities to Government agencies. Our customers are from all over the world including, but not limited to, Europe, Australia, and Asia.
Brand Vision
Our continued commitment is to keep our overheads extremely low, which enables us to provide low-cost products. Our passion and love of the business ensure we provide high-quality, US-manufactured RF testing products and follow through with personalized, quick customer service. In an ever-changing technological world, WFT prides itself on staying current and keeping in touch with our customers’ needs.
Our Focus: The Products We Make
- RF Signal Generators
- RF Signal Generators with Built In Power Detectors
- Active Mixers with Built In Local Oscillator PLL
- RF Testing Equipment Accessories
Education and Background
About Me – David Goins
I am an RF Design Engineer with over 20 years of experience in both the private and government sectors. Thanks to my parents, I started playing with Ham radio (KD5JVC originally N5JEJ) and programming a Sinclair ZX81 before I was a teenager. I graduated from Texas A&M in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering emphasizing analog circuit design. Since then, I have worked for startup companies, as well as large agencies such as NASA, where I was inspired to create this small RF company that caters to the needs of both large and small companies. The name of the company is inspired by my love of windsurfing and sailing.
About Vicky Goins
Vicky Goins is my wife and business partner. She has over 15 years of experience in both the private and government business sectors as a Financial Analyst. Vicky graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting in 2000 and an MBA from Regis University in 2002. We both share a passion for running our own business and sailing. See Windfreak Sailing for some of our sailing stories.
Please contact me if you have any questions about our company or products.
Windfreak Technologies Facts and FAQs
When was the first RF signal generator sold?
I started my first RF Signal Generator design in my garage in 2009. I was just goofing around enjoying electronics design like I have since being a kid.
The generator used an ADF4350, which was a revolutionary chip from Analog Devices that had a PLL and broadband VCO all in one plastic package.
When I found this chip my first thought was, WOW that’s so cool! I designed and assembled 3 units, keeping two for myself and putting 1 on eBay for $250, never really thinking it would sell. One day while working in the lab at NASA my phone alerted of the sale. A wave of euphoria ran through me, and I finally realized how cool it is for someone else to buy something that came from my brain.
I couldn’t wait to make it better and sell another. I never expected more than beer money, but it proved to do much better than that.
While making money is necessary, my true love still remains the creation of electronic circuits that help other people do their jobs better, faster and cheaper.
How many RF generators have you made/sold?
As of 2022 Windfreak Technologies has sold over 8,000 RF Signal Generators.
How many countries are your products helping customers or do you support?
We support and have shipped RF Signal Generators to just about every country on the planet.
Who buys your RF Signal Generators?
When I first started the company my thought was that people like me would be using our RF Signal Generators: RF Engineers in white lab coats testing or working on wireless radios.
It turns out I wasn’t thinking big enough. Quite often, it’s not RF Engineers that use our products, but just normal people in other industries trying to figure things out.
Some lesser known industries that use RF include:
- Quantum Computing
- Textiles
- Food
- Automotive
- Airlines
- Law Enforcement
- Medical
- Physics Research
- Many others.
The world of Radio Frequency is a big place with many applications still to be discovered.
How did you come by the skills to do this at such low cost and how to you advise others to do it?
I always loved electronics design. My first boss insisted I was going to be a test engineer that tests other engineers designs, probably because I didn’t seem like designer material. But I never gave up and soon was moved to the design group. It also was usually customary that a PCB layout person did the PCB design after the engineer gives them the schematic. But that’s half the fun and creativity!
I always insisted on doing my own layout. I was very good at designing and laying out analog and RF circuits by the time I started Windfreak Technologies.
The final piece of the puzzle was the microcontroller that goes in our products. My last years at NASA were also the last years of the space shuttle program and NASA was shrinking. My boss told me there were no more projects to design, but also that I would not be laid off. He said, “Show up to work, but do whatever you like.” Oh yeah, and “Don’t miss the safety meetings.”
Rather than surf the web, I taught myself to use microcontrollers. I give a big thanks to the Arduino world for this. I had done a lot of BASIC programming as a kid, some FORTRAN in college, plus a lot of Labview programming as an engineer, so it all fell together nicely.
While many companies need separate people for: 1) Digital design, 2)RF design, 3) Analog design 4) Microcontroller Firmware design, 5) Software Design, 6) Test, and 7) PCB Layout, Windfreak started with only one hungry guy and his wife.
Now more than ever, this is possible for todays hungry / geeky kids! Just have patience, do what you love and love what you do. Determination with focus is the final key.